May 6, 2026 – 09:00-15:30 US Eastern Time
Coordinator: Lilong Chai, UGA Poultry Science
Welcome & Updates
09:00 AM Welcome and Poultry Science Department Update
Todd Applegate, Department Head & Distinguished Professor, UGA Poultry Science
09:10 AM Welcome and Georgia Poultry Federation Update
Mike Giles, President, Georgia Poultry Federation
09:20 AM UGA Poultry Extension Update
Casey Ritz, Professor & Extension Coordinator, UGA Poultry Science
09:30 AM HPAI and Its Control in Poultry Production
Erica Speckman, Acting Research Leader, National Poultry Research Center, USDA
10:15 AM Broiler Welfare Management on Commercial Farms
Karen Christensen, Senior Director for Animal Welfare, Tyson Foods
11:00 AM Advanced Food Safety Management for Poultry Products
Jonathan James, Senior Director for Food Safety & Lab Services, Wayne-Sanderson Farms
11:30 AM Controlling Foodborne Pathogen Loads in Eggs and Layers
Ramesh Selvaraj, Professor, UGA Poultry Science
Break
Afternoon Technical Session
1:00 PM Modern Poultry Processing Technologies
Brian Kiepper, Associate Professor, UGA Poultry Science
1:45 PM AI & Robotics in Precision Poultry Farming
Ramesh Bist, Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University
2:30 PM AI-Driven Bio-Intelligence and Operational Intelligence in Poultry Farming
Ali Murtaza, Founder and CEO, Poulta
3:00 PM Precision Poultry and Barn Microbiome: Smarter Data for Better Decisions
Natalie Urie, Veterinary Epidemiologist, Barnwell Bio
3:30 PM Conference Conclusion
Lilong Chai, AssociateProfessor & Engineering Specialist, UGA Poultry Science
Registration link:
The conference will be recorded for sharing with registered participants
(The event is free for student participants, but registration is required).
This year’s conference will be the 6th annual Georgia Precision Poultry Farming Conference. Our past five conferences have trained 2,000 attendees from 50+ countries.