(RALEIGH) -- A Sampson County poultry and pork farmer is giving $10 million as an endowment for The Department of Poultry Science at North Carolina State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.  The department will be renamed the Prestage Family Department of Poultry Science in honor of Bill and Marsha Prestage and their family.

“The impact of this gift will ensure the pre-eminence of the Prestage Department of Poultry Science for generations to come and provide a powerful stimulus for economic development in North Carolina and beyond,” said NC State University Chancellor Randy Woodson. “The partnerships we have with supporters like the Prestage family are essential in helping us fulfill our mission as the largest public institution of higher education in North Carolina. Together we will continue to strengthen NC State’s position as an incubator for research, educational innovation, collaboration and economic development.”

”This endowment is an investment in the future. With only six poultry science departments left in the country, we felt it was important to endow the NC State poultry science department in order to ensure that the department would always have the funding necessary to continue its service to the industry,” said Bill Prestage. “While we could have built a building, buildings will eventually need to be replaced. An endowment is forever.”

North Carolina ranks second in the nation in poultry production. The state produces nearly 10 percent of all U.S. poultry. Annually, North Carolina poultry companies produce approximately 800 million broilers, or chickens raised for meat, 32 million turkeys and more than 3 billion eggs. North Carolina currently ranks No. 2 nationally in turkey production; No. 3 in total poultry; No. 5 in broiler production; and No. 10 in egg production.