WPSA Newsletter

Newsletter Editor: Dr G.B. Havenstein
gerald_havenstein@ncsu.edu

WPSA Travel Grant Programme
It is generally agreed that enhancing the educational, research and experience opportunities of young poultry science professional and technical people is critical to the pace of development of more efficient poultry production, regardless of whether they are part of an intensive technological industry or they are involved in small-scale, family production systems.......... Read more

Proceedings of the XXII European Poultry Congress
The proceedings of the XXII European Poultry Congress that was held in Verona, Italy in September 2006, are available on the WPSA website (www.wpsa.com).  

WPSA Branch News: USA Branch

WPSA Sponsored and other poultry related Symposia and Conferences

Congress "down-under" receives top marks

The 23rd World’s Poultry Congress held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition centre from 30 June to 4 July 2008 was an outstanding success as evidenced by the accolades that have flowed in from delegates since the meeting. The success, according to the Congress chair Dr Bob Pym, was due to a number of factors including: a superb venue at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre for the staging of the Congress and the associated exhibition; a relevant and broad based scientific and technical programme; the inclusion of a number of concurrent affiliated meetings; challenging thought-provoking plenary presentations each day from world class keynote speakers; excellent presentations from invited and contributed paper speakers in the concurrent symposia sessions and high quality poster presentations; the largest and most comprehensive poultry trade exhibition ever staged in Australia; the close involvement of poultry producers through the affiliated Australian Poultry Information Exchange (PIX) meeting; the location of the City of Brisbane and all it has to offer; and an experienced and talented Congress management team. “The contribution to the success of the Congress by the PCO, Event Planners Australia, in pulling this incredibly complex meeting together cannot be overstated, Dr Pym said.”

The excellent keynote address in the Opening ceremony by Professor John Hodges titled “Emerging boundaries for poultry production: Challenges, opportunities and dangers” following the “welcome to country”, fire making ceremony and youth choir renditions of songs celebrating Australia’s multi-cultural heritage, set the scene for a series of thought-provoking addresses over the next few days from a number of the keynote speakers. Those speakers challenged the industry to closely examine its practices and consider how to ensure its sustainability in the future.

There were some 2300 participants from 82 countries at the Congress, which also included the following meetings: 6th Asian Pacific Poultry Health Conference (AP6), 4th International Ratite Science Symposium (4IRSS), 2008 Australian Poultry Information Exchange (PIX), Australian Poultry Pure Breeds Workshop and the Australian Turkey Federation Workshop. Following the plenary sessions each day, there were ten concurrent streams from morning tea to 5.30 PM, covering a very broad array of topics and disciplines. There was thus something for everybody. The Congress included some 600 oral presentations, including 120 keynote and concurrent session invited speaker presentations, and 400 poster presentations. It also included a Youth Programme with 60 participants from 30 countries; who were provided registration and accommodation as well as a four-day post-Congress tour of southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. In addition, 15 young scientists from developing countries participated in WPSA’s Young Scientist Travel Grants programme, which provided travel costs as well as registration and accommodation over the period of the Congress.

Many of the delegates were from developing countries which necessitated an active and effective fund raising programme to support the attendance of a significant number of them. An important stream, culminating in a workshop on the final day, was associated with support for the development of a sustainable poultry industry in developing countries, and in impacting meaningfully on the burgeoning world food crisis through efficient small-scale family poultry production. There was good representation from groups involved globally in support for small-scale poultry production in developing countries, including FAO, INFPD, IRPC, WPSA, GTZ, DANIDA etc’.

The poultry trade exhibition which was held in the 5000m2 exhibition hall adjacent to and under the same roof as the Convention Centre, included 220 exhibitor booths, with exhibitors from 20 countries. This was by far the largest poultry trade exhibition ever staged in Australia. Interaction between Congress delegates and the trade exhibition was facilitated by the location of morning and afternoon teas as well as lunch box distribution (all part of the registration fee), in the exhibition area. Delegates commented favourably on the excellent system used for providing lunches, which completely eliminated the need for queuing.

In his closing remarks on behalf of the Congress Organising Committee at the Closing Ceremony, Dr Pym expressed his gratitude to the Congress sponsors. “They have played an absolutely crucial role insofar that without their input it would have been simply impossible to stage this meeting. I sincerely hope that their input is rewarded and that they all feel their efforts have been worthwhile,” he said. He went on to thank the organizations who supported the attendance of young scientists and others from developing countries. “Without that support we would have missed out on much of the rich diversity provided by their contributions”. “Our great appreciation also to those providing support for our youth and young scientist programmes. These people are the future of our industry, and their presence at meetings such as this is crucial for the development of the industry.”

