Highlighting Summer Lanier

Friends,

In the latest edition of our series highlighting the leaders, partners, and organizations contributing to North Carolina’s farming and agricultural community, today we’d like to introduce Summer Lanier, the Executive Director of the North Carolina Poultry Federation.

An industry contributing more than $44.9 billion, poultry plays a huge role not only in the agricultural sector but across the state’s economy. Poultry is the No. 1 commodity in North Carolina and includes chickens, turkeys, and eggs. The industry supports more than 130,000 jobs annually, including research, production, distribution, and more. 

Lanier grew up on a turkey farm in Bladen County and knows the ins and outs of poultry farming firsthand. “I remember when the turkeys were taller than me,” she recently told NC Farm Families’ Raised on the Farm Podcast. After earning three degrees from NC State University in both animal and poultry science, Summer went on to work at Prestage Farms for 19 years, serving in public relations and turkey production. She was named Executive Director of the NC Poultry Federation in September 2025.

Lanier brings not only deep industry experience to the Federation but genuine passion for the profession and North Carolina’s poultry community as a whole. “I just loved it; I’ve always loved it,” Lanier told Raised on the Farm, “I’m very blessed to know my calling.” During her tenure, she has stressed the importance of advocacy and support for producers as she embarked on a listening tour of poultry facilities across the state. 

The NC Poultry Federation has also been active on the legal front on behalf of producers. When an activist group sued a chicken producer from our state, the Federation filed a friend of the court brief alongside the NC Farm Bureau and the NC Pork Council in defense of poultry producers. In December 2025, in a significant victory for the state’s poultry producers and farming community as a whole, the NC Supreme Court declined to hear the case, allowing earlier rulings in the poultry industry’s favor to stand.

Today, Summer Lanier continues leading NC poultry forward. As she said on Raised on the Farm, “Our voice doesn’t have to be loud, but it needs to be strong.” 

We are grateful for Summer Lanier, the North Carolina Poultry Federation, and the thousands of poultry producers across our state who work hard every day to keep North Carolina’s No. 1 agricultural commodity strong. We look forward to continuing this series in the weeks and months ahead.

Sincerely,

Peter T. Daniel
Chairman
NC Ag Partnership