On January 1, Mack Walker takes over as the 2024 chair of the Mississippi Poultry Association Board of Directors. Walker, Complex Manager for Tyson Foods in Forest, has served on the MPA Board for 20 years.
Mack graduated from Magee High School and went on to further his education at Mississippi State University, graduating in 1975. In January 1976, Mack went to work in the McCarty Farms processing plant in Jackson. After two years in the plant, Mack was transferred to Magee Live Production to service broilers for McCarty. From there, Mack became a Broiler Manager, then Live Production Manager and now is Complex Manager for Tyson Foods Live Production in Mississippi. Tyson Foods bought McCarty Farms in 1995.
Mack and his wife Toni have four children and four grandchildren. They attend Goodwater Baptist Church where he is a deacon.
“One of my goals as chairman of the association will be to get the processing folks more involved in the association’s committees and educational activities, also to enlist their help in growing the association’s allied membership,” Walker said.
Walker replaces Bobby James of Amick Farms in Laurel, now immediate past chair of the MPA board. Other members of the Executive Committee are Vice Chair Ed Fletcher, Koch Foods; Treasurer Paul Billingsley, Wayne-Sanderson Farms; Past Chair Dr. Ryn Laster, Cal-Maine Foods; Members At-Large Steve McLaurin, Peco Foods, and James Faison, Mar-Jac Poultry MS; and Grower Advisory Committee Chair Kevin Rhodes, a Koch grower.
MPA was founded in 1937 and represents poultry processors, poultry growers and allied members that provide goods and services to the state’s largest agricultural industry. Poultry has a $23 billion impact on Mississippi’s economy.