By all accounts, the 23rd World’s Poultry Congress was an interesting, enjoyable and worthwhile experience for the large majority of delegates.

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Dr Piet Simons who has served the worldwide WPSA extremely well for the past 16 years formally stepped down from his General Secretary’s position at the Closing Ceremony of the 23rd World’s Poultry Congress in Brisbane, Australia. His term of office will officially conclude at the end of 2008, and he will be succeeded as General Secretary by Dr Roel Mulder, who was elected to serve the WPSA as General Secretary during the Councillor’s meeting. Dr Mulder is also from the Netherlands. Piet gave the following farewell address to the Association as its Secretary at the Closing Ceremony in Brisbane.

Ladies and Gentleman:

First, I want to thank the organizers for giving me the opportunity to speak at the end of the 23rd World’s Poultry Congress here in Brisbane, Australia, and at nearly the end of a period of 16 years as respectively your President and General Secretary of WPSA.

It has been a wonderful Congress, well organized; good speakers; friendly people meeting in an ideal climate for the whole poultry family. We are here to exchange poultry knowledge and possible other social information. No politics involved and that is good. That is the best way to make progress.

On behalf of the WPSA I heartily thank our host, the Australian Branch for arranging this excellent event. Special thanks on behalf of the entire WPSA membership must go to the chairman of this event, Dr Bob Pym, but also to the numerous other members of the various organizing committees.

Twenty-eight years ago Dr Rupert Coles, the then General Secretary of WPSA, phoned me from Malta and asked me about the possibility of organizing a World Poultry Congress in The Netherlands for 1982, because the venue of the 17th World’s Poultry Congress that had been planned for Poland in that year had to be changed, as Poland was under martial law.

In those days I was Secretary of the Dutch Branch. A discussion with the Board of WPSA in Paris, in which I participated, led to a postponement of the 1982 World’s Congress for 2 years, and the Finnish people who where organizing a European Conference changed their meeting to the 17th World’s Poultry Congress that was held in Helsinki during 1984.

My plan was then to get the 18th World’s Poultry Congress to be held in Amsterdam in 1988, but I lost out against Japan, and got the 1992 Congress instead. During the eighties I was already busy with getting support from the poultry industry and I was able to attract almost 1.3 million Euro’s for sponsoring the 1992 Congress. At the Amsterdam Congress, I became President of WPSA. The WPSA membership at that time was about 3800 with 37 or 38 Branches. WPSA’s financial situation was miserable in 1992.

Because of that situation, I began soliciting money for WPSA, just as I had done before for the World’s Congress, and was again successful in doing so. From 1996 until now I have served WPSA as its General Secretary, and during that time WPSA has more than doubled its membership and its number of Branches. The financial situation for WPSA is now also very good. For all these efforts I was given the McDougall Medal at the 12th European Conference in Verona, Italy. I am very proud and thankful to all of you for that honour.

WPSA has been able to spend about $50,000 for travel Grants to bring young scientists and students here to the Congress in Australia. Over the past 10 years WPSA has given many grants to students, and it has funded numerous speakers to developing countries to bring those countries new knowledge about poultry. WPSA has also started many new Branches in developing countries and has supported them. Our organization, the World’s Poultry Science Association, is a wonderful organization. We bring people from the poultry industry and from poultry research worldwide together and they exchange knowledge about poultry.

I have worked together with four Editors of the World’s Poultry Science Journal (Chris Hann, Jim McNab, David Martin and Lucy Tucker), with Secretary Rose Marie Wegner, with two Treasurers (Wade Brant and Francine Bradley), and with four WPSA Presidents (Yukio Yamada, Anuradha Desai, Peter Hunton and Rüveyde Akbay). I thank them all for their cooperation. During the whole time that I worked internationally for WPSA I was assisted by Dorien Kleverwal. Her great help and expertise is also very much appreciated. Nearly daily I have worked in some way together with Dr Roel Mulder, Dr Francine Bradley, Mr David Martin and now Dr Lucy Tucker, and of course Mrs Dorien Kleverwal. We formed a kind of tandem. I sincerely thank them all for their fruitful cooperation.

