Southeast Universities Land New Poultry Research Funding

Four Southeast universities are getting a share of $465,000 in new research funding aimed at some very practical challenges facing the poultry industry.

U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and the USPOULTRY Foundation approved five new research projects nationwide, with work at Auburn, Clemson, the University of Georgia and the University of Florida making up four of the five.

At Auburn University, researchers will look at a lower-cost approach to improving heat treatment during windrowing. Clemson University will study whether existing FDA-approved animal drugs could be repurposed to control blackhead disease in turkeys.

The University of Georgia is working on a new vaccine-based approach to control avian pathogenic E. coli in poultry production, while the University of Florida will focus on development of a new generation vaccine against Clostridium perfringens.

A fifth project at Ohio State will study how turkey coronavirus is transmitted.

USPOULTRY says the projects were selected based on scientific merit, industry relevance and their potential for real-world value.

The organization and its foundation have invested more than $40 million in research since the program began more than six decades ago.