Meet Mike Welch, our latest addition to Farm Journal’s PORK’s Up & Coming Leaders feature. We are showcasing some of the fresh, new voices of the pork industry who combine innovative thought and work ethic with scientific savvy and a passion to make a difference.
Age: 27
Education: Bachelor’s degree, DVM and pursuing Ph.D. in veterinary microbiology and preventative medicine at Iowa State University
Hometown: Alpha, Illinois
Q. How did you become interested in pursuing a career in the swine industry?
A. My interest in pigs started back home on the farm in rural western Illinois. We were a farrow-to-finish operation with approximately 150 to 200 sows on pasture. I loved helping my dad and grandpa in the field during summers and weekends. My interest in swine research started in undergrad at the ISU VDL in 2014 in Dr. Phil Gauger and Dr. Jianqiang Zhang’s research group. This was around the time PEDV and PDCoV had been introduced into U.S. swine. I enjoyed the applied aspect of the research and how our work could be used to answer questions producers and veterinarians had in the field.
Q. Did you have any internship experiences?
A. During my fourth-year rotations in vet school, I organized several two-week block externships to visit AMVC’s Veterinary Resources Inc., production facilities at Pipestone and Smithfield, as well as the USDA National Centers for Animal Health facilities in Ames.
Q. What has helped you gain swine industry experience?
A. I spent quite a bit of time with my dad and grandpa on the farm processing piglets, vaccinating, grinding feed and carrying water to sows/gilts in the summer. It was definitely a lot of hard work, but it gave me an appreciation of how far the industry has changed in the past 30 to 40 years that I feel has been lost on my generation. I definitely look up to my dad and grandpa, and it was those early mornings with them in the field that shaped who I am as a person today.
Q. Did you take part in undergraduate research experiences?
A. My first research experience started under Dr. Ken Stalder as part of the freshman honors program where we looked at sow conformation and how that related to the size of gestation stalls. In Dr. Gauger/Zhang’s lab, we collaborated extensively with Dr. Steve Dritz at Kansas State University investigating various feed mitigation strategies to control PEDV. The feed treatments were conducted at Kansas State and the treated supernatants were taken to Iowa State for the piglet bioassays. We also conducted several additional challenge studies comparing the S-INDEL strain to the prototype strain of PEDV as well as the pathogenesis of PDCoV. For my honors capstone project, I developed a qPCR with Dr. Karen Harmon for the detection of Streptococcus suis in clinical samples that is currently in use by the ISU VDL.
Q. Tell us about your current research.
A. My current research is focused on investigating various aspects of Porcine parainfluenza virus type-1 (PPIV-1) in swine. We have conducted a variety of studies looking at the pathogenesis, IAV-S coinfection, strain differences, serology assay development and vaccine protection. The end goal of this work is to see how PPIV-1 contributes to the porcine respiratory disease complex, develop diagnostics detection of PPIV antibody, and see what role the virus could play in a potential vaccine.
Q. What is your generation’s greatest challenge?
A. As farms get larger, disease diagnosis and prevention will become even more critical. We face many challenges as an industry, including antibiotic resistance and numerous emerging infectious diseases. I think it is incumbent on my generation to continue educating themselves, push innovation and provide creative solutions.
Read more from Farm Journal’s PORK:
Research Explores Nutritional Strategies to Boost Profitability
Research Could Help Identify Infertility in Breeding Hogs Earlier
Technology Can Improve Farrowing Rates, Offset Labor Shortage
