The Poultry Protein & Fat Council of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association sponsors research relating to the rendering industry.

The poultry rendering industry produces poultry byproduct meal, feather meal, blood meal, and poultry fat. The council solicits research proposals that would develop new and increased utilization of these products by demonstrating their efficacy in poultry, aquaculture, livestock, and companion animal rations. The council is interested in improving the industrial applications of poultry fat by either chemical, microbial or mechanical modification.

Other research interests of the council are projects addressing the need for DAF skimmings or secondary poultry nutrient (SPN) reductions and utilization, dewatering, hatchery waste, and bone residue.

The objectives are:

• Reduction of SPN volumes by reduction at the source
• Enhancement of SPN quality by improving freshness, reducing moisture, and minimizing iron salts
• Inventory and evaluate alternative technologies for SPN processing such as hexane extraction, anaerobic digestion, etc.
• Determine the nutritional values of SPNs.

It was concluded that the best long-term approach to handling SPN is to separate it from other byproducts. Affordable systems are sure to exist. The above research objectives are to provide information that will aid the industry in achieving these goals.
Evaluation of the proposals will be made by a Subcommittee on Technology approved by the Poultry Protein & Fat Council.

Guidelines for Evaluation:

• The importance of the problem to the industry;
• Relevance of the objectives toward reducing the impact of the problem;
• Qualifications and experience of scientist;
• Adequacy of facilities and equipment;
• Track record (publications/previous U.S. Poultry & Egg Association grants); and
• Likelihood of success.

The following format is for Poultry Protein & Fat Council projects only. If you wish to submit a proposal to be funded by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, select this link to access the correct format.

Applicants shall submit 12 copies of proposals to the association. Failure to do so will result in delays in the grant evaluation and funding consideration process. Funding of proposals is approved in May and October. Proposals must be received by U.S. Poultry & Egg Association 30 days prior to the Poultry Protein & Fat Council meeting, thus they should be in our office on or before March 31 for consideration at the May meeting and August 31 for the October meeting.

I. Cover Sheet:

• Title of Project (limit of 180 characters/spaces)
• Name of University (or research organization)
• Principal Investigator (project leader or contact person)
• Complete Address and Telephone Number
• Department
• Co-investigators
• Date Submitted
• Total Funds Requested
• Keywords (up to four) (optional) Note: If the project will be administered by a university or experiment station official, also give the name and address of the official.

II. Abstract: The second page of a proposal is an abstract limited to one page of double-spaced typing. It should include the following:

• A brief statement of the problem to be investigated.
• The approach to be made to fill this need. What does the researcher propose doing to solve the problem?
• What is the possible value to the industry if the research is successful?

III. Proposal: (Every effort should be made to limit the number of pages of Items 1-6 to 10 or less.)

1. Title of Project
2. Investigator
3. Objectives. List the specific goals of the project.
4. Justification. Justify the proposal in light of current industry practice or problems, and discuss the short- and long-range cost benefits potential of meeting the objectives.
5. Procedures. Outline the protocol designed to meet the objectives, including the experimental design replications, etc.
6. Literature Review:
   
   • Please site known research on the same subject.
   • Indicate how this proposal differs from other known research.
7. Resume of Investigator (one page).
8. Current research on subject (if any) by investigator.
9. Facilities and equipment required and available for this project.
10. Research timetable:
    • Date project is scheduled to begin.
    • Date project is scheduled to end.
11. Personnel support provided by the university (or research organization).
12. Financial support:
    • From the university (or research organization).
    • From other sources, including those from whom other funds for this project are requested.
13. Institutional units involved.
14. Budget. Direct cost factors attributed to the project. Please itemize all areas of need. (See Preparation of Budget.) Include cost per animal unit, if any.
15. Total funds requested.
16. Indirect cost (See Preparation of Budget.)
17. Poultry protein and fat for use in research must be obtained from a Council company member to be coordinated by the director of technical services. If feather meal is to be used, specify the process used in its production.
18. Proposals including feeding of animals must include proposed diet.
19. Receipt of funds needed (quarterly, six months, annually). If not specified, funds will be paid as follows throughout the term of the project:
    • 25 percent of total allocated funds at beginning of project;
    • 25 percent of funds at end of first quarter-term (six months for two-year projects, etc.);
    • 25 percent of funds at mid-term (one year for two-year projects, etc.);
    • Final 25 percent of funds at completion of project and receipt of final report.
    • Include "Make check payable to (fill in blank)."
20. U.S. Poultry & Egg Association Poultry Protein & Fat Council will provide funding only to those scientists at universities or research organizations who comply with the provisions of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee as specified by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA in 9 CFR Part 1 (1-91).
21. The following statement is required with all proposals and must be signed by an official of the university (or research organization) and the project leader. This statement must accompany the original proposal or the proposal will be returned before committee action. The (Department) of (University or Research Organization) agrees to provide the following to U.S. Poultry & Egg Association:
    • Progress reports on the research project every six months until the project is completed;
    • Within three months following completion of the research funded, to provide the Final Project Report (using the Format for Final Reports) of the results;
    • The university (or research organization) understands that U.S. Poultry & Egg Association will retain 25 percent of the approved funds until the Final Report has been provided to the association;
    • Give permission to the association to provide the information to the industry.
22. Progress reports are required every six months. This can be a brief concise statement of progress toward the objectives of the project. This report does not need to include detailed charts or figures. A reminder of the progress reporting will be sent to the investigator just before the due date. If the progress report is more than 30 days late, an "alert" letter will be sent to the investigator and to the administrative office. Failure to reply within two weeks of this warning letter, a notification will be sent to the administrative officer and the investigator that no additional monies will be paid to that grant until the report has been received.
    Final reports: A reminder will be sent to the investigator of the need to provide a final report at the completion date. Final reports are due within three months following completion of the research project as specified by the research proposal. If the final report has not been received in 90 days following the reminder notice, an "alert" letter will be sent to the investigator and the administrative office. Failure to reply within two weeks of this warning letter, a notification will be sent to the administrative officer and the investigator that no additional monies will be paid to that institution (or research organization) until the report has been received.
23. Authorized signatures:
    • Project Leader
    • Department Head
    • University Official
    • Research Organization President
    Please address each item of the format completely, but briefly. Reprints of scientific or popular articles by the investigator, dealing with prior research in the area of the proposal, are not required; however, if such reprints are supplied they will be passed on to the reviewers.

