A highlight of the festival, not to mention of the foundation’s work, is its 30-year history of awarding scholarships to deserving college students interested in pursuing a career in the poultry and egg industry. Last year, The Poultry Foundation awarded a total of $143,250 in scholarships for the 2025-2026 academic term to 27 undergraduate and 11 graduate students in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
Funding the program comes via the Allied Industries Scholarship Auction, which takes place the first night of the festival. Over the years, the event, held in conjunction with the annual industry awards, has grown to epic proportions thanks to the commitment and drive of volunteers such as Jenny Jones, a packaging engineer at Tyson Foods.
Jenny Jones
Jones has participated in the festival as a volunteer for 16 of her 17 years with the company. The past 12 years, her efforts have focused on the scholarship auction, and today, she is a recognized force in the effort to raise as much money as possible to help students complete their education.
“The scholarship auction just intrigued me because scholarships go back toward the poultry industry,” she said. “It’s amazing to me how many people who received a scholarship in the past are now extremely active in The Poultry Federation.”
For her part, Jones has played a critical role in the auction’s growth and success by recruiting new members — and potential scholarship donors — to join the federation, as well as rounding up support from companies statewide. She said simply informing people of the good the federation does, including through scholarships, is generally enough to win them over.
“I just let them know how important The Poultry Federation is, especially with all the increased legislation that is going on not just with poultry products but also with poultry packaging, which is my background,” she said. “We can give The Poultry Federation a call, and they help out instantly, and it doesn’t even matter if it’s in the three states that they actually represent. Voicing that to other people, they realize the importance of what The Poultry Federation actually does for the industry.”
Festival photos by Russell Bloodworth Photography
READ ALSO: All Roads Lead to the Poultry Festival
