Our organization was founded in 1948 as the Delmarva Chicken Festival, Inc. By 1955, as the organization added more structure and took on more responsibility, it was renamed Delmarva Chicken Association In 2020, the board of directors, recognizing that the organization represented one of the largest concentrations of chicken growers, integrators and associated business in the country, rebranded it Delmarva Chicken Association to clearly express the members the organization represents.
A native of Rocky Ford, Colorado, Mr. Greene was born in 1903. At the time of his presidency of what was then called the Delmarva Chicken Festival Inc., he was the owner of Dave Greene Feed Company of Dover, Delaware, a company that distributed poultry, hog, and dairy feeds while also selling poultry supplies, hardware, and paints. Mr. Greene also grew chickens. It was in 1948 that the finals were held for the national Chicken of Tomorrow Contest and the first Delmarva Chicken Festival was held. In addition to serving as president, he served as chairman of committees for Exhibits and Special Events, Entertainment, Fireworks Displays, and Opening Ceremonies in the 1959 and 1967 Delmarva Chicken Festivals in Dover. One of his accomplishments, in his own words, was "holding the organization together for the first few years."
A native of Wicomico County, Maryland, Mr. Esham was born in 1917. In 1938 he got his start in the poultry industry and in farming by converting an old potato house on his father's farm near Parsonsburg, Maryland into a broiler house with a capacity of 2,200 birds. In 1942, he bought nearby land and constructed Esham's Hatchery with an incubator capable of holding 66,000 eggs. While president of the Delmarva Chicken Festival, Inc., he was president of Esham's Hatchery and The Otis Feed Company. He also served as DPI treasurer for two years, Fund Drive chairman, and Merchandising-Product Promotion Committee chairman. Using the Buddy Boy brand, his company was the first chicken company with a branded product. His most memorable accomplishment as president of the Delmarva Chicken Festival, Inc. was his "opportunity to assist the enthusiastic staff and to help them inspire and stimulate our poultry industry's people to the task of developing an educational, fact finding and public relations organization that continues to perpetuate itself as the envy of other national and, yes, world poultry interests."
A native of Cincinnati who was born in 1906, Mr. Yutzy was Delmarva Sales Manager for The Early & Daniel Company, an animal feed manufacturing company. He lived in Georgetown, Delaware. During his leadership, the Delmarva Chicken Festival, Inc. changed its name to Delmarva Chicken Association effective January 1, 1955. Mr. Yutzi wrote in 1967, "That action was taken to illustrate year-round efforts and activities of the organization."
Mr. Murphy, a native of Federalsburg, Maryland, was born in 1914. At an early age, his father died, leaving young Ray to help provide money for the family. He became a meat cutter and sausage and scrapple maker. He then worked for the Terminal Warehouse Corporation in Salisbury. It was with this success that Mr. Murphy started a sales and warehouse poultry supply business called The Essco Supply Company (Eastern Shore Supply Co.). He also designed and manufactured poultry equipment. While DPI president, he was Essco Supply Company president. During his tenure as president, DPI contracted with the University of Delaware for the services of DPI Executive Secretary Frank Gordy, a university employee. The $100 per plate Booster Day Dinner was originated to raise money for DPI. He also served as Fund Drive chairman for two years, Booster Day Dinner chairman for three years, and was chairman of the committee that selected Delmarva's Distinguished Citizen Award.
Born in 1906 in St. Louis and a resident of Easton, Maryland since 1952, Mr. White was plant manager for the Ralston Purina Company at Delmar, Delaware during his year as DPI president. Previously he was a Ralston Purina plant manager in Wilmington, Delaware and prior to that was a sales manager in one of the company's eastern sales divisions. At the time of his DPI presidency, he had been with Ralston Purina for 31 years. He served in the army during World War II. It was during Mr. White's tenure as DPI president that the DPI offices moved from the Eastern Shore Poultry Growers' Exchange at Selbyville, Delaware to the University of Delaware Agricultural Experiment Station near Georgetown. He was active in many community groups.
Mr. Hargreaves was born in Iowa in 1913 and studied engineering at the Iowa State University. He was employed by Swift & Company through 1942. He joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1943 and was honorably discharged as a Lieutenant J.G. at the end of 1945. He joined Caroline Poultry Farms, Inc. as general manager and become secretary/treasurer and a member of the board in 1946. He was in those positions when he was DPI president. Prior to becoming president, he was active in DPI as chairman of the Processing Committee, Special Condemnation Committee, and the Research Study Committee. He was involved with several regional and national poultry industry groups.
This native of Bridgeville, Delaware was director of feed distribution, Delmarva area, for the Southern States Cooperative while he served as DPI president. Previously he was with the Cooperative Mills, Inc. of Seaford, Delaware. He served as DPI Fund Drive chairman for two years.
Mr. Cassell was born in Baltimore in 1917. At the time of his DPI presidency, he was president of the Mt. Hermon Hatchery of Salisbury, Maryland. He previously served as chairman of the DPI Legislative Committee, the Hatchery Committee, and the Fund Drive Committee. While president, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's poultry processing plant inspection system was implemented and he was involved in many meetings with USDA to ensure a smooth transition to a significant change in the chicken industry.
