Montana

Rooted in Resilience: The Non-Traditional Journey of Swine Veterinarian Dr. Anna Forseth

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 20:07:56 GMT

Dr. Anna Forseth didn’t just follow a path; she carved one. While many people associate Montana with Yellowstone and cattle, Forseth grew up with a much different perspective.

The daughter of two successful pork producers, Bruce and Marie Samson, her family operated Samson Family Farm, a 300-sow, farrow-to-finish confinement hog farm in the southwest part of the state. They marketed about 5,500 pigs a year to packing plants in Twin Falls, Idaho, and Modesto, Calif.

She and her five siblings grew up with a deep appreciation for the family farm, 4-H and the great outdoors. So, how did this Montana native find herself serving 60,000 U.S. pork producers as the director of animal health for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC)?

A Non-Traditional Journey to National Policy

“Nothing about my path is traditional,” Forseth points out.

While attending Montana State University, she interned with the National Pork Board. During that time, she worked with the science and technology team where she was exposed to a unique way of serving the industry as a veterinarian. She then went to Colorado State University for veterinary school.

“My husband Rocky and I got married during my fourth year of vet school, or should I say ‘our’ fourth year of vet school,” Forseth laughs. “That’s not because he is a vet, but because it’s hard to leave vet school at school. I brought a lot of it home and he was right there in the trenches with me. In fact, my parents gave me a beautiful saddle when I graduated from vet school, but they also gave him one because they thought he deserved one, too.”

Anna Forseth met her husband, Rocky, in an undergrad beef management class. He came from a long line of cattlemen and cattlewomen, and she hailed from Gallatin County, drove a Subaru, and much preferred the pig barn at the county fair over the steer barn. “How this worked is still a mystery to some, but it created quite a team,” she says.

(Anna Forseth)

As a new veterinarian, she went to work for the Swine Medicine Education Center at Iowa State University. She also spent some time working with Smithfield before being hired by the Montana State Veterinarian’s Office in 2018.

Heading back west was important to the young couple who wanted to be closer to family. In 2022, the opportunity to work for NPPC allowed her a unique opportunity as the director of animal health for America’s pig farmers.

Although her roles have changed over the years, her focus has remained the same.

“When I thought about visiting a farm, it was about helping the pigs so that I could help the producer,” Forseth says. “What could I do for the producer that they couldn’t do for themselves? I would often, by default, be helping the pigs, but my focus is always on the producer.”

A Voice for the Producer

Although she no longer sees pigs on a daily basis, she talks to farmers often about their pigs. She points out that her role allows her to help farmers in a way that they can’t do for themselves because they are busy caring for their pigs and raising a protein that so many people in the world rely on.

“I am the bridge between policy and the producer,” Forseth says. “I’m not necropsying pigs and submitting samples to the diagnostic lab anymore, but I’m representing the industry domestically and internationally. I’m so proud to be doing that on their behalf.”

When she started in 2022, almost all of her time was spent on preparedness and response planning for African swine fever, post detection of ASF in the Dominican Republic. She continues to spend time on ASF response planning, though the diseases of focus have expanded since she began working for NPPC. Lately, she’s been engaged in foot-and-mouth disease, highly pathogenic avian influenza and New World screwworm planning.

“I think foot-and-mouth disease scares me the most because of its potential impact on multiple species,” she says. “Even if the swine industry were to manage the disease, we would be dependent on other domestic species’ ability to manage it. Remember that particular virus affects cloven-hooved animals, to include wild cervids and feral swine.”

During Forseth’s time at NPPC, annual funding for the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Plan (NADPRP) has surged from $18 million to $70 million. She currently serves on the NADPRP advisory board, ensuring these historic resources are strategically deployed to protect producers through enhanced state engagement and emergency readiness.

NPPC has also secured other legislative and funding victories, including the passage of the Beagle Brigade Act and the transition of the US SHIP program to the USDA. Central to these efforts is the “three-legged stool” of animal health—funding the national laboratory network, the vaccine bank, and the veterinary stockpile.

