The 35th annual Swine Conference hosted by Carthage Veterinary Service drew a packed room at the Oakley-Lindsay Center in Quincy, Ill., on Aug. 26. From a conference full of practical production tips and cutting-edge research results you can use on your farm, here are some things to think about.
“Pork competes for a place on consumers’ dinner plates, and if other competing proteins adopt technologies or improve quality while the pork industry sits still, pork producer profitability will fall.” – Jayson Lusk of Oklahoma State University in “Accelerating Personal Improvement”
“The sow farm is the work horse and throughput is very important. Lactation feed intake is important for so many reasons. Underfeeding amino acids in lactation will cost you in several areas. To maximize your nutrition program, all teams must work together (production, veterinarian, nutritionist, owner, etc.).” – Casey Neill with Carthage Veterinary Service in “Optimizing the Nutrition Program”
“We need to come up with a new narrative in the pork industry. We need to shelve the ‘feed the world’ narrative where quantity is the driver and shift to quality as a driver. We need to move from a scarcity mindset to understand what it means to have abundance. We also need to move from feeding more to feeding fewer.” – Todd Thurman with Swine Insights International in “Accelerate or Brake?”
“It’s a critical time for near-real-time big-data consolidation, allowing interactive analysis of swine data and the application of precision swine health and productivity management.” – Edison Magalhaes with Iowa State University in “Making Sense of Field Data for Decision-Making”
“Often when we complete outbreak investigations, there’s a lot of finger pointing. ‘It was the cull truck driver…It was the feed delivery guy…It was the maintenance crew…We do it this way every time…’ This is where cameras can add value. They can dramatically improve your ability to do outbreak investigations.” – Megan Kelly, DVM, of Carthage Veterinary Service in “Accelerating Biosecurity Audits and Improvements”
“When installing cameras, make sure they are easily accessed for routine maintenance to ensure visibility.” – Rachella Brookhart with Carthage Veterinary Services in “Accelerating Video Audits – Practical Tips and Implementation Strategies”
“Intervention at the time of health challenge may result in improvement in piglet performance, more pigs out the door, and potential to reduce the economic burden of disease challenges for producers.” – Brandi Burton, DVM, of Suidae Health & Production in “Effect of Antioxidant Supplementation with ImmuFend Pre-Farrow and in Lactation on Sow Performance During a PRRS Break”
“Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a disease we can chase in the corner. Eradication is possible. But, where do we begin? Open the debate. Risk identification. Evaluate tools. Learn from others.” – Bill Hollis, DVM, with Professional Swine Management in “Accelerating Pig Health and Farm Performance”
“I expect several big and significant further approvals here before the end of the calendar year. We remain committed to good stewardship, and good stewardship means launching this PRRS-resistant pig technology in a responsible way that provides comfort and confidence to the global pork chain. I grew up on a pig farm. The last thing I want to do is mess up the swine industry.” – Matt Culbertson with PIC in “Accelerating Pig Health”
“The decline is reversible, but we have to meet the consumer where they are with what they want in a fashion they want to see it in.” – David Newman of the National Pork Board in “Accelerating Domestic Pork Demand”