Pennsylvania native James Davis was one of DPI's youngest presidents, serving at age 40. During his year as president, he was operations manager of General Mills, Inc. of Seaford, Delaware. He also served as chairman of the DPI Transportation and Facilities Committee. Accomplishments during his year as president included an All-Industry Survey on methods to lower the cost of production and improve broiler chicken income, offering educational seminars for industry improvement, and producing the first industry film on Delmarvalous chicken.
Mr. Quillen was 39 years old when serving as DPI president. This Salisbury native was assistant vice president of Berlin Milling Company of Berlin, Maryland. Previously he served as DPI secretary and Fund Drive chairman. During his time as president, 1962 was the first year to reach the Fund Drive goal since 1955 and a year in which DPI conducted a comprehensive evaluation of DPI's total program of activities.
Mr. Gene Bailey was another DPI president born in Iowa and a graduate of Ellsworth College. He started his poultry processing career as a laborer in a Swift & Company plant in Spencer, Iowa in 1933. He then served as plant superintendent or manager at company plants in Salisbury, Maryland and Harrisonburg, Virginia. Most of his career was spent on Delmarva, serving as plant manager for H & H Poultry Company of Selbyville, Delaware and plant superintendent for Priebe & Sons of Stockley, Delaware. At the time of his DPI presidency, he lived in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and was the manager of the processing division of Townsends, Inc. of Millsboro, Delaware. For several years, he served as DPI's representative on the International Trade Development Committee. Under his leadership, the first DPI President's Report of Activities was prepared and the first Bankers' Conference was offered to get local bankers to work more closely with the chicken industry.
Mr. Covell was an Easton, Maryland entrepreneur who was active in local and national chicken industry matters. Born in Queen Anne's County, Maryland in 1921, Mr. Covell in 1945 founded the Willis and Covell Company, a farm supply, feed, seed and grain company in Denton, Maryland. He served as president until 1958 when it merged with the J. McKenny Willis and Sons, Inc. That same year he served as an industry member working with the USDA to formulate the regulations to implement the Poultry Products Inspection Act. He was on the board of directors of the National Broiler Council from 1958 until 1982, serving three terms as chairman. In 1961, USDA initiated discussions on the need for a federal program that would cut back on the supply of chickens until it dropped to the level of consumer demand. Covell was a leader in the faction that prevented a study committee from issuing a favorable report concerning government action. In 1962 he became president of Bayshore Foods, Inc., the result of a merger of the J. McKenny Willis and Son, Inc., The Willis and Covell Company, the St. Michaels Milling Company, and Burris Processing Company.
Delaware native William R. Murray, born in 1907, began his poultry career in the 1920s as a grower. From the 1940s until the 1960s, he headed Murray's Feed Service of Frankford, Delaware, a company that also had hatchery and chicken growing operations. In 1933 he built a hatchery and in 1940 he started a feed business. Mr. Murray was credited with building what probably was the first wooden bulk feed bin. He also is credited with designing the first bulk feed delivery truck. He was one of the founders of the Eastern Shore Poultry Growers Exchange. He was president of Murray's Feed Service, Inc. while serving as DPI president. Prior to being president, he was chairman of the Fund Drive Committee and the Product Promotion Committee. During his tenure, DPI had a promotion to pay chicken company employees with $2 bills to show how chicken money was circulated on Delmarva. It is estimated that $200,000 in $2 bills were dispersed.
Following service as a glider pilot during World War II, Mr. Chuck Fulton came to Delmarva from his native Kenton, Ohio to work with Nock's Snow Hill Hatcheries in 1946. In 1956 he bought an old feed mill and became a broiler integrator. In 1963, a new mill was built. While DPI president, he was president of Chuck Fulton's Broiler Service, Inc. of Snow Hill. In 1966 the Fulton Feed Service was sold to the Holly Farms chicken company. While DPI president, Mr. Fulton worked to improve grower/chicken company relationships and initiated the outstanding grower awards. The first National Meeting on Poultry Condemnations was held in Salisbury in 1966.
A native of New York, Bill Stephens received an undergraduate degree in agriculture from the University of Connecticut in 1949. Following graduation he moved to Delaware to begin employment with O.A. Newton & Son Co., Inc. He worked for the Newton organization until 1968 when its poultry and grain divisions were purchased by Swift and Company. During that period he served the Newton company in many capacities, including head of advertising and public relations, editor of the company newsletter, manager of the feed and grain departments, and vice president. Before becoming DPI president, he served as Delaware Fund Drive chairman and was chairman of the Transportation Committee for three years. As president, he worked to have active committees throughout the year and continued work to improve grower/company relationships.
Tom Whittington was head of Whittington's Poultry Farms and Whittington's Grain Company of Marion Station, Maryland when he was installed as DPI's 16th president. A product of his local public school system, he was a graduate of the Staunton Military Academy in 1947 and majored in poultry husbandry at the University of Maryland, graduating in 1951. Following military service in the U.S. Air Force with assignments in Germany and French Morocco, he joined the family business, Whittington Farms Inc., in 1953. His operations embraced hatching egg production, feed manufacturing, and the growing of approximately six million broiler chickens annually. In addition to his company's poultry program, he grew chickens on his own farms, raised approximately 1,000 acres of corn, and operated a 325,000 bushel capacity grain elevator.