Ladies and gentleman, Dr Bob Pym is now the new President, Dr Roel Mulder is the new General Secretary and Dr Francine Bradley continues as the Treasurer of WPSA. They certainly will do a very good job. I am prepared to continue to help them especially with getting support from the industries and hope that I can continue to serve WPSA in that manner for many years to come.

I very much appreciated the confidence I received from all of you over the years. Thanks to everybody, I wish you all good luck. Have a safe journey home and I look forward to seeing you again in a very nice place somewhere around the world.

Piet Simons

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Report from the President

President Rüveyde Akbay was very active during the last year of her term as the president of WPSA. She attended numerous WPSA sponsored events, and generally provided the opening and closing comments for each event. Following the March 2007 Board Meeting in Bangkok, she attended the 4th International Poultry Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt (March 27-30, 2007). On June 21-23, 2007, she participated in the 4th International Symposium on Turkey Production in Berlin, which was organised by Working Group 10 of the European Federation of WPSA with the support of the Institute of Poultry Diseases of the Free University in Berlin. From June 28-30, she attended the VIV Turkey and the 2007 Poultry Technologies International Trade Fair in Istanbul. This is the most important international poultry and white meat products fair in Turkey, the Middle East, the Balkans, and in the Central Asian republics. The Turkish Branch had a stand and visitors and the attendees were informed about the activities of WPSA. On August 26-30, Prof. Akbay took part in the 16th European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition in Strasbourg, France. Following the Symposium in Strasbourg she participated in the 18th European Symposium on the Quality of Poultry Meat and the 12th European Symposium on the Quality of Eggs and Egg Products in Prague, Czech Republic (September 2-5, 2007). On October 4-5, 2007, she attended the 15th Baltic and Finnish Poultry Conference in Riga, Latvia. During her stay in Riga she had the opportunity to visit the SIGRA Animal Research Institute and had a meeting with the director of the Institute Prof. Dr Aleksandrs Jemeljanovs and the former Branch President of WPSA Latvia Prof. Dr Janis Nudiens. In this institute they are conducting research on dairy, cows, pigs and poultry (broilers and layers). The University of Latvia’s Faculty of Agriculture has a branch within the research centre, and the institute has a good relationship with our Latvian WPSA Branch.

On October 22-23, Prof. Akbay attended the 1st International Poultry Exhibition and Conference held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, that was sponsored by the Sri Lankan Branch of WPSA. The Sri Lankan Branch was established in 1997 and now has 120 members. The conference attracted 307 participants, with most of them coming from South Asia. The exhibition had a total number of 10,236 visitors. On November, 15, 2007, the Turkish Branch of WPSA held a meeting in Izmir on the “Adaptation process of the Turkish Poultry Sector to the European Union” which she attended. This meeting was hosted by the Ege University.

During the first half of 2008, she participated in the International Poultry Scientific Forum and International Poultry Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, USA (January 21-25). This meeting and exposition provided her an excellent opportunity to meet with many North and South American scientists and company representatives and exchange the latest poultry information. On March 7-12, she went to Nepal following an invitation from the Nepalese Branch. On March 8th the Nepalese organized a conference with several speakers, and she provided an update on WPSA’s activities. Another meeting was held at Nepal’s Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science. On March 12, all the Nepalese poultry related associations that are under the umbrella of the Poultry Entrepreneurs Forum came together for a joint meeting at the local Chamber of Commerce. These included the Nepal Feed Industries Association, Nepal Hatcheries Association and the Egg Producers Association. In addition to the members of the WPSA Nepal Branch, all of the associations’ chairmen and board members were also present, and the representatives of each gave information about their organisational structure and activities. The Nepalese Branch is planning to hold an international congress in 2009.

On May 7-10, 2008, Prof. Akbay participated in the 1st Mediterranean Summit of WPSA entitled “Advances and Challenges in Poultry Science” in Porto Carras, Greece. During this new regional poultry symposium it was decided to establish a Mediterranean Network of WPSA to promote the diffusion of WPSA into the Mediterranean countries and to develop new activities. It was also decided to hold the next summit in Turkey during October, 2009. After that summit, future summits will be held on a biannual basis with the third summit taking place in Egypt in 2011. On June 25, she attended a seminar organised by the Malaysian Branch on the subject of “The New Energy Crisis: Food, Feed or Fuel” in Selangor, Malaysia, and on June 29 – July 4, 2008, she attended and presided over the Board Meeting and Councillors Meeting during the 23rd World’s Poultry Congress in Brisbane, Australia.