Rooted in Resilience

When she’s not working on behalf of pig farmers, Forseth keeps busy supporting her husband on their registered SimAngus cattle ranch and caring for their two young kids.

“It’s one big, but fun, balancing act,” she says. “I enjoy everything I’m doing, from being a mom to being a rancher’s wife to being a veterinarian for NPPC. I’m thankful for the example I had with my mom, who raised six kids and supported the farm. When work needed to be done and someone needed to step up, that someone was always her. While she was balancing all of our lives, I was watching and learning.”

Forseth is quick to point out that she learned a lot from her dad, too. He passed away in 2023 after a courageous battle with multiple myeloma.

“I will always remember him as a fighter, even before his cancer diagnosis, but certainly after,” Forseth says. “Despite pain and his prognosis, he stayed optimistic and focused on others.”

She vividly remembers the day she found out that he had cancer during a routine morning drive to a histology lab in vet school.

“I cried so hard on my way to school that I gave myself a bloody nose,” she says. “I got myself into class and sat down in front of the microscope. I hadn’t looked at the schedule for the day. To my surprise, we were looking at cancer cells – that was salt in the wound for me that morning. After class, I asked the professor to tell me what she knew about multiple myeloma.”

When she got back to her car, she called her dad and told him she was going to take the rest of the day off because she didn’t feel like sitting in a lecture hall in light of the news he just shared.

“He asked, ‘Why in the world would you do that?’” Forseth says. “He tried to perk me up by telling me about all the great advances. He just kept talking about the science and how cool it was. I loved that so much – it was never about him, even on his hardest days, it was always about somebody else.”

Unique Times Call for Unique Leadership

Forseth gets her passion for putting others first from her dad. It fuels her decisions every day as she strives to represent U.S. pig farmers from coast to coast.

Whether she’s navigating global meetings with the World Organization for Animal Health or tackling feral swine management with her trademark “Montana grit,” Forseth’s unique perspective is an invaluable asset. She is a reminder of how agriculture can be strengthened by those who take non-conventional paths.

“We can’t sustain this industry on a ‘how it has been done’ mentality,” she says. “Today’s consumer is different. The industry structure is different. The workforce is different. The policy pressures are very different. It’s going to take new and unique ideas to address new and sometimes unique challenges.”

Discover more about Forseth’s journey by watching “The PORK Podcast” on YouTube or by listening to it anywhere podcasts are found.

Montana Department of Livestock Investigates Potential Feral Swine Threat

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 17:18:42 GMT

The Montana Department of Livestock (MDOL) received to a report of potential feral swine from USDA Wildlife Services on Oct. 15. USDA Wildlife Services received a call of a bear getting into a barn and livestock feed. Upon investigation, pig scat, tracks and other signs consistent with swine were found and no evidence of bear presence was found, the Montana Department of Livestock said in a release.

The pigs were later identified as owned domestic swine running uncontained and beginning to demonstrate behaviors and characteristics consistent with feral swine populations. Montana averages roughly six reports per year of potential feral swine sightings. All reports to date have proven to be owned domestic swine running at large.

Montana state law prohibits swine from living in a feral state and prohibits domestic swine from running at large. State law defines feral swine as a hog, boar, or pig that appears to be untamed, undomesticated, in a wild state, or appears to be contained for commercial hunting or trapping. Hunting feral swine is also prohibited in Montana.

Because of this, MDOL is currently working with the animal owner, area landowners, USDA Wildlife Services, USDA Veterinary Services, and Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks to stop the animals from continuing to run uncontained. The animals will be trapped. Healthy animals will then be donated to Producer Partnership, a not-for-profit federally inspected meat processing establishment in Livingston, Mont., to “preserve as much protein from these animals to be used as food as possible.”

“MDOL appreciates the high level of cooperation between state and federal agencies and the compliance of the animal owner” state veterinarian Tahnee Szymanski said in a release. “Removing these animals is important to prevent them from becoming an established population of feral swine, and we especially appreciate Producer Partnership for providing a productive outlet for these animals.”

Feral Swine Free
Montana does not have any known established populations of feral swine, and a 2015 law was created to prevent the establishment of feral swine in the state.

