management

SwineCast 0750 Show Notes:

• Few of us have time to regularly connect with customers so we rely on our representative organizations to stay in touch. At the Iowa Pork Congress, National Pork Producers Council Vice President of Industry Relations, Dallas Hockman, shares what is being asked of us, the impact of social media and steps we need to consider in the future.

PRRS: Where Is It? Dr. Kurt Rossow, DVM, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Minnesota, has been working on disease mapping (to support PRRS elimination efforts), making it a useable digital tool for farm participants. What has been learned about digitizing map data? Are you comfortable with other people seeing your results as soon as you do? And the interpretation of maps and related data can vary.

How Much Is Your Feed? Dr. Joel DeRouchey, Professor and Swine Extension Specialist, Kansas State University, looks at feed efficiency drivers to reduce feed cost, alternative ingredients, and feed processing advancements. His presentation looks at the costs of the various feed options plus seeks to offer means to reduce feed costs. Dr. DeRouchey provides several calculation tables and charts to help farm management teams drive feed efficiency.

What Do Consumers Think? Jarrod Sutton, National Pork Board Assistant Vice President, Foodservice, Retail and Channel Marketing, provides insight on the business side of selling meat. Some of the factors that play into meat pricing is how consumers perceive products and how they feel about animal welfare plus agriculture sustainability efforts. Jarrod also shares some of the conversations he is involved with in and around the food retail companies, trying to understand their efforts to bring reliable and usable information to consumers.