First announced at IPPE earlier this year, the new training programme, which gives NatureForm Hatchery Technologies customers unique access to the latest research, insights and practical training from Pas Reform Academy, delivered classroom sessions in Webster City, with practical training at Centurion’s state-of-the-art SmartPro™ hatchery in Clarion.

With delegates from Columbia Farms, Tyson Foods Group, Pilgrims, Koch Foods, Holmes Foods, Moyers, Murray McMurray Hatchery and hosting company Centurion Poultry, the week-long programme included egg quality, storage procedures, incubation programmes, incubator and hatcher management and evaluating chick quality, as well as the latest developments in hatchery lay out and routing, hatchery climate control and hatchery automation systems.

Sessions were led by Pas Reform Academy’s director of R&D, Dr Marleen Boerjan PhD, course director Gerd de Lange and incubation specialists Tiny Barten and Terry Doss, with guest lecturer Chris Williams from global animal health company Zoetis.

President of NatureForm Hatchery Technologies, Steve Warren, commented: “When we started our collaboration with Pas Reform in January, it was our ambition to share the wealth of expertise and leading edge science from Pas Reform Academy with the poultry industry in North America.

“Based on the response to our first training programme here in the USA, this combination of classroom theory and practical training, that has worked so well for Pas Reform in its international markets, looks set to be great asset for our customers here in the USA as well.”

Jack Hubbell, NatureForm Hatchery Technologies’ sales director, added: “We have seen that this is a valuable tool in communicating with our customer. Not only in creating an excellent platform for interaction within our customer base, but also by feeding new insights into the latest incubation technologies in the USA back to Pas Reform Academy.”

The training programme has, concluded Mr Hubbell, opened new avenues for further auditing and troubleshooting sessions with customers.

He added: “This combination of training weeks and technical service visits is central to our strategy for working in partnership with customers in the years to come and we are already looking forward to our next Pas Reform Academy Training Programme in the USA.”