Director’s Update – July 2025

by Reza Barekatain

From 23 to 26 June 2025, I joined six other members of the PRF, including two academic staff, two postdoctoral fellows, and two PhD students, at the 24th European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition (ESPN) in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The event attracted over 2,400 attendees from around the world. A/Prof Sonia Liu delivered a plenary presentation on “Facilitating the Acceptance of Low CP Diets for Poultry.” Her talk was well received, highlighting the latest and most innovative research being undertaken at the University of Sydney on low protein diets.

Dr Mehdi Toghyani, Dr Shemil Macelline, Dr Eunjoo Kim, and Ms Jojo Wang also presented posters at the symposium:

Jojo Wang presented a poster titled “Protein concentration in wheat influences the growth performance of broilers offered reduced-crude protein diets.”

Eunjoo Kim showcased a poster on “Effect of different NSP enzymes alone or in combination on performance, digestibility, and intestinal SCFA production in broilers.”

Mehdi Toghyani’s contribution titled “Combination of hydroxychloride and organic trace minerals improves egg production rate and eggshell percentage in older layer hens.”

Shemil Macelline presented on “Kafirin indices and RVA starch pasting profiles in sorghums are indicative of growth performance and nutrient digestibility in broiler chickens.”

The ESPN provided an excellent opportunity to stay abreast of the latest developments in poultry nutrition research, as well as to network with industry professionals, overseas collaborators, and peers. Well done to the organisers!

Finally, we are very pleased to confirm nine outstanding invited speakers for APSS 2026, as listed below. Their contributions will span topics including broiler and laying hen nutrition, welfare and behaviour, artificial intelligence, gut health, and avian influenza:

Prof Michael Kidd – University of Arkansas, USA

Prof Tina Widowski – University of Guelph, Canada

Prof Richard Ducatelle – Ghent University, Belgium

Prof Kirsty Short – University of Queensland, Australia

Prof Aaron Cowieson – dsm-firmenich, Scotland

Prof Mike Persia – Virginia Tech, USA

A/Prof Neamat ElTazi – PoultrySync, Egypt

Dr Mehdi Toghyani – University of Sydney, Australia

Dr Peta Taylor – University of Melbourne, Australia

We look forward to another exciting conference, with paper submissions open from now until the end of September 2025.