AgriFutures Chicken Meat Consortium at APSS

Supporting the workforce development of poultry industry in Australia is one of the ultimate objectives with the AgriFutures Chicken Meat Consortium (the Consortium) and its partners.
Continuing as the Special Sponsor, the Consortium team attended the Australian Poultry Science Symposium (APSS) 2026 in Sydney, sharing research outputs from 13 students across four university collaborators and engaging in productive conversations with all stakeholders.
As in previous years, the Consortium with Poultry Hub Australia and the APSS committee, organised another successful Monday Morning Meet & Greet session ahead of the formal APSS program to facilitate establishing connections between the next generation of poultry workforce and industry and academic professionals.
There were 64 participants in the session with three segments. The first segment was the Meet & Greet for participants to introduce themselves and meet each other over four focus groups as mentors and mentees: 
1) nutrition and feed development, 2) gut health and environmental impact, 3) sustainability, welfare, behaviour, and 4) general health, disease, food safety and biosafety.
The second segment was delivered by three invited speakers who shared their professional journey with the poultry industry. Dr Mary Wu CEO of the Australian Chicken Meat Federation set the theme of the segment with the significance and value of the poultry industry in the Australian economy, her career association and how she viewed the industry going forward.
Dr Nick Rodgers from Ingham’s Enterprises highlighted career potentials in the industry by sharing his career story, which provided an overview on job opportunities in the industry to all mentees. Dr Carla Castro Tabilo from Baiada Poultry spoke of her first year experience working in industry after university, which provided a lesson closely related and applicable to all mentees seeking a future with the industry.
The third segment was a Q&A panel discussion, offering an opportunity for all participants to ask their questions to a group of five professionals with diverse career backgrounds.
The panellists were Prof Aaron Cowieson from dsm-firmenich, Ms Tina Grech from Riverina, Dr Matthew Hilliar from Turosi, Dr Amy Moss from University of New England, and Dr Mark Dunlop from the Department of Primary Industries QLD.
There were many conversations and discussion exchanged throughout the Meet & Greet session.
Sponsored by the Consortium, Prof Kidd from the University of Arkansas was an invited keynote speaker of the APSS 2026. He delivered a keynote presentation: ‘Three decades later: feed formulation flexibility realised’.
Of 13 student abstract submissions from the Consortium, there were six oral presentations and seven posters. The list of the presentations and its associated page number in the APSS proceedings is as follows.
1. Ray, B.C., Kumar, A., Feng, G., and Roura, E. Reducing dietary crude protein enhances ileal amino acid digestibility and decreases cecal microbial diversity in broiler breeders. P 143
2. Xu, B., Ray, B.C., Kumar, A., and Roura, E. Peas and lentils successfully replaced soybean or canola meals in broiler breeder wheat-based diets improving yolk pigmentation, p 191
3. Disanayaka, J.N.K., Tan, X., and Roura, E. Excess arginine injected in ovo disrupts nutrient transport and 
detoxification pathways in broiler chicks, p 127
4. Chau, D., Roura, E., Turni, C., and Omaleki, L. L-alanine, L-cysteine, L-histidine and L-tryosine increase Lactobacillus salivarius, L. reteuri and L. paracasei growth, p 33
5. Khatun, A., Navarro, M., Kumar, A., Soumeh, E.A., and Roura, E. Adaptive metabolic responses to a low crude protein diet in broiler chickens, p 238
6. Diaz-Aviles, F., Navarro, M., Bogere, P., Naseem, M., Palmieri, C., and Roura, E. Nutrient transport and barrier properties chance with cell-lineage composition in the small intestine of broiler chickens, p 237
7. Yang, S., Flanagan, B.M., Feng, G., Jing, X., Roura, E., and Gidley, M.J. Substrate type influences in vitro cecal fermentation in 7-day-old chicks: guidance for diet adjustment during the early-life stage, p 79
8. Jing, X., Flanagan, B.M., Gidley, M.J., and Roura, E. Improving an in vitro digestion model to evaluate feed ingredients in broiler chickens, p 180
9. Kandel, M., Macelline, S.P., Toghyani, M., Selle, P.H., and Liu, S.Y. Impact of wheat particle size in reduced soybean meal diets on broiler performance, p 179
10. Fu, Y.T., Li, J., Toghyani, M., Macelline, S.P., Kim, E., and Liu, S.Y. Non-bound amino acids and alternative ingredients to replace soybean meal in wheat, sorghum or barley-based broiler diets, p 34
11. Sadr, V.S., Niknafs, S., Kandel, M., Roura, E., Toghyani, M., Liu, S.Y., and Barekatain, R. Increased hepatic fatty-acid β-oxidation may explain the reduced feed intake in broiler chickens fed high canola meal diets, p 74
12. Hamungalu, O., Abdollahi, M.R., Morel, P., Liu, S.Y., and Wester, T.J. Broiler performance on lupin and faba bean-based starter diets, p 251
13. Whitton, M.M., Stanley, D., and Bajagai, Y.S. Targeted early gut colonisation in broiler using probiotic Pediococcus sp., p 229