IPPE Report: AFIA focuses on supply chain resilience

With hundreds of exhibitors representing the breadth of the feed industry value chain on a busy expo floor, it’s easy to visualize the ripple effects of trade, ingredient safety and regulatory policy shifts amid a new US administration.

Constance Cullman, president and chief executive officer of the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), said the association is poised to continue communicating the impact of decisions made in Washington, DC, and the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) is always an excellent opportunity to understand industry challenges and inform through education opportunities.

“So much is happening globally on the geopolitical stage, we just need to be cognizant that every action has an impact in some way on the supply chain,” Cullman said during an interview with World Grain, sister publication of MEAT+POULTRY, at IPPE in Atlanta, Ga. “We’re such a finely tuned supply chain, and we will be doing a lot to communicate that to the (Trump) administration. The impacts and our understanding of those challenges are among the reasons that this show is so important.”

The 2025 IPPE at the Georgia World Congress Center has more than 597,900 square feet of exhibit space and features 1,380-plus exhibitors for thousands of attendees in the animal food, meat, poultry and egg industries. The event is a collaboration of three trade shows — International Feed Expo, International Poultry Expo and International Meat Expo, and is sponsored by the AFIA, Meat Institute and US Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY).

Cullman said that among the concerns for the AFIA and its membership is the resiliency of supply of vitamins and amino acids for animal food, as China is the major supplier of those to the United States. A potential disruption due to trade tensions could prove “catastrophic” for feed manufacturing.