A native of Laurel, Delaware and a graduate of Laurel High School, Mr. Durham attended the University of Delaware, majoring in business administration. Bob's career in business began with Southern States, a cooperative strongly involved with Delmarva's chicken industry. He was district manager of the cooperative's company owned stores. Afterwards, he entered a partnership in the Charles N. Landon Corporation in Laurel that was involved in the growing of broiler and layer chickens and turkeys. The company also was a prominent Delmarva chicken house and building contractor. He later started his own construction and real estate businesses, which included housing and commercial land development. He was at one time broiler sales manager of Bayshore Foods of Easton, Maryland.
Mr. Hudgins, a native of Albertville, Alabama, was a graduate of Auburn University's class of 1941. When he became DPI president, he was Delmarva Area Manager of Wilson Laurel Farms, Inc., with offices at Federalsburg, Maryland. He was responsible for the production, processing, and marketing for his company's total poultry operation on Delmarva. He also was connected with the Caroline Feed Division of Textron, Inc. of Federalsburg. Prior to coming to Wilson Laurel Farms, he was employed for 10 years by Vantress Farms of Seaford, Delaware.
Mr. Palmer was born in 1923 at Berlin, Maryland. Fresh out of high school, he was employed for a short time by Otis Esham on Mr. Esham's poultry farm in Wicomico County. He then went to work for the telephone company. After suffering a near-fatal fall from a telephone pole and a recovery period, he started work with Peerless Hatchery of Showell, Maryland, later owned by Golden Pride. In 1950, Mr. Palmer became manager of Small and Bull Hatchery of Pocomoke City, Maryland. Later employment was with Perdue hatcheries and Shockley's Hatchery at Whiton, Maryland. He later became Executive Vice President of Eshams' Farms Corporation. At the time of his DPI presidency, Mr. Palmer was director of Perdue's Hatchery-Breeder Division. Prior to this leadership role, he was active on numerous DPI committees and on the board of directors. He was active in his church, the Boy Scouts, and the Masonic Lodge.
Mr. Mabe is a native of Kernersville, North Carolina who attended the North Carolina State University. Immediately upon graduation, Mr. Mabe served for two years in the U.S. Army Infantry, leaving as a 1st Lieutenant. He then joined the sales and service staff of Fair Acre Feeds in Winder, Georgia, where he worked for two years. He joined Perdue Farms in 1957 and worked his way up through the Perdue organization, having served as a flock supervisor and marketing specialist as well as working in the area of sales, hatching egg production, grain and feed production, and poultry processing. When he became DPI President, he was Executive Vice President of the Perdue company and he was named president in 1979. He is widely recognized as a leader in the development of the modern broiler chicken industry.
Mr. Hansen, an Arkansas native, graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in finance. He was general manager of the Harbeson, Delaware broiler operations of Cargill, Inc., selling with the brand name Paramount, when he became DPI president. While with Cargill, Mr. Hansen moved to Seaford, Delaware in 1961, returned in 1964 and returned again in 1970, after a four year stint in Argentina. In 1974, while DPI president, Paramount began a major marketing program to sell more chicken. He became DPI president at a time of many challenges, including fuel shortages that also affected the production of raw materials used in food production.
A native of Talbot County, Maryland, Mr. Blades was a Korean War veteran. Returning home, he was employed by Bayshore Foods, Inc. that later became ConAgra's Delmarva Division. He served on the Bayshore Foods, Inc. board of directors and as executive vice president. After working there for 26 years, he resigned from ConAgra, accepting a position with Tri-Gas & Oil Co., Inc. as executive vice president serving on its board for fourteen years. Mr. Blades was active in DPI prior to being president.
Salisbury born Roy Beauchamp was a graduate of the University of Maryland. He was Vice President of Chesapeake Foods, Inc. of Parsonsburg, Maryland at the time of his service as DPI president. Previously he was in charge of the grow-out operations for the company and had a 35-year chicken industry career, including service as a flock supervisor. He was involved with agriculture since his childhood. Mr. Beauchamp was very active with DPI prior to and during his year as president. He chaired many committees and was involved with the Serviceman's Committee, Poultry Health Committee, housing seminars, chicken festivals, fund drives, and the DPI Board of Directors. He served two terms on the Maryland Agricultural Commission. Additionally, he was active in community affairs in the Salisbury area.
Born in Minneapolis, Donald Thayer went to work for the Pillsbury Company upon graduation from the University of Minnesota with a degree in agricultural engineering. He also attended the University of Wisconsin and Kansas State University for training in poultry husbandry and diseases and in sales supervision. He became sales manager at the Clinton, Iowa plant. After 26 years with Pillsbury, Mr. Thayer went to work for the Hales and Hunter Company in Indiana, an animal feed manufacturing and distribution company. In 1963 he moved again, this time to South America where he served as general manager and later president of PROVITA S.A., a large poultry producing company. In 1971, he came to Delmarva as president and general manager of Golden Pride Poultry, Inc., formerly the Berlin Milling Company, a company with operations in Berlin, Maryland. He was in this capacity during his year as DPI president.
A North Carolina native, Mr. Shelton was vice president and general manager of Perdue's Broiler Production Division while serving as DPI president. He was a DPI director for four years before becoming president. He first worked at Perdue as a North Carolina State University junior during the summer of 1963. Upon graduation in early 1964, Mr. Shelton began work at Perdue as a breeder flock supervisor based in Statesville, North Carolina. He transferred to Delmarva and worked as a broiler flock supervisor for one year. He then was given the responsibility for selling all live chickens on the Eastern Shore Poultry Growers Exchange. He then transferred to Statesville as branch manager for one year. After this, Mr. Shelton was transferred back to Salisbury as broiler production manager. In October 1971, he became Breeder and Hatchery manager for the company. Following this position, he assumed responsibility for all poultry production, including processing.
