John Haid of Siloam Springs recently named chairman emeritus of the Poultry Protein & Fat Council Board of Directors for his more than 50 years of service to the poultry industry.
Haid was presented with the award by Johnathan Green, chairman of the organization, during a ceremony on Oct. 4 at the PPFC Seminar in Nashville, Tenn.
The PPFC is a committee of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, the trade association that represents the U.S. poultry industry. The committee serves the rendering and byproducts arm of the industry by doing research on the products and advertising the results. Haid was a founding leader of the PPFC and served as the first chairman of the organization from 1989 through 1996.
According to the award plaque, Haid was recognized for his advocacy for the product; his consistent support of implementing process and engineering enhancements that contributed to increased safety, higher efficiency and improved product quality; and his tireless commitment to industry improvement through employee training, guidance and development that created a legacy as mentor to many of today's industry leaders.
Haid was also recognized for his "perennial wise council and enduring friendship," the plaque states.
The rendering industry is invisible to most people, but provides a valuable service because it recycles the leftovers from the meat processing industry, according to Haid. Products such as feather meal are used in other industries such as the pet food, livestock feed supplements and aquaculture. Researchers have even found unconventional and inventive uses such as turning feather meal into biodegradable flower pots, he said.
"The rendering industry is considered the nation's original recycler and it truly is," Haid said. "It provides a tremendous service, I mean if you had to dispose of half of the weight (millions of) chickens a day in the United States, you wouldn't have enough places to dig a hole to put it in. It contributes to the price of producing birds, which therefore makes the edible meat cheaper to the consumer than it would be if you had to dispose of it other ways."
Haid's career in agriculture began with his involvement in FFA at the Siloam Springs High School. He was elected National FFA President during the 1956-1957 term, which gave him the opportunity to meet and shake hands with President Harry Truman during the 1957 FFA convention in Kansas City.
Haid earned an associates degree in agriculture from Arkansas Tech University and a bachelor's degree in agriculture from the University of Arkansas. After spending a year serving as a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he began his career working as general manager of the Arkansas Poultry Federation, before coming to work for Simmons Foods as assistant to the president from 1961 to 1968.
Haid went on to work for poultry companies such as Pilgrim's Pride of Pittsburg, Texas, where he served as senior vice president, Georgia Proteins of Cummings, Ga., where he served as president, and Tyson Foods subsidiary Hudson Foods of Henderson, Ky., where he served as manager of animal feed ingredients. He returned to Siloam Springs in the late 1990s, and began working for Simmons Foods in 2000, in positions such as general manager of the Animal Nutritional Compound Division in Southwest City, Mo. and most recently as director of sales for the ProCal division of the company, which made supplements for dairy cattle.
In August, Haid started his own company, Synergy BP LLC, which also makes supplements for dairy cattle.
Haid said it has been very fulfilling to see the growth and success of the PPFC as it has done research, advertising and provided training programs in the industry. There are many talented people in the poultry byproducts industry that perform a huge service, he said.
"It's a good organization that has accomplished a lot in an industry that most people don't know anything about," Haid said.
General News on 10/31/2018