The UGA Poultry Science Department Holds the 2023 Georgia Precision Poultry Farming Conference

The UGA Poultry Science department held the “2023 Georgia Precision Poultry Farming Conference (GPPFC)” virtually on May 2. The day-long conference had 450 registrations/attendees (e.g., poultry and egg producers, farmers, researchers, service company tech managers, government officials, Extension agents, and students, etc) from 35 different countries. 14 speakers and panelists shared their latest knowledge and experience of precision poultry production and processing. The conference was coordinated by Dr. Lilong Chai, UGA Poultry Science.

Program

Welcome & Updates

09:00 AM Welcome and Poultry Science Department Update
Dr. Todd Applegate, Department Head & Distinguished Professor, UGA Poultry Science
09:15 AM Welcome and Georgia Poultry Federation Update
Mr. Mike Giles, President, Georgia Poultry Federation
09:30 AM UGA Poultry Extension Update
Dr. Casey Ritz, Professor & Extension Coordinator, UGA Poultry Science

Morning Technical Session

09:40 AM Monitoring Poultry Health and Welfare with Optical Flow Technology
Dr. Marian Dawkins, Professor of Animal Behavior, University of Oxford, UK
10:25 AM Broiler Breeder Welfare Management
Dr. Kate Barger-Weathers, Director of World Animal Welfare, Cobb-Vantress
11:10 AM Broiler Heat Stress Management with Engineering Intervention
Dr. Yi Liang, Associate Professor, University of Arkansas
11:50 AM Monitoring Broiler Gait Score with Imaging System
Dr. Yang Zhao, Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee

Afternoon Technical Session

1:00 PM Poultry Processing Technologies
Dr. Brian Kiepper, Associate Professor, UGA Poultry Science
1:45 PM Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Tools for Precision Poultry Farming
Dr. Guoming Li, Assistant Professor, UGA Poultry Science
2:15 PM How Robots and Automation Might Change the Design of Broiler Houses
Dr. Alexander Samoylov, Principal Research Scientist, Georgia Tech Research Insitittue

Panel Discussion

3:00 PM Precision technologies & gaps for the advancement of poultry nutrition and health
Host: Dr. Todd Applegate, Department Head of UGA Poultry Science
Panelists:
Mr. Arjun Ganesan, CEO, Ancera
Dr. Nikki Shariat, Assistant Professor, UGA Dept. of Population Health
Dr. David Wicker, Vice President for Live Production, Fieldale Farms, Corp.