Poultry Short Course Offered

Decision-makers in the region's poultry sector have an opportunity to head back to class and learn about new technologies that will help improve their industry.

The Department of Agriculture and Marketing, along with other provincial agricultural departments from the Atlantic region and the Nova Scotia Agricultural College's Centre for Continuing and Distance Education, is once again offering the popular Atlantic Poultry Short Course, Feb. 7-11, in Truro.

The comprehensive course, offered every two years, provides a refresher on the basics of poultry production and new information on emerging technologies and innovations to create efficiencies and encourage growth in the region's poultry sector.

"The course is really aimed at producers, farm managers, anyone making decisions on the farm," said Sandy Patterson, course co- ordinator for the Centre for Continuing and Distance Education. "However, because the focus is on information exchange and the topics are fairly broad, it would also be of interest and benefit to those people in the feed, pharmaceutical, farm equipment and poultry inspection industries."

"Farming is a business and, as in any business, you need the tools and information to make sound decisions that will help grow your business," said Alex Oderkirk, a department poultry specialist. "The topics covered in this course and the knowledge gained will help producers make better decisions about what they need to do to make their agri-businesses more competitive."

The course is a series of presentations and workshops that will cover nutrition, lighting, pest control, ventilation, management of layer and meat birds, health, records, food safety and waste management. Regional poultry experts are involved in presenting the course.

For more information on the course, or to register, contact Mr. Patterson at 902-893-6665 by Feb. 7.