Popular Pig Podcast Episodes

Creating Tomorrow’s Ag Leaders Through Experience and Trust | Shonda Sammons

About the Guest

Shonda Sammons is a partner and Program Leader with the sister organization of 21st Century, 21st Century Agriculture Leadership. With over 30+ years of experience, she works with employers and employees to provide coaching, guidance, and leadership development. In addition to her highly engaging facilitation style, Shonda converts individuals into enterprising champions and assists companies in identifying in-house talent and matching employee skill sets to job responsibilities.
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Navigating Leadership in Ag and Beyond | Gary Weihs

About the Guest

Gary Weihs serves as Managing Partner for Kincannon & Reed, the world’s premier search firm for senior leadership roles in food, agribusiness, and life sciences organizations.

Leveraging more than 30 years of management experience in technology, production, renewables, biotech and agricultural equipment environments, Weihs focuses on senior executive and direct-report-level assignments within agricultural and food sectors.

Weihs and the Kincannon & Reed team work to become trusted partners with their clients through a consultative approach, strong work ethic, deep industry knowledge, and extensive professional networks. Early in an engagement, Weihs and his colleagues gain a thorough understanding of their clients’ near-term business objectives, long-term strategies, and organizational culture. This discovery process enables them to apply their executive experience into recruiting skilled, results-oriented, and visionary leaders for their clients.

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Rethinking GDU Design for Longevity and Profitability | Emily Pottorf & Dr. Dalton Obermier

About the Guests

Emily Pottorf is the Territory Representative for Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin for Gestal. She has been with the company for 4 years. Emily grew up on an Iowa farm with her 3 sisters and spent her high school through college career working on nursery and sow farms. She followed her passion for the pork industry to Iowa State University where she earned her degree in Animal Science. She continued to work in the swine industry post-graduation; her favorite part of working with Gestal is helping farmers find solutions and improve efficiencies in their operations.
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A New Way to Fight PRRS | Dr. Tom Campi

About the Guest

Thomas W. Campi, DVM, MPVM is CEO and co-founder of Modulant Biosciences, a new biotech company focusing on antivirals for pets and livestock.  Their current pipeline includes an antiviral for cats suffering from FIP and an antiviral for pigs infected with the PRRS virus.  They also have a One Drug for All Cancers platform.
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Creating a Playbook for Animal Welfare | Mallory Strickland

About the Guest

Mallory Strickland is a graduate of Ohio State University and NC State University. She joined Smithfield Hog Production in 2010, as a production trainee from Cardington, Ohio, where she grew up raising her own breeding stock along with 4-H and FFA show pigs. Currently, she is the animal care program manager for Smithfield Hog Production and oversees the Animal Care Management System for the company and contract farms across the nation.

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Getting Real About AI: When It’s Worth It and When It’s Not | Kyle Leistikow

About the Guest

Kyle Leistikow began his research career at UW-Madison where he worked for three years under the guidance of Eric Johnson investigating the secretion and stability of Clostridial neurotoxins. He received his PhD from Marquette University under the guidance of Krassimira Hristova and Christopher Marshall where his work on bacterial communication systems led to the discovery of a novel antimicrobial compound capable of inhibiting clinical and agricultural MRSA infections.

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What Every Farm Should Know About Transport Biosecurity | Dr. Karine Talbot

About the Guest

Dr Karine Talbot is Senior Director of Animal Health, Nutrition and R&D at HyLife, and earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from the Université de Montréal in 2008.

She joined HyLife as the on-staff veterinarian after graduation and she is currently serving as the Senior Director of Animal Health, Nutrition and R&D at HyLife.

Her work is primarily focused on health, production, nutrition, welfare, and biosecurity of all the different divisions of the company; genetic, commercial production, slaughter plant, truck wash, etc.  She oversees the veterinary needs, nutrition team and research and development of HyLife herds in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Over the years, Dr Talbot served as President of both the Canadian and Western Canadian Associations of Swine Veterinarians, and she is still serving on the Board of Director of the Canadian Association of Swine Veterinarian (CASV-ACVP) since 2011.

Dr Talbot also actively contributes to industry working groups, addressing critical issues like diseases preparedness, biosecurity, and animal welfare.

What can you expect to learn from this episode of Popular Pig?

• Why transport is a major part of biosecurity, not just barns.
• How to handle transport risks using a simple five-step game plan.
• What Manitoba producers are doing together to keep disease out.
• How better loadout design and training can make a big difference.
• Karine’s “Golden Nugget”

From Feed Mill Roots to Prop 12 Reality | Ryan Hunter & Jarred Lorenz

About the Guests

Ryan Hunter

Ryan was born and raised in Vicksburg, MI, where his parents and grandparents purchased a feed mill in 1979. He attended Vicksburg High School and graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in Business Management. Ryan is married with three children. His wife and kids are involved in the farm as well, providing help and support when needed. When he’s not pig farming, Ryan enjoys spending time outdoors and going on adventures with his family.
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Designing Better Barns for Pigs and People | Dr. Monique Pairis-Garcia

About the Guest

Monique Pairis-Garcia is a Professor and Veterinarian in Global Production Animal Welfare at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Pairis-Garcia earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and her Doctorate in Philosophy from Iowa State University and her Bachelor’s degree in biology from Grinnell College. She is board-certified in the American College of Animal Welfare and serves on the Pig Welfare Committee for the American Association of Swine Veterinarians and National Pork Board. Her research interests include pain management in livestock animals utilizing pharmacological interventions to minimize pain, development and refinement of educational material to ensure timely and appropriate euthanasia on-farm, and development and implementation of audit and assessment programs to ensure positive animal welfare and handling on-farm.

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The Real Reason Digitization Matters in Pork Production | Dr. James Lowe

About the Guest

Dr. Lowe is an educator, advisor, researcher, and farmer based in Illinois. He is also a professor and the associate dean for online programs and extension at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois. He holds a DVM and MS from the University of Illinois and has spent most of the last 30 years working in and with red meat production systems in the US and internationally. He lives in Illinois with his wife, Erin, and their dog, Hank.

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