Latest posts

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae Infection Chain Dr. Eduardo Fano, Swine Technical Manager Americas, Boehringer Ingelheim, details the mycoplasma hyopneumoniae infection chain and what approaches to understanding it have been studied. Dr. Fano shares data from a series of correlation studies and looks at understanding the whole herd infection of the disease.

Pork Export Touch Points Various experts provide an update on the impacts of exports on pork producers. The speaker series includes Becca Hendricks, National Pork Board; Dr. Paul Sundberg, National Pork Board; Laurie Hueneke, National Pork Producers Council; and Dr. Dermot Hayes, Iowa State University. The US is the largest exporter of pork in the world, passing the EU as top exporter in 2012. With the US pork producers exporting 27% of their products, any policy shifts or regional changes can have a large affect on the US pork business. Of note are comments by Laurie Hueneke (NPPC) on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Dr. Hayes' comments on the impact of trichinae restrictions.

Consumers Need Information Dr. Marcos Rostagno, USDA/ARS, provides an overview of food safety and food safety analysis. Food safety is a subject that needs to encompass food security, animal welfare, and environmental impact. The population is growing, more land is required, and demand for certain types of food vary by global regions. Dr. Rostagno's take aways: Broad consumer understanding of food safety is continuously feed by media that does not always provide facts but focus on stories that sell the media. Consumer education is urgently needed!

Keeping Productive Dr. Ken Stalder, Iowa State University, presents a productivity analysis of the pork industry using data from 2007 to 2012. Dr. Stalder identifies key type of swine production (including conventional finishing, wean-to-finish, nursery, and sow) that are benchmarked from the data and highlights trends. This analysis is planned to be updated yearly with another year's worth of data and presented at key swine management meetings.