FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Georgia is the leading state in poultry production and Fort Valley State University is looking to train more poultry scientists.
According to the Georgia Farm Bureau, Georgia produces 26 million pounds of chicken daily.
On March 13, Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff came to FVSU to provide funding to train the next generation of poultry scientists and workers. It's $4 million split between FVSU and the University of Georgia.
Animal scientist Govind Kannan says the school's poultry science major will be a great addition to their school.
"Our goal with this initiative with Senator Ossoff's support and UGA, and industry support, we would incorporate poultry courses within the animal science major, and once we have the basic infrastructure established we'd be ready to offer a full fledge undergraduate program in poultry science," Kannan said.
According to the state's department of agriculture, Ossoff says one reason for the push to fund Georgia's poultry production is the bird flu, also known as avian flu.
In 2022, bird flu was detected in wild birds in the peach state. With more poultry resources and having poultry science become an official major at FVSU, the next generation of workers and scientists can help control, treat, and contain the flu.
Tomilola Abolude was born and raised in Nigeria, Africa. Her mom had a poultry farm. Abolude told 13WMAZ that the birds and picking the eggs piqued her interest in poultry science.
When she was on the farm, her family discovered that there was a 99% mortality of salmonella. A disease that can infect the intestinal tract.
Abolude says the poultry science major will help the students looking to become poultry scientists.
"They will apply the knowledge that they impacted while in class to see how they can improve the overall poultry production," Abolude said.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture says about 138,000 people statewide work in the poultry industry. The state has more than 5,200 poultry and egg farms that accounted for 57% of the state's total sales in 2017.
The state's "Georgia Grown" initiative says the peach state is the top provider of certified organic chickens in the U.S. with sales topping $33 million.