The president of the US Poultry and Egg Association is pretty pleased with the turnout at this year’s International Poultry Expo, which looks to be better than a year ago, despite the condition of the economy.

“This is our 62nd show here in Atlanta,” John Starkey told me during an interview in the media room overlooking the trade show floor. “We have 807 exhibiters and we’re still counting attendees but when we closed pre-registration we had a 1,000 more attendees registered than a year ago. So, that probably speaks to the mood of the industry, not that it’s boom times but it might be just a little better than a year ago.” The expo gets a huge number of international visitors with the majority from Canada and Latin America, followed by Europe and southeast Asia.

John says there are a number of challenges and opportunities facing the industry, from animal activism to feeding a growing global population. Listen to or download my interview with John in the player below.

2010 International Poultry Expo photo album

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