Rüveyde Akbay, President

Report from the General Secretary

During 2007, WPSA had 76 Branches including two branches that have been suspended for not paying their dues (Kirgistan and United Arab Emirates). New Branches were established in Mali, Singapore and in Togo (West Africa), during that year. The total number of WPSA members increased from 7156 in 2006 to 7406 in 2007, an increase of about 3%.

A number of branches are arrears with their dues payments, and the Secretary General’s office is continually working to get them to make their payments. Branches who do not keep their annual dues current will be suspended.

During 2007, WPSA’s Speaker’s Bureau supported three speakers for conferences in Vietnam (Dr W. Tondeur, The Netherlands), in Hungary (Ir P.L.M. van Horne, The Netherlands), and for the Baltic Conference (Dr S. Rautenschlein, Germany).

Twenty three WPSA Travel Grants were approved by the Executive Committee, and 13 were used during 2007. Some of those approved were not used due to Visa and other problems. Travel was supported for participants to the 8th Asian Pacific Poultry Conference, Bangkok, Thailand (3); the 4th World's Poultry Conference in Egypt, 27-30 March (2); the 4th International Symposium on Turkey Production, 21-23 June, Berlin, Germany (1); the 29th UK Poultry Science Symposium, 23-25 July ((2); the XVI European Federation’s XVI Nutrition Symposium, 26-30 August, Strasbourg, France (2); the European Federation’s Poultry Meat/Egg Symposium, 2-5 September, Prague, Czech Republic (2); and the European Federation’s 5th Poultry Genetics Symposium (1). Travel grant recipients were provided to members from Bangladesh (2), Belgium (2), UK (1, member lives in Cameroon), China (2), India (1), Iran (1), Pakistan (1), Thailand (2) and Turkey (1).

The WPSA Board introduced a new e-mail WPSA Newsletter in October, 2006. The Newsletter is being distributed to individual members who request it via the WPSA website (www.wpsa.com). As of July, 2008, the Newsletter has over 800 subscribers, but the officers and Board would like to have all of the more than 3,000 members who have provided the Association with their e-mail addresses subscribe to receive the Newsletter. All of the previous Newsletters are available on the WPSA website.

During 2007, the Secretary General made a number of visits on behalf of WPSA, including to the USA (U.S. Poultry & Egg Association’s International Poultry Forum and Exhibition in Atlanta, Georgia); Bangladesh (5th International Poultry Show and Seminar); Bangkok (VIV Asia and 8th Asian/Pacific Poultry Conference); Mauritius (30th Anniversary Livestock Feed Factory); Czech Republic (Poultry Meat and Egg Symposium); Brazil (XX Latin American Poultry Congress); France (European Federation’s Nutrition Symposium); India (VIV); and to Taiwan’s annual meeting.

WPSA continues to work on the formation of two new Branches: one in Tanzania and another in Papua New Guinea. When these two branches are brought on board, this will bring the total number of WPSA Branches to 78. We hope to inaugurate these new Branches soon.

Piet Simons, General Secretary

Report from the Treasurer

The Association has experienced growth in member numbers, expenses, and income over the past four years. Journal printing and mailing costs increased between 2004 and 2005. Since then these expenses have been fairly stable. The total of all costs associated with the Journal, WPSA’s main communication and educational organ, continue to make up the largest expense for the Association. What we were calling “new programmes” four years ago, are now well established and bringing benefit to both individual members and branches. There has been significant activity in terms of getting the WPSA Archives digitized at the National Agricultural Library in Washington, D.C., and in general, more use is being made of the Travel Grant, Speakers’ Bureau, and Branch Development Funds.

Over the four year period from the last Congress, our portfolio posted net growth in two years and net losses in the other two. Overall the Association’s value increased by some $90,000. This gain has been possible due to the good performance of the Association’s investment portfolio. Income from dues and journal sponsorship has fluctuated over the past four years. At the end of 2007 the Association was realizing more income from dues and journal advertisers than four years ago. However, income from journal sponsors was down significantly. In the past year we have not received the projected income from journal sales and subscriptions. Interest and earning income on the Association’s portfolio was up over 200%, however.

The main expense of the Association is the printing and distribution of our highly regarded journal. Those costs went up nearly $37,000 between 2003 and 2007. All other expenses, i.e. “general operations,” are up some 40%.

