Wes Morris, Group Vice President of Retail Poultry and Prepared Foods for Tyson Foods and USPoultry board member, presented the cheque to Dr Michael Kidd, Director of the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science, University of Arkansas – Fayetteville.

Dr Kidd commmented: "More students are going to college in the US than ever before. The only problem is that the majority of students choose majors outside the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, and those majors typically have lower economic potential and do not drive the US economy. Many other degrees outside of STEM are oversold to students, saturating those career fields to the point of limiting job availability and potential career growth."

Most students do not understand the career potential of STEM fields, much less the poultry industry, explained Dr Kidd, who emphasises that funds from the USPoultry Foundation are vital in the university's outreach to K-12 youth and community college students.

He added: "These funds give us the means to develop forums to attract and explain the vast and lucrative career possibilities that a poultry science major can provide. Moreover, it's a testament that the US poultry industry wants to help us recruit today's youth, contribute to their education, and develop future leaders in these careers. The funds from the USPoultry Foundation allow us to tell our story to youth."

The USPoultry Foundation board recently approved student recruiting grants totalling more than $180,000 to the six US universities with poultry science departments and 14 other institutions with poultry programmes. The Foundation provides annual recruiting funds to colleges and universities to attract students to their poultry programmes.