2013 Master of the Pork Industry Bradley Wolter
There’s a story shared in the Wolter family about a day when Bradley’s father, while fixing some hog fences, nailed his cloth diapers to a fence post just to keep track of him. Tale or true, the story reinforces Bradley Wolter’s early exposure to pigs and may help explain his lifelong ambition to build better hog production systems. Wolters is now chief operating officer at The Maschhoffs Inc., and serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Illinois.
Expo Rocks for 25 Years
The National Pork Producers Council will celebrate the silver anniversary of World Pork Expo in June. Being a bit of a pork industry history buff, I decided to thumb through some old files to help jog my memory of how this “world’s largest pork-specific event” came about.
2013 Master of the Pork Industry Jeff Hansen
An education in the hog business can take many forms. For Jeff Hansen, founder and CEO of Iowa Select Farms, the tutorial began at the end of a pitchfork. Growing up on a farm near the company’s home base in Iowa Falls, IA, Hansen and his two brothers were what he calls “Dad’s skid-steer loaders.”
2013 Master of the Pork Industry Jim Meimann
With deep-seated roots in the pork industry, Jim Meimann has taken a decidedly low profile in his responsibilities as senior vice president of governance and operations at the National Pork Board. “I’m a behind-the-scenes kind of guy,” he explains. But don’t let his mild manner fool you; he is passionate about making sure pork producers get their money’s worth from their checkoff investments. He serves as the National Pork Board’s point person in their dealings with the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), the government arm that oversees Pork Checkoff programs and spending.
So God Made a (Hog) Farmer
In a narrative dubbed over a video track of 35 images depicting America’s farmers and ranchers, the late Paul Harvey, in his trademark cadence, delivered the thoughtful message — “So God Made a Farmer” — captured from his keynote address at the 1978 Future Farmers of America (FFA) convention.
37 and Counting
I don’t know about you, but with the issuance of each USDA Hogs & Pigs report, I have this nagging little thought in the back of my mind that this could be the quarter that the “pigs saved/litter” tally stalls out.
‘Game Changers’
With its roots in broadcasting, the term reportedly gained prominence during the 2008 Democratic primaries when Hillary Clinton noted that wins in North Carolina and Indiana would be “a game changer.”
Understanding Improvest
Branded as Improvest in the United States, the generic name for the active ingredient is gonadotropin releasing factor analog-diphtheria toxoid conjugate. Its mode of action is to temporarily and immunologically block gonadotropin releasing factor (GnRF), which reduces the levels of androstenone and skatole in mature male pigs — the primary source of “off odors” in pork.
Environmental Stewards Nominations Due March 31
Application and nomination forms for 2013 Environmental Stewards of the Pork Industry awards are now available. Each year, National Hog Farmer magazine and Pork Checkoff co-sponsor this national recognition program to recognize pork producers’ ongoing commitment to protect and enhance the air, water and land in the proximity of their pork production farms.
Preparing for 2013
How would you rank the pork industry challenges in the order of importance? Would your list include sow gestation housing, antibiotic use in livestock, the Renewable Fuels Standard/ethanol production, 2013 Corn Crop, Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS)?
Soybean Prices Strength Attributed to Bean Meal Prices
The run up in soybean prices throughout the summer (June through early September) was driven more by soybean meal prices than it was by the price of soybean oil, according to report filed by Darrel Good with the University of Illinois’ Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics.
Producers say: ‘Pens Just Don’t Feel Right’
For many, particularly those in the 45- to 60-year-old age range, the relentless push to move gestating sows out of stalls and into pens “just doesn’t feel right,” explains Tim Loula, DVM, with the Swine Vet Center (SVC), St. Peter, MN.
Ready to Rumble
Why is it that whenever you mix unfamiliar sows or pigs in a group a fierce battle ensues?
It’s in their genes. Pigs are hard-wired to establish a hierarchy when placed in the near proximity of others. That’s the conclusion USDA livestock behavioral specialist Jeremy Marchant-Forde offered at a sow housing workshop during the Leman Swine Conference recently. But he adds a caveat: Given a choice, they might just avoid the altercation altogether. At least, that’s what their ancestors would do.
Manure Nutrient Handling, Safety Tips
Great care must be taken whenever swine manure is handled, transported and applied, not only for the safety of the pigs and people, but also to minimize odor and gas emissions.
Challenges Abound
The when-it-rains-it-pours analogy seems to fit the challenges facing the pork industry recently. It’s an old idiom often used when a disproportionate number of trials and tribulations have befallen someone.