Given that expenses are now exceeding income, the interest and income on investments have covered the deficits. The strategy is not to grow the size of our portfolio; actively seeking greater growth at this time would be contrary to our non-profit status. In its current size, the portfolio provides for ample operating reserves.

Due to the efforts of the General Secretary in seeking and maintaining Journal sponsorship and the efforts of Branch Secretaries in terms of prompt payment of dues, the Association is in a very sound financial position. There is no need for an increase in the dues. The WPSA missions of education, organization, and research can be well supported in the near future.

The Executive Committee and Board have been working to provide more services to the membership through WPSA’s Special Programmes (Archives, Speakers’ Bureau, Travel Grants, and Branch Development). Monies spent on those programmes have increased significantly during the four year period. It is especially gratifying that those funds are being utilized by an ever growing number of branches.

Our Editor and Secretary are working to achieve better income from sales of the Journal. As more members opt for electronic receipt of the Journal, additional savings should be realized. We must keep our generous sponsors and advertisers. Membership retention and recruitment of new members is critical. If there is positive movement in all of these areas, WPSA is well poised to celebrate its centennial in sound financial shape.

The complete financial records of the Association were presented to the Board on June 30th in Brisbane, Australia.

Francine A. Bradley, Treasurer

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Election of Officers and Board Members: The Councillors who were present to represent their respective Branches held an election for the officers and Board Members who will serve the association during the next four years. Dr Bob Pym (Australia) will serve as the new President of WPSA; Dr Roel Mulder (The Netherlands) will serve as the new General Secretary; Dr Francine Bradley (USA) will continue as the Treasurer, and Drs. Edir da Silva (Brazil), Rob Gous (South Africa), Colin Whitehead (United Kingdom), Ning Yang (China), and Michelle Tixier-Boichard (France) were elected to serve as the new Vice-Presidents. Rob Gous will serve as the Senior Vice-President. Dr Rüveyde Akbay will also continue to serve on the Board as the Past President.

The International Poultry Hall of Fame Inductees: Five long-time WPSA members were inducted into the International Poultry Hall of Fame during the Brisbane Council Meeting. They included Dr David Farrell (Australia), Dr Daniel Fletcher (USA), Professor Dr Dietmar K. Flock (Germany), Dr Peter Hunton (Canada), and Dr Ir Piet C. M. Simons (The Netherlands). Our sincere congratulations to all of these new members of the IPHF.

Selection of the Venue for the 25th World’s Poultry Congress for 2016: Three Branches (China, Singapore and the United Kingdom) competed for the chance to host the 25th World’s Poultry Congress that will be held during the summer of 2016. All three branches made excellent presentations to the Council as to why the Congress should be held in their respective locations. In a very close decision, the Chinese proposal received the most delegate votes on the 2nd ballot, so the 25th WPC will be held in Beijing, China. The Brazil Branch has plans well underway for the 24th WPC that will be held in Salvador, Brazil, 5-8 August 2012.

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WPSA’s coveted Research Award was presented to Dr Jason C.H. Shih from the Department of Poultry Science at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. Dr Shih’s discovery of the keratinase enzyme whose use has been shown to greatly improve the digestibility of proteins found in common poultry feedstuffs was the primary basis for the award. The enzyme involved was isolated from a thermophilic bacterium making it able to withstand the pelleting process used with poultry feeds. Different versions of the enzyme are being marketed by BioResources International (BRI) under the trade names of Versazyme as a feed additive and as Valkerase which is used for the digestion of feathers. Novus International has recently assumed the marketing rights for the BRI products.

The WPSA Education Award was presented to the B.V. Rao Institute of Poultry Management & Technology located in Uruli, Kanchan, District of Pune, India. For a description of the Institute and its work go to the following website: http://education.vsnl.com/bvripmt/.

The WPSA Industry/Organization Award was presented to the Australian Poultry Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) that performs research aimed at improving the sustainability of the Australian poultry industries, with a primary focus on egg and chicken meat production. The Poultry CRC is a joint venture established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Programme. The CRC Programme links researchers with industry to focus R&D efforts on utilisation and commercialisation. The close interaction between researchers and users of research is a key feature of the programme, along with industry contribution to CRC education programmes to produce industry ready graduates. For a full description of the Poultry CRC go to the following website: http://www.poultrycrc.com.au/. Dr Mingan Choct, the Director of the Poultry CRC accepted the Award.

