Popular Pig Podcast Episodes

Kansas State Identifies Successful Way To Slow Pig Growth | Dr. Mike Tokach

Summary

Named among the 50 people who have made the greatest impact in the U.S. swine industry in the last 50 years, Mike Tokach, professor of animal sciences and industry, is a swine nutrition researcher and extension specialist at Kansas State University. Tokach joined K-State in 1991. In 2013, he earned the title of university distinguished professor. Tokach is the author of more than 350 articles in scientific journals, nine book chapters, and more than 1,000 extension and non-refereed articles. Tokach has received more than $20 million in research grants and gifts. He also has been awarded seven patents for his research and has given more than 300 invited lectures at national and international conferences.

How Community Engagement and Education Helped Bring Back the Family Farm | Bob and Kristy Walker

Summary

Bob and Kristy Walker have been in partnership for over 28 years taking on adventures ranging from parenting, youth group leaders, and authoring textbooks to taking on the challenge of a diversified farm and winery with the vision: A boundless venue for an agricultural and culinary delight. Their Walker Homestead is an 85-acre farm, field to fork farmer’s table, with gardens, orchards, vineyards, winery, and pasture playground, producing a variety of foods and wines, raising animals and honey, and growing herbs and flowers using techniques that protect the environment and help foster the development of healthy living.

ASF and Covid’s Impact on Pork Production Around the World | P.J. Corns

Summary

P.J. Corns is a pork producer and production advisor from Iowa who currently lives near Barcelona, Spain. He is the owner of Global Swine Solutions with clients throughout Europe, Asia, and Russia. Besides the family’s Century Farm near What Cheer, Iowa that includes row crops and wean to finish operations, P.J. consults large, vertically integrated swine production systems on production optimization, Biosecurity, standard operating procedure development and implementation along with business and development projects with the largest genetic companies in the world.

Life as a Pork Producer and Veterinarian During COVID-19 | Dr. Peter Schneider

Summary

Dr. Schneider received a DVM from Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine in 2012. He’s been employed by Innovative Agriculture Solutions since graduation where he works with a varied group of pork producers. A large percentage of pigs Dr. Schneider sees are raised for a niche market.

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Swine Industry | Dr. Gordon Spronk

Summary

Dr. Gordon Spronk is a native of the Pipestone, Minnesota agricultural community. Upon completion of his education with a DVM degree at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota in 1981, he returned to Pipestone to practice at Pipestone Veterinary Services. Dr. Spronk is a co-founder of the “Pipestone System” of pig production.

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Leveraging Technology and Teamwork to Address Covid-19 | Phillip Hord

Summary

Phillip Hord is a fifth-generation pork producer and is continuing his family’s legacy at Hord Family Farms, which raises hogs and cattle as well as growing the crops to feed them. As a research coordinator, he helps to find innovative ways to care for the animals like improving their diets and much more. His father, Patrick Hord, serves as president of the business, and his grandfather, Duane Hord, is still part of the day-to-day operations. We spoke with Phil about Covid-19, their company’s response, and its impact on the US industry.

You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure | Wesley Lack

Summary

Wesley Lack is the Chief Operations Officer at Maximum Ag Technologies, a company founded with Larry & Dustin Reed in 2013, which serves as the US distributor of Maximus Control Systems. Prior to Maximum Ag, Wes spent 13 years working on the production side of the swine industry.

How Engineers Can Help Facilitate Transforming Swine Facilities For The Future | Dr. Tami Brown-Brandl

Summary

Tami M. Brown-Brandl, Ph.D., is an agricultural engineer at the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Meat Animal Research Center. Dr. Brown-Brandl works in the area of animal environment and animal stress/well-being, from an engineering perspective, and has published 118 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Minimizing the Impact of Covid-19 on your Farm and the Current Status of ASF in Europe | Shane McAuliffe

Summary

Shane McAuliffe is from Kerry, Ireland where his family has 2,000 sows across 4 modern sites including Ireland’s first freedom farrowing farm. He holds a Masters in Pig Health from the Royal Veterinary College in London, where he studied associations between respiratory disease status, production performance, biosecurity and antibiotic use on Irish pig farms.

Impacts on Food Production in a World Plagued by Covid-19 | Kevin Ladwig

Summary

Kevin leads MSAB Capital, a corporate venture fund of Johnsonville Holdings, investing in early stage companies in life sciences and emerging technologies. Prior to leading MSAB Capital, Kevin spent 30 years at Johnsonville Sausage in various technical and business functions including Research & Development, Food Safety & Quality, Procurement, Crisis Management and Business Development.