What started as a simple gathering of local veterinarians and academia in St. Paul, Minn., has become an iconic global event drawing in leaders in swine health and production for the betterment of pigs and people. For 50 years, the Allen D. Leman Swine Conference has been a place for ideas to spark and solutions to surface. The 2024 conference on Sept. 23-24 was no exception.
Here’s a little snippet of the topics, perspectives and ideas shared at the event.
“In my mind, we are winning. We know how to win. We have the formula, knowledge and the tools to win. We have to go get it done.” – Scott Dee, DVM, retired from Pipestone Research, in “PRRS in the U.S. Industry: Why do we continue to battle with this well-known virus?”
“The research need for agriculture is truth.” – Andy Curliss of the National Pork Producers Council in “Fables, Follies and Fallacies: Advocacy ‘Research’ Highlights Need for Continued Engagement”
“People plan to do things. They have intentions to do things. But, just because you have the attitude and intention, doesn’t mean you will do it. Things change when you go from attitude to action to behavior.” – Mike Chetta of Talent Metrics Consulting in “Are Caretakers Motivated to Comply with Biosecurity?”
“We can and we need to do more controlling of influenza in pigs. Let’s not ignore flu! We have learned a lot. We have the tools to advance flu control, but we need to do more.” – Montse Torremorell of the University of Minnesota in “Everything, Everywhere, All Influenza”
“What’s the good news? Technology helped to identify this new syndrome. We had very good diagnostics tests from the beginning. We had a lot of infected milk come through our lab before we even knew what was going on and we had no issues with employee sickness or work absence. Springers tested negative by Elisa – non-lactating cows are not very susceptible. Clinical signs resolve two to three weeks into the break. Recent Colorado data and experiences suggest most herds stop shedding in bulk tank milk within six weeks. Massachusetts recently tested all the dairies in their state – all negative.” – Scanlon Daniels of Circle H Headquarters, LLC, in “H5 Outbreaks in Dairy Cattle”
“The economic cost of PRRSV attributable to lost productivity is now at $1.2 billion. 80% of the increase from the previous estimate is due to herd distribution and productivity differences. The growing pig herds account for 68% of the total losses. It is close to 40 years since PRRSV entered U.S. swine herds, and there is no indication that we are winning.” – Henry Osemeke of Iowa State University in “Updates on the Economic Impact of PRRSV to U.S. Pork Producers”
“We are going to need grit going forward to be a part of this industry. If we are going to face these challenges, we have to be healthy as people. I think whether that is our mind, body or spirit, we have to be the best version of ourselves.” – Pat Hord of Hord Family Farms in “Adapting to Change and Building a Sustainable Future”
“Do emissions from CAFOs cause health effects on community members? We want the answer to be simple, but it is complicated. It’s just not easy.” - Annette O’Connor of Michigan State University in “Reviewing the Evidence for the Health Impact of Ag Facilities on Community Health”
“Now we are facing a situation where it feels we have a few sectors talking at each other. We need to come together to fight this disease together. It’s outsmarting us.” – Carol Cardona of the University of Minnesota in, “Everything, Everywhere, All Influenza”
“Innovation doesn’t necessarily mean new.” – Dustin Boler of Carthage Innovative Swine Solutions in “Evaluation of ATP Bioluminescence for Improved Biosecurity in the Swine Industry”
“Taking pictures ensured trailers were clean, found areas dirty that were not always caught before the use of the app.” – Edison Magalhaes, Iowa State University, in “Trailer Tracking and Sanitation Methods for Improved Biosecurity”
“Engineering is an important mindset to have when we talk about the microbiome.” – Noelle Noyes of the University of Minnesota in “Engineering the Microbiome: Can we Harness the Hidden Heroes of Livestock Production?”
“The easy stuff is done, now the hard work is starting. We need to start focusing more on biocontainment (where infected pigs are going, what route are they taking). We need to start thinking about regionalization of growing pig flow and communication between producers.” – Luc Dufresne of Demeter Veterinary Services in “PRRS in the U.S. Industry: Why do we continue to battle with this well-known virus?”
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