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Dr Bob Pym has become the new President of the WPSA worldwide. As he takes on this mantle, we have been privileged to take a closer look at Bob’s CV, and how he has contributed to poultry science since his student days. Bob is Australian by birth and has been a major player in both education and interaction with commercial poultry production. In my opinion, he will represent the WPSA well, as he is a very genial person, who is inclusive and welcoming to all poultry scientists. I would like to personally extend my best wishes to him for the forthcoming presidential term.

Following graduation with a Bachelor of Rural Science from the University of New England in 1965, Bob Pym joined the New South Wales Department of Agriculture as a Livestock Research Officer in poultry genetics at the Poultry Research Station at Seven Hills in Sydney. Over the next 19 years his research focused on genetic and physiological aspects of feed utilisation efficiency and body composition of meat chickens. His work on feed efficiency was instrumental in the adoption of direct selection for food utilisation efficiency, firstly by Australian poultry breeding companies, and later by the large international breeders. His MSc in 1971 (University of New South Wales) and PhD in 1977 (University of New England) were both focused on this area of study. In 1980 he developed a set of abdominal fat callipers for use in chickens which were widely used by international breeders as an objective and accurate measure of fatness in their broiler breeding programmes.

In 1984 Bob moved from Seven Hills to the University of Queensland in Brisbane where he was appointed Senior Lecturer in Poultry Science in the School of Veterinary Science. His own research continued in the above areas until the mid 1990s when research support fell away as a result of the Australian poultry breeding companies making a decision to cease broiler breeding programmes and to import overseas selected grandparent stock. Prior to this Bob had developed an interest in small-scale family poultry farming in developing countries and from the early 1980s was involved in courses and development projects in a number of countries including Indonesia, South Africa, The Philippines, Cambodia, Burma and Lao PDR. This led to a sabbatical with FAO in Rome in 2005 during which time he worked closely with the FAO personnel involved in support of small-scale sector 3 and 4 poultry farmers in developing countries. The focus of the sabbatical was to maximise interaction between WPSA and FAO and the other organisations and agencies supporting poultry production in developing countries. This culminated recently in a major programme and workshop in this area at the 23rd World’s Poultry Congress in Brisbane. He was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the 1st Working Group of the WPSA Asian Pacific Federation on Small-scale family poultry farming and organised the Asian Pacific Federation working group symposium on HPAI and Small-scale Family Poultry Farming in Bangkok in March 2007 to coincide with the 8th Asian Pacific Poultry Conference.

At the University of Queensland he lectures to Veterinary and Agricultural Science students on poultry husbandry, genetics and breeding, monogastric nutrition, poultry reproduction and monogastric production systems. He has supervised some 23 successful postgraduate candidatures (12 PhDs), in a range of areas. He has published widely in the above research areas and has been invited to speak at numerous international conferences and meetings since the early 1980s.

Bob has been President of the Australian Branch of WPSA since 1993, was a member of the Australian Egg Industry Research and Development Council from 1989 to 1998 and was awarded the Australian Poultry Award in 1995. Bob has been periodically Editor of the annual Australian Poultry Science Symposium since 1998 and is on the International Editorial Board of WPSJ. In 2003, following the sad passing of Dr Bruce Sheldon, then Senior Vice President on the WPSA Board, Bob replaced Bruce on the Board until the 22nd World’s Poultry Congress in Istanbul in 2004. In 2000 he headed the successful bid for the 23rd World’s Poultry Congress and was Chair of the Congress which was held in Brisbane from 30 June to 4 July 2008. In his closing remarks at the Congress, Bob expressed the desire that during the term of his presidency, WPSA will focus its attention on the challenge of assisting the global poultry industry to maintain its efficiency and ensure its sustainability, and in so doing have a meaningful and lasting impact on the burgeoning world food crisis in developing countries.

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Roel Mulder (62), The Netherlands, studied chemistry at Delft University of Technology and obtained his PhD at the National Agricultural University in Wageningen, The Netherlands. He then worked in several different positions (last position as acting director) at the Spelderholt Centre for Poultry Research, Beekbergen, before he took up the position of Manager International, Research and Public Affairs for ID-Lelystad and the Agricultural Research Organisation at Wageningen. He also spent 3 years in Brussels, Belgium, at the European Commission Directorate General Research, COST Agriculture and Biotechnology. After that he started his own consulting business in 2002.