“Potential sources of feral swine populations include migration of populations into Montana or the intentional transport and release of pigs in Montana, MDOL explained in a release. “Both Alberta and Saskatchewan have known established populations, although their proximity to the U.S.-Canadian border is variable. Additionally, domestic swine populations that are allowed to run uncontained, such as the Phillips County herd, will quickly revert to feral characteristics and behavior.”

Feral swine can cause major damage to crops, pastures, wetlands and riparian areas. Not only are they predatory and pose a threat to ground nesting birds and small mammals, they also can transmit diseases and parasites that affect livestock, pets, wildlife and people.

Potential sightings of feral swine or damage due to swine should be reported to MDOL at 406-444-2976. For more information, visit www.liv.mt.gov .

New Survey Shows Labor is Serious Challenge for Ag Industry

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 18:00:19 GMT

A new survey from the Minneapolis Fed found ag bankers rank labor availability as a top concern for their farm clients.

The survey, which was conducted with ag bankers from the ninth district (Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin), found the issue is viewed as a “serious challenge” for 63% of respondents and a minor challenge for the majority of the remaining 37%.

“It’s becoming more and more difficult to obtain the labor needed to operate,” a Minnesota-based banker told the Minneapolis Fed.

The availability of livestock workers was seen as more limited than crop workers and those surveyed also shared that finding long-term help is more difficult than temporary help due to the seasonal nature of the ag industry.

As far as how this compares to past conditions, 39% of respondents said labor availability has gotten “much worse” over the past five years and 44% said it’s “a little worse”.

The Minneapolis Fed attributes this challenge to the region’s low influx of migrant workers and aging workforce.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 10% of animal production employees in the area are foreign born, compared to 18% nationally. The number is even lower for crop production with just 5% of workers being foreign born, compared to 32% nationally.

The region also has some of the lowest unemployment rates in the U.S.

(Farm Journal)

At the same time, the median age of workers in the region rose from 51 to 56 in 2021. The number of workers between 45 to 54 has declined over the past decade with a small increase of those between the ages of 25 to 44 and a large increase of those over 55.

(Farm Journal)

Montana's Real Meat Act

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:23:25 GMT

Montana becomes the third state to pass legislation to prohibit food products produced from cultured cells from being labeled the same as steaks and hamburger items from livestock and poultry.

Rep. Alan Redfield’s (R-Livingston) Real Meat Act has passed both Montana’s House and Senate, and now awaits Gov. Steven Bullock’s signature.

Redfield says he wants Montana consumers to know what they’re buying and where it came from. His bill, dubbed the Real Meat Act, doesn’t ban the sale of cell-cultured products, but requires that products labeled as “meat” must be “derived from the edible flesh of livestock or a livestock product.”

The bill does not focus on vegetarian meat alternatives, such as Gardenburger veggie burgers or Beyond Meat plant-based meat substitutes, Redfield said.

Missouri was the first state to pass legislation similar to Redfield’s bill, and that state is now facing a lawsuit claiming its law is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment right to free speech.

On March 18, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed legislation that requires “fake meat” products to be correctly labeled, hoping to reduce the impact of lab-cultured products on the local meat market. A product is misbranded if it intentionally labels products in a false, deceptive or misleading manner that misrepresents it as meat or a meat byproduct, the South Dakota law states.

Similar labeling bills are under consideration by state legislatures in Wyoming, Indiana, Nebraska, Virginia and Tennessee.

Several people spoke in support of Redfield’s bill, including Cindy Palmer, with the Montana Farmers Union, who said the argument comes down to “basic honesty for the consumer. They can call it healthy protein, they can call it lots of glamour things. They just can’t call it meat.”

Opposing the bill was Zuri Moreno, with the ACLU of Montana. Moreno said commercial speech is protected by the First Amendment and called the bill an “unconstitutional solution in search of a problem.”

Related stories:

USDA, FDA to Oversee Production of Cell-Cultured Food or “Fake Meat”

Dairy: A Case Study For Fake Meat