Jared Shelton: Perdue Farms Live Production Manager

Jared Shelton is the Live Production Manager at Perdue Farms in Cromwell, KY.  

In his current job, Jared helps his “very talented and dedicated management team” manage all aspects of live broiler production, starting with the egg all the way through to the market age chicken that is delivered to the processing plant.

He grew up on a row crop farm in the small town of Slaughters, KY, located in Webster County, where he still lives with his wife and three boys. Since Jared’s father was a professional truck driver and his mother worked during the day, he spent a lot of time with his grandfather, James Loehr.

“I always enjoyed working with him around the farm and knew that agriculture was where I belonged,” remembers Jared. “I started working for my uncle, who owned a plumbing business, when I was 15 years old and continued to work for him during high school and college. Working for my uncle and with my grandfather taught me to work hard and the value of a hard day of work.”

After graduating from Webster County High School in 2000, Jared attended Madisonville Community College for two years and continued to work as a plumber. After he earned his basic credits, he attended the University of Kentucky College of Food, Agriculture and the Environment to earn a Bachelor of Science in Public Service and Leadership with a minor in Agriculture Economics.

For the first 15 years of his career, Jared worked for Tyson Foods in Robards, KY. During his employment at Tyson Foods, he worked in management in all aspects of live production including: live haul, the feedmill, broilers, breeders, and hatchery. I am now the Live Production Manager at Perdue in Cromwell, KY and manage all aspects of live production. His experience allowed him to move to Perdue Farms last summer to pursue his goal as a Live Production Manager.

“In any management position communication skills are probably the most important part of being successful,” Jared replied, when asked what skills are needed for his job. “It is very important that the people who work with you understand your expectations and job duties on a daily basis. It is also very important as a manager to work closely with your employees by spending time with them doing their job, if you haven’t already. I pride myself on working in all the different departments that I manage at some point in my career to get the experience, so I understand what each person is dealing with on a daily basis and know how to manage each department. I see too many people that graduate from college and automatically think that they should be CEO of a company and it just doesn’t work that way. Even when you have worked hard to earn a college degree, it is still important that people work hard to earn their position in the workplace. It allows us as managers to appreciate the people who work with us and what they do on a daily basis.

“College taught me to be a responsible person and that the time and effort you put toward anything you do will determine the outcome and results you get,” Jared continued. “Growing up working around a farm and in the plumbing industry taught me to work hard and take pride in everything I do. Everything that you do affects someone else in some way and it’s important to do the best job you can.”

When asked what he would have done differently if he had known he would be working in the poultry industry, he said he would have definitely taken more animal science courses/labs while in college, especially courses in poultry science.

Jared said his favorite part of his job is the different challenges that he faces each day.

“You would think that after 15 years in the poultry industry,” he remarked, “I would have seen it all, but it seems as if there are always new challenges. I also really enjoy working with the contract poultry producers and the birds out in the field. There are some really great people that work in the poultry business that take pride in what they do and caring for the chickens. I am an outdoorsman, and I like that my time at work is split between the office and being out in the field.”

His advice for a young person looking at this career would be to learn as much as they possibly can about poultry science while in school.

“Most importantly,” Jared said, “any poultry field experience that you can gain while attending school would be very beneficial. When hiring individuals, education is important, but work experience is just as important. Once you have a job in the poultry industry, the sky is the limit, especially if you are willing to travel. Set goals for yourself, short and long term. As I stated earlier, gaining experience in different aspects of the poultry industry is crucial in growing your career. If you have a chance to promote or grow your knowledge, take advantage of it.”