University of Kentucky extension professor and Department of Animal and Food Sciences associate chair Anthony “Tony” Pescatore is the first recipient of the James H. Denton Distinguished Service Award. Pescatore was recently honoured in Louisville at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Poultry Science Association (PSA). The PSA is a world-leading professional association dedicated to poultry science, according to a news release from the University of Kentucky. 

Pescatore was recognized for his decades of significant and continuous service to PSA’s success and advancement, along with his years of dedication to the poultry science industry and extension efforts at UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE). This service award was recently created and named after poultry science service pioneer James H. Denton, Pescatore’s mentor while receiving his doctorate at Texas A&M University.

Pescatore was the first to receive this service award by the PSA, and being named after his most influential mentor in front of his colleagues was truly a momentous occasion.

“It’s an honor to be the first winner of this new service award,” Pescatore said. “The award being named after one of my mentors and being honored in front of my friends and colleagues makes it even more special. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Pescatore’s history with PSA

Since his first presentation as a student member at the 1977 PSA meeting, Pescatore has served in numerous capacities within the Poultry Science Association. He was elected second PSA vice president in 2001 and served as president in 2004. Pescatore served on the Board of Trustees for the PSA Foundation three times.

In 1996 Pescatore was elected to the PSA board of directors. and has been the parliamentarian at the business meeting for more than a decade. Throughout his career, he has written or coauthored more than 220 abstracts presented at PSA conferences.

In 2000, he served as program chair elect. He also served as program chair for the 2001 joint PSA/American Society of Animal Science/American Dairy Science Association/American Meat Science Association meeting.

Pescatore is a fellow of the Poultry Science Association, receiving both the Pfizer Extension Award in 1993 and the Phibro Extension Award in 2015. He serves on the board of directors for the PSA Foundation and the World Poultry Science Association-USA branch.

Decades of dedication to the poultry industry

Pescatore has been with the University of Kentucky and UK Cooperative Extension Service for more than three decades, providing program support in the areas of management, biosecurity, environmental issues and animal welfare. His specific research interests include environmental nutrition, poultry management and alternative production systems.

Pescatore has co-authored more than 100 scientific articles, extension publications and conference proceedings. During his UK tenure, Pescatore worked with local and state government to recruit poultry operations to Kentucky, which helped increase from a $25 million to $1.2 billion industry.

At UK, Pescatore received the 2014 M.D. Whiteker Award for Excellence in Extension Programming from UK. He twice served as president of the Federation of Animal Science Societies.

Pescatore will soon retire as a faculty member, extension professor and Department of Animal and Food Sciences associate chair at the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. During his tenure, Pescatore was part of a regional group working to reduce farmer stress, he led programs to train veterinarians in backyard chicken flock care, helped poultry growers access affordable energy, trained on basics for safe use of poultry litter, provided expertise on protecting poultry flocks from the avian influenza outbreak and much more.

Today, Pescatore emphasizes the importance of service and why the poultry industry is so critical to feeding Kentucky and beyond.

“As faculty, we all have a service component and providing meaningful service to others is our goal,” Pescatore said. “My purpose has been to make the poultry industry sustainable, efficient and profitable while respecting our environment. Poultry are the most efficient animals for creating protein and we have a lot of people in the world to feed.”