COLUMBUS — The Ohio Poultry Association celebrated its 60th anniversary and announced its 2009 poultry award recipients, named each year at the organization’s annual banquet in Columbus.
Significant contributions
These awards honor businesses and individuals who have made significant contributions to Ohio’s egg and poultry industries.
The Meritorious Service Award was given to Sandra Velleman, a professor of animal sciences at The Ohio State University.
This award is given annually to an individual in the academic field who has contributed to the egg and poultry industries.
Velleman has provided nearly 15 years of leadership and service to poultry research programs in Wooster.
New Day Farms
The Environmental Stewardship Award was given to New Day Farms LLC, a third-generation family farm in Raymond, Ohio.
This award is given each year in recognition of a producer’s commitment to the farm’s neighbors and to the environment as a whole.
The farm has taken a number of actions to make their operation more environmentally friendly. Some of these projects include the addition of field buffer strips, stream restorations, storm water wetlands and land application of process water.
New Day Farms is the first poultry operation under the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s jurisdiction to compost 100 percent of its manure products.
The Ohio Poultry Partner Award was given to the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.
This award honors organizations that support the poultry industry.
This year’s recipient was nominated by the Ohio Poultry Association executive committee for the association’s longtime support of the state’s egg, turkey and chicken industries.
Posthumous award
A special posthumous award was given to Robin Burton who passed away in September 2008 after devoting more than 25 years of her life to the agriculture and poultry industries.
Burton was employed with the Ohio Department of Agriculture since 1983, 16 years of which were spent with the Division of Animal Industry as the administrative assistant to the state veterinarian.
Ohio economy
The egg and poultry industries are big contributors to the success of Ohio’s economy. Ohio ranks number two in the nation in egg production — second only to Iowa — and produces more than 7 billion eggs per year with a retail value of more than $483 million.
Ohio is also 11th in the nation for turkey production and produces almost 274 million pounds of Ohio chicken annually.
More than 5,000 people are employed in the poultry industry, with payrolls of more than $50 million.
More information
For more information visit www.ohiopoultry.org.
