Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. Recognizes Achievements

Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. (DPI), the trade association for the Delmarva Peninsula’s meat chicken industry, held its 56th annual Booster Banquet tonight in Salisbury, Maryland and recognized 13 outstanding poultry growers and three individuals for their work on behalf of the chicken industry.

The J. Frank Gordy, Sr. Delmarva Distinguished Citizen Award, DPI’s highest honor, was presented to chicken grower, farmer, businessman, and DPI leader Douglas W. Green of near Princess Anne, Maryland. Mr. Green has served as chairman of the DPI Grower Committee and was 2003 DPI President. He remains on the Board of Directors. A graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore with a major in general agriculture Mr. Green started raising chickens on his own farm in 1977 and he continues to grow chickens at his Sandy Ridge Farm, along with corn, soybeans, and small grains. He also is manager of the Atlantic Tractor store near Pocomoke City, Maryland. While president, he led DPI’s efforts to become more active in legislative and community outreach programs. During his year as president, DPI hosted the National Chicken Cooking Contest in Baltimore. Mr. Green served as a member of the Maryland Agricultural Commission and was chairman in parts of 2005-2007. It was during his leadership that the commission, at the request of Governor Bob Ehrlich, began a 15 month process of gathering data for and writing “A statewide plan for agricultural policy and resource management.” He has served on the board of directors of the Somerset County Farm Bureau, including a stint as vice president; as a Maryland Farm Bureau member; a member of the Mid Atlantic Farm Credit Nominating Committee; and a Somerset Conservation District Cooperator.

DPI’s Medal of Achievement award for an elected person was presented to Maryland Delegate Addie Eckardt who represents Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot, and Wicomico counties. Mrs. Eckardt has been a strong supporter of the chicken industry. She first was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1994. Though not a member of the environmental committee that deals with most of the chicken industry issues, she worked for the chicken industry in the House Economic Matters Committee and Appropriations Committee. As a fiscal conservative, she understands the wishes of the majority of residents of the Eastern Shore and questions the size and mission of state government. Mrs. Eckardt believes in the Jeffersonian principles of limited government and attempts to apply those beliefs to the state of Maryland. As chairman of the Eastern Shore delegation, she has been a champion for the chicken industry and was instrumental in helping Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. offer its hugely successful Chicken Day in Annapolis lunch and reception in January. She has tried to convince the University of Maryland, Baltimore, home of the Environmental Law Clinic that is working against the chicken industry, to be less confrontational and to work to help farm families.

Dr. Nathanial Tablante with the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Maryland College Park was presented with the Edward H. Ralph DPI Medal of Achievement for a non-elected person. With three dozen years of experience in the animal and poultry industries, including 15 here on Delmarva, he has made a positive difference for the chicken industry. Dr. Tablante has served on several DPI committees, including the Poultry Health Committee, Emergency Poultry Disease Task Force, Live Production Committee, and Grower Committee, among others. He has helped with the planning and execution of the Delmarva Chicken Festival educational component and the DPI-sponsored National Meeting on Poultry Health and Processing. As a university employee, he has responsibilities in extension, teaching, and research and is the author of hundreds of papers, reports, and presentations. He has been a faculty advisor for graduate-level students. As a veterinarian, he has been active in the American Association of Avian Pathologists and the American Veterinary Medical Association. He is president of the national Council on Agricultural Science and Technology, a group that works on a wide variety of agricultural science issues by developing, processing, and disseminating credible science-based information to legislators, regulators, policymakers, news companies, the private sector, and the public. Since assuming a faculty position at the University of Maryland Department of Veterinary Medicine in 1997, he has instituted an Extension and applied research program that focuses on improving poultry health and production through biosecurity and disease prevention.

Additionally, DPI recognized 13 outstanding poultry producers. Selected by their companies from Delmarva’s nearly 1,600 poultry growers, this year’s recipients are:

Earl and Karla Beardsley, Nanticoke, Maryland – Tyson Foods, Inc.

Chad and Joanna Carpenter, Millsboro, Delaware - Mountaire Farms, Inc.

Min Do, Pocomoke City, Maryland - Tyson Food, Inc.

Bill and Hiroko Goehner, Laurel, Delaware - Perdue Farms Inc.

Ali Razwan, Mears, Virginia - Perdue Farms Inc.

Deerfielde Farm, Centreville, Maryland- Allen Harim Farms, LLC

Dean Ricks, Seaford Delaware - Amick Farms, LLC

Bill and Connie Robinson, Church Hill, Maryland - Mountaire Farms, Inc.

Dead Broke Farm, Harrington, Delaware - Perdue Farms Inc.

Peter Tran, Princess Anne, Maryland - Mountaire Farms, Inc.

Ronald and Audrey Tyndall, Seaford, Delaware – Tyson Foods, Inc.

Abdul Wahid, Princess Anne, Maryland - Mountaire Farms, Inc.

Warrington Farm, Bridgeville, Delaware - Perdue Farms Inc.

Close to 700 people attended the DPI banquet; an annual celebration of the Delmarva Peninsula’s chicken industry.