The Etowah County Poultry & Egg Association met on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004, at 6 p.m. at the Etowah County Farmer’s Federation building in Gadsden.
     Guest speakers were Ken Howell and 15 Thomas McDonald from the Natural Resource Conservation Service. For the majority of the meeting, Howell discussed the Construction of Stormwater Registration 26-28, 2005 for CAFOs and AFOs. McDonald gave a quick reminder to growers about the importance of the EQUIP watershed program and how to get their farms registered.
     Etowah County agent, Tinsley Gregg, recapped growers on taking accurate and specific soil samples of their farms.
    This meeting was an opportunity for CAFO growers to earn continuing education units.

     The Randolph County Poultry & Egg Association held its annual meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004, at 6:30 p.m at the Hub Restaurant in Wedowee. Valco sponsored the meal of fried chicken and all the fixings.
     Russell Perry, southeast sales representative with Valco, spoke to the group about incandescent versus florescent lighting. A business meeting was held and new officers were elected.
     The Randolph County Poultry & Egg Association presented a plaque to Randolph County Extension agent Stan Roarke for his dedication to and support of the association.

     Tyson Foods recently promoted Ricky Walker from complex manager to director of production for the state of Alabama.
   Walker’s office is in Snead, Ala., and he will be  responsible  for  all  of

Tyson’s live production in the state.
    Originally from Cullman, Ala., Walker has spent most of his life in the poultry industry. His father was a serviceman for Gold Kist and Walker was one of the first scholarship recipients from the Alabama Poultry Foundation.
  After graduating from Auburn University’s poultry science department, Walker has worked for Cargill, ConAgra Foods and has been with Tyson since 1986.
     Currently Walker is the AP&EA secretary, a member of the Executive Committee and chairman of the Heavy Penny-a-hen committee.