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Popular Pig Podcast Episodes

Transforming Education In The Swine Industry | Dr. Márcio Gonçalves

April 7, 2022

About the Guest

Dr. Márcio Gonçalves graduated in Veterinary Medicine from a leading university in Brazil. After working in commercial swine production, he pursued his Ph.D. from Kansas State University in Applied Swine Nutrition. Upon graduation, he worked as a global swine nutritionist for a major swine genetic company, working with producers from over 20 countries, and has conducted 120 swine-related experiments to date. Currently, Márcio is the founder and CEO at Swine it, with a mission to positively impact 300,000 swine professionals through knowledge dissemination by the end of 2023.

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Modern Consumer Behavior and Why It Matters | Steve Lerch

March 31, 2022

About the Guest

Steve Lerch is a former Google executive, a consultant, and an award-winning international public speaker. He spent nearly a decade at Google designing the digital strategies and marketing campaigns of well known brands like GoPro, federal government agencies like the US Census, and national checkoff programs like the National Pork Board and Avocados From Mexico. Steve also served as a strategic thought leader at Google’s headquarters, where he taught thousands of Googler’s about the culture, processes, and philosophy that helped make Google one of the World’s most innovative companies. For the last three years Steve has served as the President and Founder of Story Arc Consulting, where he gives speeches, leads team workshops on strategic planning and innovations, and serves as a digital strategy and marketing consultant. Steve works across many industries, with a primary focus in food and agriculture.

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A Producer’s Review of the PigFlow Platform | Casey Long, Dustin Coleman, Fred Kuhr, Zenaido Loyola

March 24, 2022

About

SwineTech provides pork producers with workforce and swine management solutions that increase the quality of care for pigs everywhere. We are committed to helping pork producers navigate labor and survivability challenges within their operations. We accomplish this by providing production employees with a workforce and swine management platform that immediately improves workplace organization and communication. This ensures that people are less stressed and more aware of where they need to be, when they need to be there, and how they should take action. This has led to a significant reduction in labor needs, as well as stillborns and mortalities.

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The Optimal First Mating of Gilts | Jeff Kayser

March 17, 2022

About the Guest

Jeff Kayser has 40 years of swine operations experience working with independent and integrated pork producers. Including business development through facility acquisitions, new construction, renovation and expansion of swine facilities and contract grower procurement. Coordinating transportation and truck wash operations, animal movements and marketing activities. Directing information services activities in reproduction and grow-finish record keeping and biological versus financial KPI benchmarking. Directing the activities of genetic multiplication and commercial farrow to finish production systems as a Senior Regional Production Manager via various production models; ESF, ABF, filtered ventilation, crated and pen gestation and with all major swine genetic lines. Currently serves as the Technical Production Specialist for Fast Genetics.

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Leadership is a Journey | John Paul Engel

March 10, 2022

About the Guest

John Paul Engel is the Founder of Knowledge Capital Consulting and Secure Bin Labs. John has worked in a dozen countries advising the senior management of some of the largest companies in the world. He has helped dozens of companies go from idea to a high growth company. John’s advice has appeared in INC, Fast Company, Forbes, Fortune, and over 250 publications. He has been invited to guest lecture at University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon, The University of Iowa, and Oxford University.

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The Megatrends Shaping the Animal Protein Industry | Aidan Connolly

February 24, 2022

About the Guest

Aidan is President of AgriTech Capital, a resource for new and established companies working at the interface of agriculture and technology. Prior to this Aidan was CEO at Cainthus and CIO at Alltech among other senior roles in a 25 year plus career at that company.  He is also a non-executive director at Origin Enterprises, the leading crop inputs company in Northern Europe. AgriTech Capital has aided governments, fortune 500 food companies and large agri-businesses on their AgTech strategy. Aidan adds the innovative thinking and capital investment needed to go from possibility to reality.  He has a strategic understanding of the marketplace and the regulatory parameters that set the environment. Aidan has worked in over 100 countries and speaks five languages.  He has worked in political associations, with state and national governments in the US, China, Europe and Brazil, international organizations such as the European Union and the United Nations. Aidan also contributes to a wide range of publications in agriculture and business, including Forbes.

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It Is The Best Time Ever To Be In Agriculture | Joseph Kerns

February 17, 2022

About the Guest

Joseph Kerns, President of Partners for Production Agriculture, has thirty years’ experience working with producers, suppliers, and mills to support agricultural operations. He leads a team of professionals with the purpose of understanding the financial parameters around agricultural markets so that those that he works with can thrive and prosper.

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A Consumers Perspective of Modern Pork Production | Levi Maaia

February 10, 2022

About the Guest

Levi C. Maaia is the director of “Pathways to Invention” a documentary on Lemelson-MIT award-winning inventors. He was in Iowa City recently filming at SwineTech for the film. Levi began his media career in FM radio, cable television and broadband where he became fascinated by the potential for technology to educate, and open a window on the world. He earned a Ph.D. studying Maker culture and STEM education at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He later started Maaia Mark Productions with his business partner Noah Mark in order to explore the intersections of culture and technology through film. Levi is a private, instrument-rated, land and seaplane pilot serving on the Santa Barbara Airport Commission, a licensed amateur radio operator and avid photographer. He also tinkers with his 1966 Mustang to keep it running.

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Navigating a Post-Weaning E. Coli Challenge | Dr. Yanbin Shen

February 3, 2022

About the Guest

Dr. Yanbin Shen is currently the Global Technical Services Director at APC, Inc. APC, Inc. is one of seven independent companies under The Lauridsen Group, Inc. and is headquartered in Ankeny, Iowa. APC was founded in 1981 and is dedicated to the research and application of blood products in animal nutrition. The company has grown into a global manufacturer and supplier of porcine, bovine plasma and hemoglobin. APC has approximately 500 employees in 9 countries and 17 manufacturing plants worldwide.

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Rebranding an Industry | Brad Zimmerman

January 28, 2022

About the Guest

A lifelong “car guy” Brad Zimmerman began his career in event marketing which naturally gravitated towards professional motorsports. A move from California to North Carolina in the early 2000’s to be closer to the epicenter of stock car racing, Brad quickly merged his passion of cars with the growing experiential marketing industry which then dovetailed into social and digital marketing. Having worked with some of the biggest brands in the world, Brad is constantly looking ahead to contemporary trends and technologies and applying them towards present day campaigns and projects.

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