Mr. Dunahoo, a University of Georgia graduate for both his bachelor and master's degrees, came to Delmarva in 1960 and spent 10 years as a nutritionist and feed division manager for Esham Farms, an integrated chicken producer in Wicomico County. He became a full-time chicken grower and farmer near Salisbury in 1970. He was active in DPI for many years prior to becoming 1979 president. During his 1978 tenure as DPI Fund Drive chairman, the organization had its most successful money-raising effort.
Paul Twining, born in Salisbury, was a nutritionist by training and received his three college degrees (B.S., M.S., & Ph.D.) from the University of Maryland. He worked as a chemist and nutritionist at A.W. Perdue & Son, Inc. for five years and left in 1970 to become a nutritionist with Research & Consulting Associates, Inc. In 1976 he formed Paul Twining Associates, Inc., an independent poultry management and consulting company. He was in that position when he became DPI president. He also grew chickens from 1956 until and after he became DPI president. He joined the DPI board of directors in 1976, served on and chaired several committees, and was elected president for 1980.
A graduate of Buckingham High School of Berlin, Maryland, Mr. Holland was in the feed and poultry industry for 33 years prior to becoming DPI president. Right out of high school, he was employed by the Berlin Milling Company and stayed with Berlin Milling and its successor Golden Pride, Inc. from 1948 – 1979. From 1979 until his DPI presidency, he was Director of Feed Production for Perdue Farms, Inc. He was active in DPI and among other things, served as chairman of the Transportation Committee. He once served as president of the Maryland Feed Council and operated a 150-acre grain farm in the Berlin, Maryland area.
A native of Washington state, Mr. LaChance was associated with Delmarva's chicken industry for 10 years prior to becoming DPI president. A graduate of the University of Florida where he majored in banking, finance, and accounting, he spent ten years in St. Louis with the Ralston Purina Company from 1962 until 1972 and then assumed the presidency of Chesapeake Foods of Berlin, Maryland, a position he held during his time as DPI president. Mr. LaChance was active in DPI in many ways, including service on the Board of Directors, a financial advisor, a member of the Grower Health Insurance Committee, and chair of quite a few ad hoc committees. He was a member of the Greater Salisbury Committee and served on the executive board of the Delmarva Council of the Boy Scouts of America during his presidency.
This native of Frankford, Delaware was born in 1932. He wanted to be a farmer and he tended the family farm while working part time as a salesman at Goslee Ford and Jackson Dodge Plymouth in Millsboro and full time Sales Manager at Town & Country Motors in Georgetown. He then sought employment elsewhere and was hired by chicken company Townsends, Inc. of Millsboro, Delaware in April 1957. For nine years he worked in the quality control laboratory and then moved to a merchandising position. In April 1972 Mr. Adkins was promoted to the position of Soybean Processing Plant Manager. In 1980 he became Vice President of Townsends, Inc., a position he had while serving as DPI president. He was active in the Eastern Shore Grain and Feed Dealers Association, the Mid-Atlantic Soybean Association, the National Soybean Processors Association, and many local organizations.
A Philadelphia native, Mr. Truitt was a 1950 graduate of The Pennsylvania State University with a major in agricultural economics. He moved to Maryland after his father built an Ocean City motel. He was a fertilizer salesman, lumber inspector, and long-time agricultural banker and lender, working for Farm Credit and the Maryland National Bank. Jerry was a vice president of Equitable Bank of Salisbury when he became DPI president, after many years as a DPI volunteer, Fund Drive chairman, Booster Banquet chairman for nearly a decade, and officer. He began his volunteer DPI work in 1960 as a Fund Drive solicitor and he joined the DPI Board of Directors in 1963.
A New York native, Mr. Ferrier moved to Salisbury in 1969 and became owner and general manager of G & M Sales of Delmarva, Inc., a chicken house construction and equipment company. He was associated with the chicken industry for more than 25 years, including sales representative for Ralston Purina Feed and Babcock Poultry Hatchery. He had 13 years of service on the DPI Board of Directors prior to becoming president in 1985.
Otto Lange was born in Lewes, Delaware where he played football, basketball, and other sports at Lewes High School. He graduated from Goldey-Beacom College with a degree in Accounting. He worked in the chicken industry as an accountant and vice president at various poultry companies, including time with the A.W. Perdue & Son, Inc., Whittington Farms, Chesapeake Foods, Inc., and as assistant operations manager for Allen Family Foods, Inc. When he became DPI President, he was vice president and general manager of Buyers' Marketing Service of Salisbury, having been in the chicken industry the previous 28 years. Mr. Lange served as chairman of DPI's Tax and Finance Committee prior to becoming president.
Mr. Van Hoose was born in Paintsville, Kentucky. His family moved to Ohio and he grew up on a 105-acre poultry, dairy and grain farm. He graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in agriculture and began his career in the poultry industry. Van Hoose worked for Perdue Farms for seven years. He began as a broiler technician, moved to sales, then to plant manager at Accomac, Virginia. He later became a grow-out manager. While still in the poultry business, he worked off of Delmarva from 1973 until 1979 and then returned. Mr. Van Hoose worked for Mountaire Farms, first as complex manager and then as vice president. He worked for Cargill/Paramount Poultry as general manager for its Harbeson, Delaware poultry operations while serving as DPI president.
