Aviagen’s Production Management School shapes the next generation of global poultry leaders

30 July 2025

7 minute read

By: Sarah Mikesell

Africa

North America

Asia

For more than 60 years, Aviagen’s Production Management School (APMS) has provided a unique, immersive learning experience for professionals across the poultry industry. Held annually at Aviagen’s North American headquarters in Alabama, this four-week intensive program doesn’t just teach – it transforms. Participants leave the school equipped with new skills, deeper knowledge and lifelong industry connections that will help shape the future of global poultry production.

“It's a four-week intensive global training program for poultry professionals,” said Wouter “Woody” Lassauw, North America marketing director at Aviagen. “We have a very diverse customer base, so we get anyone from veterinarians to accountants to field techs to business managers all within the poultry industry.”

The goal of the program is to unify professionals across roles and regions to focus on one shared mission: improving the health and productivity of poultry flocks through science, innovation and collaboration.

Beyond a classroom

The APMS stands apart from other industry learning opportunities thanks to its hands-on, real-world approach. The program blends classroom learning with practical fieldwork and team-based projects and activities to ensure participants not only understand the concepts but can apply them on farm.

“It's a lot of hands-on, science-based learning but always with real-world application,” Lassauw explained. “Everything that our students are learning from lectures goes into on-farm applications that they can use within their facilities.”

This is no passive experience. Participants are challenged to engage, interact and think critically as they take part in lectures, simulations, field visits and group assignments. They analyze business case studies, explore production technologies and learn new strategies for solving challenges in real time – sometimes working individually and sometimes as a team.

A global, diverse cohort

A hallmark of the APMS is its international scope.

“With our program that just wrapped up a week ago, we had 20 different countries represented out of the 35 participants,” Lassauw said. “Seeing them work together and understand each other was really exciting and is just what our industry needs.”

This diversity of backgrounds and roles enriches the learning environment.

“They're put into an environment where they can have discussions with Aviagen experts or industry experts,” he said. “And they're able to get their questions answered immediately which means they are able to take that information back into their operations and use it to make real changes.”

Participants often include those at early or mid-career stages who show leadership potential.

“It could be someone that a customer says ‘Hey, this accountant needs to learn a little bit more about the poultry industry because we see her or him as the next VP or CFO,’” Lassauw explained.

Regardless of their background, all applicants go through a selection and interview process to ensure they’re prepared for the rigorous program, and that they can understand English, the language of instruction. However, even when language presents a barrier, Aviagen embraces technology to close the gap.

“Some of our participants utilize AI to understand the language a little bit better. They could have, for example, an earbud in that would translate live for them,” Lassauw noted.

With more than 200 applicants, one of the biggest challenges for Aviagen is narrowing it down to 35-40 participants.

“There’s a very big group of people who want to attend the school,” he said. “Within the industry, it's known as a very high-level school that they should attend and experience to get to the next level.”

Full-time commitment with a full-circle impact

For participants, the APMS is a seven-day-a-week commitment. While weekdays are packed with coursework, field trips and hands-on projects, weekends offer structured team-building activities – like whitewater rafting, escape rooms and more – that balance the intensity with camaraderie.

“It is intense, but on the weekends, we take the group to fun events,” Lassauw said. “It’s with a purpose – usually team driven and interactive and they work together.”

The effort pays off. Feedback from participants is overwhelmingly positive. The most cited benefit is networking.

“If they walk away with one thing that we see year after year, it's the networking aspect of it. Most definitely. We create a cohort family that continues long after they leave the school,” he said.

Evolving with the poultry industry

Originally designed as lecture-based training, APMS has adapted to industry changes over the years.

“We started from the egg and have gone all the way to the end of the poultry production facility,” Lassauw said.

That evolution includes more interactive modules such as business simulations, communication exercises, leadership development and technical problem-solving. New topics have become increasingly important.

“We’ve also expanded the curriculums to include things like sustainability, AI and data driven decision making,” Lassauw said. “Plus, we review our Aviagen digital tools and discuss how they can be utilized. For example, our mobile app – some people don't know how to navigate it, but it offers access to important information no matter where you are. So we walk everyone through it.”

Aviagen has also embraced virtual tools to ensure participants experience real poultry operations, even if physical access is limited.

“We send a colleague into a broiler farm and another into a breeder farm. The students were in a classroom, but by using technology they were able to see exactly what the speaker walking around the barn would see and be talking about,” Lassauw said.

The team uses smart glasses and specific software to make these experiences interactive.

“This software lets them circle things, pause the screen, and then the person in the barn can see exactly which bird he's talking about,” he explained.

The ideas for the program continue to grow. Lassauw said they’re exploring the possibility of building a dedicated hands-on facility for the school.

“We're looking at potentially building a facility for the school, so we can have a hands-on experience for our participants at all times,” he said. “This would be a real game-changer for the school, and there’s obviously other applications for a teaching facility like this.”

A model that travels

While APMS is held annually in the US, Aviagen offers similar learning modules in other regions.

The EMEAA Schools program is open to participants from Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. This initiative runs to cover Broiler, Breeder, and Hatchery in modules throughout the year.

The format of these modules provides a consolidated, accessible and practical training opportunity during one week, and shares the value of networking with others across a large region with the APMS.

Aviagen also operates breeder, broiler and hatchery modules in North America. There’s no doubt that sometimes a one-week commitment is easier for a participant to make versus a four-week commitment.

“What we've done really well, across Aviagen globally, is decided that once a year is not enough to reach out to our customers and train them correctly,” Lassauw said. “So, we’ve created educational programs that fit the needs of our customers.”

In some cases, participants attend local modules before advancing to the four-week global school.

“We've had people who've went to a breeder and broiler module and then later applied and joined the production management school,” he added.

An investment in the future

For Aviagen, APMS is not just a training program – it’s a strategic investment in customer success and the future of the industry.

“We're putting an investment in them, but it’s the same way coming back,” Lassauw said. “With the knowledge that they have, they can implement changes in their operations that are going to be better for them in the short and long-term. ”

That mutual benefit is central to the school’s purpose.

“It really helps us reinforce the role that we are working alongside them,” Lassauw explained. “Our customer success is our success.”

The long-term impact extends beyond technical knowledge.

“We want them to leave more confident, capable and ready to change their facilities for the better,” he said. “Most of them become leaders during their career.”

For any poultry professional hoping to attend, the path begins locally.

“If someone is interested in attending APMS, the first step is to get in touch with your Aviagen sales or technical representative,” Lassauw said. “And they’ll start the process of application.”

And while the school only runs once a year, preparation for the next cohort begins immediately.

“As soon as it ends, we go into planning mode for the next year,” he said.

The school’s legacy spans more than six decades, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

“Whenever I go to IPPE, I see people that I met through the school years ago,” Lassauw said. “Having them as lifelong connections, it's valuable for us, of course, because wherever the business might go for them, we're able to continuously help them along the way.”