Page 14 - National Poultry Newspaper

2018 HIGHLIGHTS
Chook Chat Shack collaboration highlights the best of chicken meat research
BIRDS of a feather flocked together at the Poultry Information Exchange on the Gold Coast during June 2018.
The three-day event brought together 1000 delegates from every seg- ment of the industry.
The AgriFutures Chick- en Meat Program col- laborated with Poultry Hub and Australian Eggs to bring the Chook Chat Shack to life at the bian- nual Poultry Information Exchange.
The ‘Shack’ provided a space for conference at- tendees to learn about the latest poultry research, development and exten- sion activities and connect with industry experts.
AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program develop- ment officer Dr Kylie Hewson said the Shack collaboration offered an opportunity to talk about latest research with key stakeholders and high- light the impact of the program.
“I really enjoyed being in the space we’d created collectively between the poultry RD&E organisa- tions,” Dr Hewson said.
“It was great to have lots of people, industry and re- searchers coming into the
Shack to meet, learn and discuss poultry RD&E.
“It’s through this type of engagement that great RD&E outcomes are achieved for the poultry industries.
“I look forward to creat- ing the space again at the next PIX and making it even better.”
Outside the Chook Chat Shack, the conference fea- tured an impressive line- up of experts presenting on the latest research and industry priorities.
AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program research- ers featured heavily in the program, talking about projects focused on cool- ing sprinklers, welfare, Nuffield tours and more.
“The conference was also a great opportunity to connect people from different areas in the in- dustry,” Dr Hewson said.
“For example, chicken meat farmers had the op- portunity to network with younger people in the in- dustry and there were a lot of conversations about what skillsets the industry will need in the future.”
A highlight of the PIX Conference was the an- nouncement of the in- augural Gary Sansom Scholarship.
The Scholarship was presented to University of Adelaide Honours student Ashlee Morgan for her project focused on attract- ing and retaining young people in the chicken meat industry.
“We need to take a col- laborative approach to en- courage younger people to get involved in the poultry industry,” Ms Morgan said.
“This Scholarship will give me the chance to take a break from my work and focus my energies into de- livering my project, some- thing I am really passion- ate about.”
AgriFutures Horizon Scholar Claire Nock said PIX gave her the opportu-
nity to discover the chal- lenges and opportunities in the industry.
“I went to a really fas- cinating talk about how we can improve energy usage in the industry by just focusing on a simple thing like light bulbs,” Ms Nock said.
“There’s such a diverse range of delegates here and it has been a real ex- perience hearing about different sides of the in- dustry.”
Visit the AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program (agrifutures.com.au/rural- industries/chicken-meat) for more information about program R&D ob- jectives.
Georgie and Sam of AgriFutures with magician Ash Vegas.
Adrian Nix of Chamberlain Australia with Grifco winching equipment.
Bruce Hunt, Mark Bennett, John Reeves, Ronnie O’Rorke and Steven Black of Zoetis.
Aleasha Darroch and Emma Peel of ANL Lighting.
Darren Smith of Pope Packaging.
Anthony Mamo, Mark Jones and Tanmay Saini of Ziehl-Abegg.
Kevin Ming and the Algebra Bio team.
Richard Pigou of Airtight Solutions.
Craig Patty and Abi Eastwood of MADEC.
Page 14 – National Poultry Newspaper, July 2018
www.poultrynews.com.au