A native of southwest Arkansas, Dr. Rinehart majored in poultry science at the University of Arkansas while working part-time at the university farm feed mill. He received a B.S. in 1961 and a master's in poultry nutrition in 1964. In 1967, he earned a Ph.D. in animal science/biochemistry from Purdue University. He worked for 15 years in poultry nutrition--10 years at Ralston Purina in St. Louis and five years at Fieldale at Gainesville, Georgia--before joining Perdue Farms in 1982. His first position at Perdue was director of nutrition. He was named vice president of technical services in 1985. Dr. Rinehart was on the DPI Board of Directors for three years prior to becoming 1988 president and was active on several committees.
Donald J. Lynch was president of Animal Health Sales Inc., a retail and wholesale animal products distribution company in Selbyville, Delaware, when he became DPI president. It was a successor to L & M Distributors, a vaccine distribution company that Mr. Lynch helped found in 1954. In 1960, L & M Laboratories of Berlin, Maryland was formed to manufacture poultry vaccines. Mr. Lynch had a distinguished career in public service. He served on the Fenwick Island town council, the Indian River School District Board of Education, the University of Delaware Board of Trustees, as a member of the Delaware House of Representatives from 1972 to 1978, and Delaware Secretary of Agriculture from 1981 until 1985. He was active in DPI through the Poultry Health Committee and the Fund Drive.
Mr. Mitchell was a chicken grower near Berlin, Maryland, where he was born and raised. He operated Mitchell Farm, Inc., a 132,000 capacity operation, when he was DPI president. He was in the chicken business most of his life as a grower and for 15 years as a flock supervisor for Berlin Milling Company, Perdue Farms Inc. and Mountaire Farms of Delmarva, Inc. He was on the DPI Board of Directors since 1981, serving as Grower Committee chairman from 1985-1988. During his tenure as chairman, DPI initiated the Timely Topics grower newsletter.
A native of Minnesota, Mr. Balfany was a graduate of the Mankato State University. Upon graduation, he found employment with Cargill Inc. and the company transferred him to Seaford, Delaware in 1968. In 1971, he was one of the founders of Central Grain, Inc, a grain brokerage company with several elevators on Delmarva that was involved with grain merchandising all along the east coast. He was elected to the DPI Board of Directors in 1984 and moved through the ranks to become 1991 DPI president.
A Georgia native and a veterinary graduate of the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Holder came to Delmarva's chicken industry in 1972 as a manager of grow-out heath with Perdue Farms. In 1986, he became a senior technical services veterinarian for the vaccine manufacturer Pitman-Moore, Inc. He became Director of Avian Health for Allen's Hatchery, Inc. in 1989 and was in that position when he served as DPI president. Though a relatively new DPI board member when he was elected president, he had been active in DPI for many years, serving as chairman of the Poultry Health Committee from 1980 until 1987, chairman of the Emergency Poultry Disease Task Force, chairman of the National Meeting on Poultry Health and Condemnations, and active in national poultry health groups.
Larry Winslow, a native of North Carolina, received his B.S. degree from the North Carolina State University Department of Poultry Science in 1974. Following graduation, he joined Holly Farms as a management trainee in the processing division at Wilkesboro, North Carolina. In 1976, he joined Country Pride Foods in Gainesville, Georgia, as a packaging manager. In 1982, he joined Perdue Farms as the Prepack Plant Manager at its Lewiston, North Carolina plant. In 1985, he became a Senior Analyst for Perdue's Southern Delmarva complex. In early 1986, he was promoted to the position of Production Manager for that complex, and later that year was named as the Complex Manager for the company's North Delmarva Complex. In 1988, Mr. Winslow was transferred to Perdue's headquarters to become the Vice president and General Manager of the Fresh Poultry Division. He was in that position when he served as DPI's 1993 president.
Mr. Moorhead was born in Gaffney, South Carolina and graduated from Clemson University with high honors. He was the Southeastern Poultry Science Club member of the year, selected from more than 3,000 students. As a senior, Walter received one of 16 national scholarships from the national honor society, Alpha Zeta. Mr. Moorhead spent 15 years with Perdue in live production, processing, sales, and distribution. He then began work as Director of Processing for Townsend Inc. of Millsboro, Delaware, covering six plants before he became the complex manager. He was complex manager when he served as DPI president. As DPI Fund Drive chairman, Mr. Moorhead was the first to start the discount program for DPI members, Accurate Optical being the first participating company. At age 41, he was one of the youngest presidents in DPI history.
Sussex County, Delaware native and long-time resident Doug Marvil earned bachelor and master's degrees from the University of Delaware and went on to earn a Ph.D. in animal nutrition and biochemistry from the North Carolina State University. He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and had a second postdoctoral position, this time at New York University, in both positions studying and conducting basic research in biochemistry. Wishing to return home to Delaware, he was hired by chicken company Showell Farms of Showell, Maryland. He did some animal health work, ran the company's research program, and was Director of Nutrition when he became DPI president. Dr. Marvil served as chairman of the DPI Nutrition and Feed Manufacturing Committee for a number of years.
