“It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of Rex Barnes to head the AMS Poultry Programs,” said AMS Administrator Lloyd Day. “He has proven himself a strong leader in various positions within AMS Poultry Programs, which make him an ideal choice for this important post.”

The AMS Poultry Programs is headquartered in Washington, DC. The office provides a wide range of services to the chicken, turkey, egg, and rabbit industries. The major functions performed by the Poultry Programs are: poultry and egg market news; commodity procurement for the National School Lunch and other domestic food nutrition assistance programs; grading and standardization programs; mandatory shell egg surveillance inspection activities under the Egg Products Inspection Act; and, administration of the Egg Research and Consumer Information Act of 1974.

Barnes has worked in several positions within USDA for over 23 years. He joined the AMS Poultry Programs as Chief of the Commodity Procurement Branch in 1988 and moved to the Poultry Grading Branch in 1995. He was appointed Chief of the Grading Branch in 1996, and in December 2004, he was selected as Associate Deputy Administrator for Poultry Programs.

Barnes was born in Marion, Indiana, and grew up on a small farm. He received his bachelor of science degree in animal science from Purdue University and his master’s degree in business administration from Strayer University.