Send projects to:
Paul Bredwell
U.S. Poultry & Egg Association
1530 Cooledge Road
Tucker, GA 30084-7303
Phone: (770) 493-9401
Fax: (770) 493-9257

There are a few general guidelines in preparing the budget for research proposals to U. S. Poultry & Egg Association. Since our funds are limited, we desire to obtain as much information as possible from our research grants. The research objectives should be directed toward solving some problem, increasing the efficiency of production or improving the movement of product into the market.

The budget should reflect as accurately as possible the cost of doing the research. Salaries and fringe benefits to graduate students and student technical personnel who are active in the project are acceptable costs. However, salary and fringe benefits to professional staff members may not be a part of the research budget proposal.

It is the policy of the Poultry Protein & Fat Council to approve funding of direct costs only. The reason is simply because the association is limited on funds available and must use such funds to obtain maximum research efforts rather than contributing to the overhead of running the departments, paying administrative salaries and expenses. The board recognizes that the university or research organization does have such overhead expenses; however, such expenses are normally handled by other sources, regardless of researching a project for the association. The association, plus the state organizations, encourage the state legislative and federal agencies to provide monies for the running of the university system.

This policy has not diminished the number of requests for research funding. In research where a commercial machine or apparatus is used that may show a definite benefit to the purveyor of that equipment, grant money should not be used to purchase such machine. Since the manufacturer would benefit by the research, the equipment could be loaned or given by the manufacturer to the research.

There are four separate parts to the final research report. These are:

1. Cover Sheet
   
2. Industry Summary
   
3. Scientific Report
   
4. A List of Presentations Made and Reports of Publications.

This Final Report should be loose, not bound. Please submit two copies.
Cover Sheet This single page provides us with a means of filing and identifying the material. The arrangement of this page should be as follows:

• Title
• Investigator(s)
• University (include address)
• Department
• Date of Completion of Project
• Statement: Funded by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Poultry Protein & Fat Council

Industry Summary (one page) This is a very important part of your final report and describes the potential usefulness of the research to the industry. It should briefly explain the conclusions that are drawn from the results. It should include few, if any, scientific tables, but an evaluation of potential in terms of economics, increased quality, better performance, etc. Dollar figures are always valuable. The following format should be used:

• Briefly describe the problem that was studied;
• Restate the objectives from the original proposal. The specific goals of the original project as funded by U.S. Poultry & Egg Poultry Protein & Fat Council.
• In the same order, state briefly the results achieved toward each objective of the project;
• Impact of the research results for industry. Long- and short-range benefits.

Scientific Report The Scientific Report should be carefully written so as to substantiate the results and be of value to those who may wish to study the details of the experiment. There is no limit on the length of this report. The format is shown below.

• Materials and methods used in the study. Should be in sufficient detail to allow for repeatability. If new techniques or tests have been developed as part of the objectives of the project, the specific protocol for the technique or test should be included;
• Results and Discussion;
• Tables and Figures (can be inserted in the text where appropriate);
• References.

List of Presentations and Publications

• Please list the publications which were a result of this research either entirely or in part by this grant. Reprints would be appreciated when available.
• Also, please indicate the presentations with the date, place, name of meeting, and title when the presentation was related to the research funded by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Poultry Protein & Fat Council.

Send the final report to:
Paul Bredwell
U.S. Poultry & Egg Association
1530 Cooledge Road
Tucker, GA 30084-7303
Phone: (770) 493-9401
Fax: (770) 493-9257