Auburn University’s Department of Poultry Science, with help from the National Poultry Technology Center, is building the national’s top poultry research and education facility.
The “Farm,” also known as the Charles C. Miller Jr. Poultry Research and Education Center, will make the school a global leader in poultry research, serving an industry with a statewide annual impact of more than $15 billion and 86,000 jobs.
The Miller Center is on a 30-acre site in north Auburn and is undergoing the final stages of construction, with a completion date expected in 2020. Workers are currently working on a processing plant and several bird research houses.
The farm already offers a Poultry and Animal Nutrition Center-Alabama Poultry and Egg Association Feed Mill, the National Poultry Technology Center’s testing facility, replicated pen facilities for poultry nutrition and management-related research and an administration and education building that includes classrooms.
“The new center will enhance Auburn’s teaching mission by providing hands-on experiences for students, increasing process control to meet current and future research needs and expanding Auburn’s extension mission through industry education courses,” said Bill Dozier, head of the Department of Poultry Science.
The National Poultry Technology Center recently joined forces with Tyson Foods Inc. to open the largest stand-alone solar-powered poultry house to be operated off the grid. Research from the house, located in Cullman, will provide new data on how solar power technology can improve environmental sustainability and profits for farmers.
“As global populations grow, healthy and efficient ways of feeding communities are more important than ever,” said Paul Patterson, dean of the College of Agriculture and director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. “That’s why graduates of degree programs in poultry science and food science are in such high demand by some of the top food companies, public agencies and research centers.”
NPTC is a multidisciplinary research center under the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station with support from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