Dr. Klopp, better known as Buzz, was corporate veterinarian at Townsends, Inc. of Millsboro, Delaware when he was DPI president. Born in New York City and raised on a farm in Montgomery County, Maryland, he was a graduate of the University of Delaware and the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia. Upon obtaining his veterinary degree, Dr. Klopp worked for the University of Delaware as a poultry pathologist and coordinator of poultry research. In 1975, he became broiler production manager for Paramount Poultry of Frankford, Delaware. He later was Director of Technical Services and Animal Services with Intervet, Inc., a worldwide animal health products company. He had been active with DPI for more than 20 years before becoming president. Dr. Klopp received the DPI Medal of Achievement in 1976 for his research findings involving the Anemia-Dermatitis Syndrome in broilers that had cost Delmarva's chicken industry millions of dollars. As a result of this work, the vaccination of breeder chickens was adopted as a routine practice by Delmarva's chicken industry. While president, he initiated the development of the history book Delmarva's Chicken Industry: 75 Years of Progress.
Mrs. Richardson was the first female DPI president. A chicken grower near Willards, Maryland with a capacity of nearly 100,000 birds, she had 30 years' experience in the chicken industry. She was a partner in Sid Richardson Farms, a family-owned business that included chickens, corn, soybeans, wheat, and you-pick strawberries. She was chairman of the DPI Grower Committee in 1993, 1994, and 1995 and a member of the DPI Board of Directors since 1994. She was a member of the Maryland Agricultural Commission and the Leadership Council of the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland. She was active in implementing environmental and best management practices for her farm. Mrs. Richardson was a graduate of the Mardela (Maryland) High School and had two years of graduate nurses training at the Harrisburg Polytechnical Hospital.
With 33 years of experience in the Delmarva chicken industry, Sussex County resident Clark White served as president in 1998, a very busy year with important environmental issues being decided in the Maryland General Assembly due to unfounded allegations that Pfiesteria, a dinoflagellate, that critics of the chicken industry said was harming human beings and killing fish. As it turned out, reputable scientists concluded there was no connection to chicken manure as industry critics claimed. Mr. White was with Ralston Purina, Perdue, Cargill, and Allen's in grow out positions for 40 years. He served as chairman of DPI's Growout Management Committee in the 1980s and was broiler operations manager for Allen's Hatchery, Inc. during his tenure as DPI president.
Born and raised in Dorchester County, Maryland, Mr. Bounds worked on farms and for agribusinesses in the area during his high school years and went on to earn an Agronomy-Soils degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. Following graduation, he assumed a position in the financial segment of the agribusiness field with the Farm Credit System. From a bank field representative through various credit and management roles, he represented Farm Credit in the Delmarva area. During this time he became very active in advocacy for agriculture and the chicken industry and served in a combined credit and government relations role for Farm Credit.
Mr. Massey grew up on a chicken farm in Wicomico County, Maryland and later owned and operated two chicken farms. He started working in the chicken industry in 1979 for Perdue Farms as a flock supervisor and later worked in new housing sales. He switched companies in 1988, working as a flock supervisor, broiler production manager, and live production manager for Mountaire Farms. He was chairman of the DPI Growout Management Committee for several years. He joined the DPI Board of Directors in 1998 and was chairman of DPI Fund Drive committee in 1999. He was broiler production manager for Mountaire during his time as president. He was a member of Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church and a member of Willards Lions Club.
Mr. Sterling grew up on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore and graduated from the University of Maryland College Park in 1981 with a degree in animal science. He was involved with the poultry industry since beginning his professional career. Among his employers were Perdue, starting in the mid-1980s as a purchasing agent, and then with several animal health products companies such as SmithKline Beecham, Pfizer Animal Health, Phibro Animal Health, and Elanco. He was a sales representative and technical advisor for these companies. He was active with the Asbury United Methodist Church in Salisbury and a volunteer with the Boy Scouts. He served as a Fund Drive and membership solicitor, as a member of the DPI board of directors, as a volunteer and chairman of the DPI Allied Industry Committee.
Dr. Engster, a nutritionist, was a native of New York who came to Delmarva via Purina in St. Louis. He received his B.S degree at St. Lawrence University and his master's and Ph.D. from the University of Vermont. In 1977, he joined the Ralston Purina Company in St. Louis and over the next 12 years rose from the rank of nutritionist to Manager of Technical Services. From 1990 to December 2011, Dr. Engster worked at Perdue Farms Inc., where he advanced from Director of Research and Turkey Nutrition to Director of Nutrition and then Vice President of Technical Services. He served on and chaired DPI's Nutrition and Feed Manufacturing Committee and Research Advisory Committee. In 1998 he began his service on the DPI Board of Directors and was elected 2002 DPI President.
Raised near Princess Anne, he is a graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore with a major in general agriculture. He started raising chickens on his own farm in 1977 and he continued to grow chickens, along with corn, soybeans, and small grains on his 150 acre farm while active in DPI. Not content with just farming in Somerset County, he went to work for Central Tractor in Salisbury and then left the area for a few years to be a Central Tractor store manager in Millville, New Jersey. Upon returning to Delmarva, he kept up the farming. Mr. Green became active in DPI in 1998 through the Grower Committee. He moved through the officer ranks and became president in 2003. While president, he encouraged DPI to become more active in legislative and community outreach programs. He lived by the slogan "if you don't toot your horn occasionally, the band may forget you are there." While DPI president, he served as a member of the Maryland Agricultural Commission. Mr. Green's sister Beverly was the 1971 Miss Delmarva Poultry Princess.
