U.S. Poultry Foundation representatives present Dr. Joey Bray, chair of SFA’s Department of Agriculture and director of poultry science with the grant check.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Department of Agriculture received a $3,000 student recruiting grant from the U.S. Poultry Foundation during the 2018 International Poultry Expo held in Atlanta, Georgia. The grant will assist the SFA Department of Agriculture in hosting its annual College Experience Day, as well as other recruiting efforts. Pictured, representatives present Dr. Joey Bray, chair of SFA’s Department of Agriculture and director of poultry science, second from right, with the grant check.


NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Stephen F. Austin State University’s Department of Agriculture received a $3,000 student recruiting grant from the U.S. Poultry Foundation during the 2018 International Poultry Expo held in Atlanta, Georgia.

The grant will assist the SFA Department of Agriculture in hosting its annual College Experience Day, as well as other recruiting initiatives. The department’s College Experience Day draws hundreds of high school students from across the region to engage in hands-on agricultural activities at the university’s 642-acre Walter C. Todd Agricultural Research Center. Among the unique initiatives offered during the event is the opportunity for high school students to tour the SFA Broiler Research Center, which works closely with the poultry industry to discover, evaluate and interpret better methods of poultry production.

The foundation awarded recruiting grants totaling $282,500 to 35 colleges and universities across the United States with either a poultry science department or a poultry studies program. The student recruiting program dates to 1994 when the foundation was established to provide annual recruiting funds to attract students to poultry studies and ultimately into careers in the poultry industry. The grant was made possible, in part, from an endowing foundation gift from Frost, a CPA firm.