University of Arkansas poultry program gets $1.5 million

The University of Arkansas received a gift of about $1.5 million to enhance the university’s poultry science facilities.
Three Arkansas-based poultry companies – Tyson Foods, George’s, and Simmons Foods – contributed to the cause as the university celebrated the 20th anniversary of the university’s Division of Agriculture. Tyson contributed the majority of those funds -- $1.3 million – while George’s and Simmons Foods each made donations of $100,000, reported NWA Online.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was on hand to celebrate the boost to the university’s poultry program. “We really are a national center of excellence, and what that means that students are seeing top quality research that is key to the industry, and if they want to engage in the industry in the future this is the place to come,” Hutchinson told News 5. “That is exciting to the university, and that’s exciting to Arkansas.”
The Poultry Science Department is part of the university’s Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. According to the university’s website, the department affords students access to the resources of about 30 faculty members in various fields of study, state-of-the-art teaching, research and extension facilities. The department also provides the curriculum for B.S., MS, and PhD degree programs.