As the spring semester kicks off, it’s the perfect time to try something new — like the FFA Poultry Evaluation Career Development Event (CDE).
Succeeding in this CDE requires students to select top-quality poultry and poultry products, which they accomplish by completing written exams, conducting live evaluations and participating in other related activities.
For Kailey Kulhanek, the decision to join her FFA chapter’s poultry evaluation CDE team led her down a path she could never have imagined. Not only did her team take first place at the 95th National FFA Convention & Expo, but the experience also helped her decide to study poultry science after high school.
“I dove in headfirst despite having no prior experience [with poultry], and I’m so glad I did,” says Kulhanek, an alumna of the Katy FFA in Katy, Texas, where she served as her chapter’s historian, reporter and treasurer. “In addition to learning more about poultry and the industry as a whole, I honed my study skills and became better at managing my time. Being more proficient in those areas is really paying off now that I’m in college.”
Although Gentry Duncan, a member of the second-place National FFA Poultry Evaluation CDE team (pictured above), grew up on a farm with chickens, he says he was still surprised by how much he learned while preparing to compete.
“My first chore as a young boy was helping my grandmother collect eggs and feed the chickens, so I thought I knew a lot about poultry,” says Duncan, former president and current treasurer of Columbia FFA in Columbia, Mo. “However, studying for this CDE taught me so much more. By examining an egg’s exterior, you can learn a great deal about the quality of its interior as well as the hen that produced it. That’s just one example of what I discovered through this experience.”
To celebrate their hard work and honor their achievements, the USPOULTRY Foundation has provided each member of the top 11 National FFA Poultry Evaluation CDE teams with an all-expenses paid trip to the 2023 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta, Ga.
Attendees will have the chance to connect with poultry industry leaders, learn more about the ever-growing career opportunities in the sector and see the latest technology used by prominent poultry producers.
“We are thrilled to provide this opportunity to our future poultry industry leaders,” says Barbara Jenkins, executive director of the USPOULTRY Foundation, a longtime national FFA corporate partner. “As we continue to focus on feeding our growing population, it’s important that we support and educate the young people who will carry the torch going forward.”