Mr. Chisholm, a chicken grower and banker during his DPI presidency, had been involved with commercial banks since 1973, the year he graduated from the University of Maryland, first with Maryland National Bank. From 1979 until his DPI presidency, he was with the Peninsula Bank as a vice president and commercial business development officer, while also serving as the bank's Eastern Shore agricultural specialist. While president, he and his son operated three chicken farms with a total capacity of 250,000 birds. Two farms were in Maryland and one in Virginia. During the 1990s he was a hog farmer also. He was president of the Pocomoke City and Princess Anne chambers of commerce. He served on the Maryland Agricultural Commission while DPI president and was an original member of the board of directors of the Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation. Prior to banking, Mr. Chisholm was part of the federal government's intelligence operations.
Mr. Darnell at the time of his presidency was a live production manager for the Perdue Farms Inc. Accomac, Virginia complex. This native of West Virginia became part of Delmarva's chicken industry 20 years earlier, right out of college, as a Perdue employee. Mr. Darnell earned an A.A. degree in General Agriculture from Potomac State College and a B.S. degree in Agriculture Resource Management from West Virginia University. He was involved in DPI's committees, serving as chairman of the Growout Management Committee for several years.
New Jersey native and New York University School of Journalism graduate Roger Marino came to Delmarva's chicken industry through Mountaire Farms, Inc. in the early 1990s in a public and community relations capacity. He joined the DPI board of directors in1997 following a long and varied career in newspaper reporting and editing, owner of a public relations/marketing company, representing major league sports teams, political figures, and corporations, owning an art and interior design company. It was after a 30-year career, two floods and a fire in Ellicott City, Maryland that he ceased business operations on the western shore and moved to Delmarva. Mr. Marino became one of DPI's most active directors prior to and after serving as president.
Salisbury native Wayne Evans was a U.S. Air Force and Vietnam veteran who attended the University of Maryland and then returned home to work in the family business, Evans Builders Inc. This company did a lot of work with Delmarva's chicken companies at the hatcheries, processing plants, and feed mills. His father, Warren, performed extensive work on Perdue's first processing plant in Salisbury. Wayne joined the board in 2004 and was Evans Builders president when he became DPI president in 2008.
Kentucky native Charlie Carpenter was part of the Delmarva community since getting his first job out of college, a job with Perdue Farms in January 1973. His only prior experience with poultry before that was a four-hour independent study class on poultry. Mr. Carpenter served on the DPI Board of Directors from 1991 until 1994 and then returned to the board in 2006, serving as president in 2009. During his service on the DPI Board of Directors, he had several positions within Perdue, including flock advisor, housing manager, marketing representative in Philadelphia, plant operations manager, complex manager, director of broiler operations, and director of breeders and hatcheries. He was active in many community groups and activities during his career with Perdue.
Harford County, Maryland native Blair Ranneberger had 34 years' experience with Delmarva's chicken industry prior to becoming DPI president in 2010. He came to Delmarva after graduating from West Virginia University with a degree in animal science. He started work with Perdue Farms as a flock supervisor. During his 17 years with Perdue he worked in live haul, live production, processing, and other management positions. In 1994 he left Perdue and worked full time at his chicken farm near Willards, Maryland where he also has a cattle and hay operation. A DPI member since 1976, Mr. Ranneberger was active with the Growout Management Committee, Processing Committee, Environmental Committee, Government Relations Committee and Grower Committee. He was one of DPI's outstanding growers in 2009. While president, his goals included increasing the number of DPI members and increasing members' participation in chicken industry activities.
Delaware native Jim Smith had a background in communications prior to his work in the electricity industry. With two degrees from the University of Delaware, he began work as a southern Delaware magazine editor in 1991. After two years, he became Coordinator of Media and Government Relations at the Delaware Electric Cooperative, during which time he also was a Sussex County radio sports broadcaster. In 1999, he became press secretary for Delaware Governor Tom Carper, a position he held for two years. In 2001, he was named Senior Public Affairs Manager for Delmarva Power. Mr. Smith served on the DPI Board of Directors for several years as a Delmarva Power representative prior to becoming DPI president in 2011.
Maryland native Andrew McLean graduated from Virginia Tech in 1986 with a degree in agricultural economics and began his career in agriculture, both as an agricultural banker and a chicken grower. Soon after graduation, he was employed by Telemark, Inc./Wells Fargo, followed by stints at Pepper Financial LLC, and PNC Bank. He began growing chickens in Queen Anne's County in 1986. He was a member of the board of directors of the Harry R. Hughes AgroEcology Center, Inc. while serving as DPI president.
Miss Rhodes, a native of the Maryland Eastern Shore, grew up on a grain farm and began raising, along with her two sons, chickens and grain on their own farms. She served on the DPI Board of Directors starting in 2005 and also served on the Executive Committee, Grower Committee (chairing it in 2006 and 2007), Environmental Committee, and Government Relations Committee prior to becoming president in 2013. In addition to farming, she served as the University of Maryland Extension Agricultural Educator for Queen Anne's County. She was involved with the Queen Anne's County Farm Bureau, Queen Anne's County Soil Conservation District, and the boards of directors of MidAtlantic Farm Credit and the Foundation for Community Partnerships. Miss Rhodes is a graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and later earned a Masters of Extension Education degree. She was a graduate of the LEAD Maryland Foundation, Inc. program.
