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United Egg Producers President Visits Piedmont Research Station

Piedmont visitors in protective clothing

United Egg Producers (UEP) President Chad Gregory and Sr. VP of Food Safety Oscar Garrison recently toured the Piedmont Research Station Poultry Farm in Salisbury, North Carolina. Dr. Ken Anderson and Dr. Patricia Curtis of NC State University’s Prestage Department of Poultry Science led the tour. NC State is one of only six universities in the US with a poultry science department.

The Piedmont Research Station, operated by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, is one of 18 research stations in the state. Originally established as the Piedmont Test Farm in 1904 near Statesville, the station was moved in 1954 to its present site on 1,044 acres. Research at the station has four focus areas: dairy, poultry, field crops and horticultural crops.

The poultry facility focuses on commercial research including incubation, broilers and commercial layers. In addition, the facility uses spent fowl in medical research to develop an avian model to increase the understanding and treatment of ovarian cancer.

The commercial layer facilities include various housing systems including conventional, enriched colony, cage-free and free-range production. Current research focuses on the performance of different genetic stock, biological research and different housing systems. Dr. Anderson is currently seeking industry funding to complete a multi-tier aviary housing system for use in future research projects. To learn more about the project contact Dr. Ken Anderson.

This article was originally published by UEP. It is republished with permission. Photo credit: UEP