CONTENTS 76 Travis and Misty Howard hope a new processing plant will help other farm families. Cover: Rick Sappington is vice president and general manager at Seaboard Foods, Guymon, Okla., and MEAT+POULTRY's 2024 Operations Executive of the Year. Source: Mike Collins/ Collins Media&Design 08 COMMENTARY Retail ready 10 BUSINESS NOTES 14 WASHINGTON Tracking H5N1 testing 34 COVER STORY Operations Executive of the Year: Rick Sappington 42 AAMP RECAP Steaking out Omaha 44 SANITATION Processors weigh in on sanitation shift options 52 INGREDIENT ISSUES IFT First focus is doing more with less 62 PACK EXPO PREVIEW Spotlight on sustainability 76 SMALL BUSINESS Knockout Butchery expands processing capacity 4 MEAT+POULTRY | 09.24 | www.meatpoultry.com 82 POULTRY PROCESSING TECH End-to-end solutions 90 FOOD SAFETY FSIS's Salmonella reduction strategy for raw poultry 94 LABOR 96 INDUSTRY CALENDAR 98 GIVING BACK 100 NAMES IN THE NEWS 102 PRODUCT SHOWCASE 105 ADVERTISERS 106 THE INSIDER MEAT SNACK REPORT 16 AWARD WORTHY Jerky producers win over judges and consumers 26 MEAT STICK MASTERY Processors balance innovation with intuition Knockout Butchery, domnitsky - stock.adobe.comhttp://www.meatpoultry.com