National Chicken Council

The staff at NCC wishes everyone a safe, healthy and joyous holiday season!

Each week, NCC features the official representative from each of our Allied Leader and Allied Member companies in a short spotlight column in our Washington Report newsletter. This week's Allied Leader Spotlight is Arjun Ganesan, CEO of Ancera. We asked Arjun three questions: In 2-3 sentences, describe what good or service your company provides to the broiler industry. The broiler industry spends billions every year on managing disease. Ancera’s food defense platform lowers the cost of disease management by delivering precision digital diagnostics and contextual data in near real-time. Can you briefly describe your position and responsibilities within the company? As CEO of Ancera, I lead a team of poultry professionals with backgrounds from live production and veterinary medicine as well as technical teams composed of engineers, data scientists, and microbiologists who are focused on giving the poultry industry the tools they need to make smarter, faster decisions about disease management and food safety. On a typical day, I spend my time building partnerships with leaders across poultry production, allied companies and working with my team to ensure our solutions deliver real value to the people working in this industry every day. What is your favorite chicken dish? Hard to be anything except Butter Chicken. Growing up in India, that was always what I looked forward to every month when my family went out. Glad I can still find it in most cities anywhere I travel across the USA or the world!

Each week, NCC features the official representative from each of our Allied Leader and Allied Member companies in a short spotlight column in our Washington Report Newsletter. This week's Allied Member Spotlight is Sean Davis, who is Co-Leader of AssuredPartners Partners’ Poultry Practice. We asked Sean three questions: In 2-3 sentences, describe what good or service your company provides to the broiler industry. Assured Partners is the 5th largest insurance brokerage in the United States with a specific focus in Agribusiness and Food Manufacturing. We offer Risk management and insurance placement services for complex and hard-to-place accounts including integrators and further processors through our innovative Integrated Poultry Processors Captive and dedicated Market relationships for Property, Stock, Casualty, self-insured Workers Compensation, Recall, Cyber insurance, and more. Can you briefly describe your position and responsibilities within the company? I joined Assured Partners in 2015 after 20 years of building my own agency and now serve as a Co-Leader of Assured Partners’ Poultry Practice. For more than 30 years in the industry, we have concentrated in the food manufacturing and proteins space both domestically and internationally. My involvement with the IPPA captive stretches five years along with my membership and participation in the Georgia Poultry Federation for over 20 years. During the last several years with the hardening property market, I’ve spent time concentrating on proprietary programs on Island in Bermuda and building relationships in the London market for these complex placements. What is your favorite chicken dish? My favorite chicken dish is my wife’s Chicken Marsala.

NCC member J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has been named to Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Reliable Companies 2025:

On this #GivingTuesday2024, please consider making a donation today to the Animal Agriculture Alliance to help safeguard the future of animal agriculture and its invaluable role in society. Thanks to U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, donations made today will be matched dollar-for-dollar! https://lnkd.in/gAdi4Qkb

President-elect Trump announced on Saturday he will nominate Brooke Rollins as Agriculture secretary. Rollins, an attorney who graduated from Texas A&M University with an undergraduate degree in agricultural development, served as White House domestic policy chief during Trump’s first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. She worked as a litigation attorney in Dallas and also clerked for a federal judge in the Northern District of Texas after earning her law degree from the University of Texas. The National Chicken Council (NCC) released the following statement in response to the nomination: “NCC congratulates Brooke Rollins on her nomination as secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has a deep knowledge of agriculture, and we look forward to working with her and the president-elect on issues of importance to America’s chicken producers, including reducing the regulatory burden on our members.” Texas ranks fifth in the nation in broiler chicken production, where the industry produces more than 700 million birds annually, is responsible for 134,000 jobs with a total annual economic impact of $42.8 billion in the state.

Our very own Ashley Peterson joined Mountaire Farms today and their army of volunteers to pack 38,000 meal boxes to feed more than 150,000 people this Thanksgiving! Mountaire's "Thanksgiving for Thousands" program was held in Selbyville, DE, Siler City, NC, Statesville, NC and Lumber Bridge, NC. More info: https://lnkd.in/eCA6KQC6

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service is extending modified poultry line speed waivers through January 15, 2025: https://lnkd.in/eGdwz2zf

She grew up surrounded by chickens, but it's the golf course where she's now making her mark. A visit with Jenny Bae, the daughter of Georgia poultry farmers who's turning heads on the women's professional golf tour, with the lessons she learned from life, living around ag: https://lnkd.in/eC4ywuDs Wayne-Sanderson Farms Georgia Farm Bureau

The incidence of occupational injuries and illnesses within the poultry sector’s slaughter and processing workforce has fallen below all general industry, manufacturing and food manufacturing levels for the first time since the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began recording injuries and illnesses information in 1994. The poultry industry’s rate of 2.6 injuries per 100 full-time workers was below the rate of 4.7 for similar agricultural industries and lower than 3.6 for the entire food manufacturing sector, all of the manufacturing industries at 2.8, and all of the general industry at 2.7. Poultry processing’s 2023 incident rate of 2.6 represents an 89% decrease from 1994, the oldest data available on the BLS website when the recorded rate was 22.7 and demonstrates the advancements the industry has made in improving safety for its workforce. “The poultry industry has always prioritized employee safety and remains dedicated to preventing workplace injuries and illnesses, with a particular focus on musculoskeletal disorders like carpal tunnel syndrome. By embracing ergonomic practices and early medical intervention, and by adopting new technology and automation, the industry has made significant strides in worker safety. We have seen a substantial reduction in injury and illness rates. Nonetheless, the industry remains committed to exploring innovative approaches to further protect our workforce,” stated the Joint Poultry Industry Safety & Health Council in response to the report’s release. The Joint Poultry Industry Safety & Health Council consists of members from the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY), the National Chicken Council (NCC) and the National Turkey Federation (NTF). Collectively, the three organizations represent companies that produce 95% of the nation’s poultry products and directly employ more than 350,000 workers. “Our employees are our most important asset, and their safety is paramount,” said USPOULTRY, NCC and NTF in response to the report. “The poultry industry has consistently focused on preventing workplace injuries and illnesses, and this latest data reflects the outstanding safety performance we have achieved. Having a lower incident rate than the general industry, manufacturing and food manufacturing categories is a milestone we are proud to have reached. We will continue setting new benchmarks to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees.”