Delaware native Keith Moore graduated from the University of Delaware with a B.S. degree in Animal Science and immediately began work for Perdue Farms Inc. as a flock supervisor. He spent 35 years with the company in live production, marketing and sales, processing, new housing, and primary breeders. Immediately after his retirement from Perdue, he began working as the Senior Director of Live Production with the new Delmarva chicken company, Allen Harim LLC. He was active in DPI for many of his years with Perdue and Allen Harim, serving on DPI's Board of Directors and as chairman of the DPI Growout Management Committee in 1990 - 1992. Mr. Moore was Director of Primary Breeders with Perdue Farms and Senior Director of Live Operations for Allen Harim while serving as DPI president.
Mr. Fuchs was born in 1982 on Maryland's Eastern Shore and graduated from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) with a degree in political science. He worked as an intern with the United States Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency in Maryland. He then worked for the Maryland Farm Bureau in government relations and joined MidAtlantic Farm Credit in 2012 as the association's government affairs officer. In this role, he worked closely with legislators and their staff members, advocating on behalf of Farm Credit's members and the agriculture industry.
Maryland-born Mack McCary was a poultry and grain farmer near Roxanna, Delaware when he served as DPI President. He worked for Delaware-based chicken company Townsends Inc. for 25 years as a production manager for the AgriProducts section. As such, he was responsible for grain storage, the soybean plant, the oil refinery, and the feed mill. During his employment with Townsends, Mr. McCary was involved with DPI through service on the Growout Management Committee and the Nutrition and Feed Manufacturing Committee. He became a member of DPI's Grower Committee in 2008 and served as chairman from 2010 through 2017.
Wicomico County, Maryland native Dean Walston came from a family involved with Delmarva's chicken industry. He received a B.S. in Poultry Science and Food Science from the North Carolina State University. Mr. Walston began employment with Perdue Farms Inc. right out of college in 1987. He held various positions in live production and processing on Delmarva. He was active on several DPI committees. When he was elected DPI's 2017 president, he had been Director of Operations at the Milford, Delaware facility for more than a dozen years.
A native of the Eastern Shore, Mr. Baker was involved in agriculture most of his life, helping out on the family farm that included two broiler houses. His educational background was in business management. He held positions in customer support and department manager with two companies before joining Perdue Farms in 1997 as a flock supervisor. With six years of live experience, Mr. Baker moved to the Heritage Breeders side of the Perdue business where he worked his way up to operations/production manager before being purchased by Cobb-Vantress in 2014. He joined the DPI Board of Directors in 2016 and when he became DPI President, he managed the Pedigree/Research operation on Delmarva for Cobb-Vantress.
Kent County, Delaware-born Jennifer Timmons was a University of Delaware graduate who began her chicken career as a Perdue Farms flock supervisor, a position she held for nearly six years. She then earned a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Food Science and Technology and became HACCP Coordinator for Allen Family Foods. She then served as an Extension poultry specialist for the University of Maryland for five and a half years. In 2012, Dr. Timmons became an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, a position she retained while serving as DPI President. At the university, she taught poultry production and animal nutrition and conducted research related to poultry litter management and poultry nutrition. Dr. Timmons also owned a chicken farm with her husband Tim near Delmar, Delaware.
Dale Cook is the Millsboro Complex Human Resources Manager for Mountaire Farms. Dale served as vice-president in 2019. He previously worked in the law enforcement field before joining Tyson Foods, where he also held a human resources position. In 2016, he received the Chancellors Award from the Eastern Shore Community College for Occupation Specific Instruction and Services. Cook graduated from the University of Arkansas; he and his wife, Natalie, have two daughters, Allison and Madelyn.
Jennifer Feindt was born and raised, and continues to reside in Milford, Delaware. She is a graduate of the University of Delaware's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, with a BS in Environmental Soil Science and a minor in Plant Biology. She also is a graduate of Wilmington University, with a Master of Business Administration degree Jennifer is a graduate of LEADelaware Class V and is a lending manager in the Dover office of MidAtlantic Farm Credit. Prior to joining MAFC in October 2016, she was farm loan specialist for Delaware with USDA's Farm Service Agency since 2009. Prior thereto, she was branch manager of the Milford branch of County Bank, working in various capacities there since 2002. Jennifer resides in Milford with her husband, Matt, and their two sons, Hunter and Jacob.
Far Nasir started poultry farming in 2012. Before moving to Maryland's Eastern Shore, Far worked for corporate and independent supermarkets in Connecticut. He is a graduate of Seneca College in Ontario, Canada. He now enjoys the farm life with his wife and three children near Pocomoke City, Maryland.
Zach Evans is the Community Relations Manager at Mountaire Farms. Zach is a graduate of The Perdue School of Business at Salisbury University, having earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing and a Master's Degree in Business Administration. Prior to joining Mountaire Farms, Zach worked for 10+ years with MidAtlantic Farm Credit, initially as an intern and then as an Agricultural Loan Officer. Zach was named the 2019 Agricultural Ambassador of the Year in Wicomico County by the Salisbury Area Chamber of commerce. He is a graduate of LEAD Maryland (Class IX), serves on the Administrative Council and Executive Committee for Northeast SARE, serves as a member of the voting Council for the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce, and has served as the President of the Wicomico Farm & Home Show and the Wicomico County Fair.