For WPSA, Dr. Mulder has been active since the 1980’s, when he was involved in organising several symposia for working groups of the European Federation of WPSA. In 1992, he served as the chairman of the scientific committee of for the World’s Poultry Congress that was held in Amsterdam. In recent years he has served as assistant secretary and director of communications for WPSA.

In his new position he expects to work closely with the Board of Directors, and to continue the work of Piet Simons, who started to give WPSA more visibility and exposure at conferences and exhibitions. He will also continue to build good relations with industry and other professional personnel and organisations.

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The digital archive for the World’s Poultry Science journal provides access from the first issue in 1945 until 2003 online - a total of 240 issues!

Volumes 1 - 59 of World's Poultry Science Journal are now available on Cambridge Journals Online. The archive is fully searchable by keyword and author; abstracts can be saved and emailed, full text articles printed and bibliographic details exported into reference management software. Perpetual Access is available for a one-off fee of just £500/$995*.

For further information, or to purchase the WPSJ Digital Archive, please email jnlsales@cambridge.org.

*For those who do not subscribe to the current volume, there is an additional annual maintenance fee of £45/$85, payable from the second year of the deal. www.journals.cambridge.org/WPS.

The Digital Archive is primarily designed for University libraries, companies etc. (not for individual WPSA members, unless they are willing to pay the subscription price!). Individual members located at universities or companies, if their library or company has subscribed, may access it through their organization. .

WPSA has a programme to provide travel assistance for young WPSA members and students to participate in regional and global WPSA Conferences

It is generally agreed that enhancing the educational, research and experience opportunities of young poultry science professional and technical people is critical to the pace of development of more efficient poultry production, regardless of whether they are part of an intensive technological industry or they are involved in small-scale, family production systems. It is stressed that any travel assistance that WPSA does provide, however, must be independent of and in addition to that currently provided by World's Poultry Congresses, Regional Conferences or individual Branches. That is, the travel assistance will target and benefit additional STUDENTS and YOUNG MEMBERS (both scientists and poultry producers) from developing countries and STUDENTS from developed countries. A scheme of open competition for such WPSA Travel Scholarships is now available, and information about the programme can be found on the WPSA website, i.e. www.wpsa.com. Application forms are available on the website.

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WPSA Branch News

USA Branch: The U.S. was well represented at the recent World Poultry Congress in Brisbane, with 140 in attendance. While a number of students and branch members received travel support from the Branch, the majority of those attending were able to secure independent funding. All agree that the effort to attend was most worthwhile. The Australian organizing committee is to be congratulated for an excellent programme. The USA Branch is extremely gratified that one of its members, Dr Daniel Fletcher, was inducted into the International Poultry Hall of Fame. For several decades Dr Fletcher conducted an outstanding programme in poultry products technology at the University of Georgia, was very active and served as the President of the USA Branch, and is now Chair of the Animal Science Department at the University of Connecticut.

With the cooperation of the Canadian branch of WPSA, each year the USA branch supports a principal lecture at the annual meeting of the Poultry Science Association (PSA). This year’s meeting was held in July in Niagara Falls, Canada, and it marked the 100th anniversary of the Association. The renowned geneticist, Dr Paul Siegel of Virginia Tech University, delivered an outstanding WPSA lecture entitled "The Poultry Scientist: Past, Present, and future". In future years, the USA branch plans to establish a greater presence at PSA meetings, possibly by sponsoring a symposium on emerging issues in Poultry Science.

The interest and awareness of graduate students in the opportunities afforded by participation in WPSA is being actively cultivated by the USA Branch. As of 2006, all graduate students at U.S. universities who are members of PSA are provided complimentary student membership in WPSA. It is anticipated the interest thus established will continue into their professional lives.

WPSA Sponsored and other poultry related Symposia and Conferences

A number of WPSA sponsored and other poultry meetings have been planned for 2008 and 2009
(See the WPSA Website for contact and registration information), including:

We hope that many of you will consider participating in one or more of these poultry educational meetings. See the WPSA website (www.wpsa.com ) for details and registration information.

WPSA Secretariat: Dr Piet Simons, PO Box 31, 7360 AA  Beekbergen, The Netherlands
Phone: +31 55 506 3250, Fax: +31 55 506 4858, E-mail: piet.simons@wur.nl or wpsa@xs4all.nl
Website: www.wpsa.com