‘Castrating hogs’ farm girl is Trump VP candidate

Jul 07, 2016

But still insists she’s focused on Iowa and the Senate

By Bill Brown
Farms.com Media

A “biscuit-eating, gun-shooting, twangy, twinkly farm girl and mother” is a candidate for vice-president on the Donald Trump Republican ticket leading up to the Nov. 8 election.

Trump recently met with Iowa junior senator Joni Ernst, fuelling speculation that she may be the choice to help close the narrowing gap between Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton. (A USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll now has Clinton leading by just five percentage points.)

With the GOP convention in Cleveland approaching, Ernst is being touted as a possibility, with mainstream media likely to focus on her rural background – which may balance the presumptive nominee’s Manhattan roots.

Joni Ernst

As reported yesterday by POLITICO, Ernst is still saying she’s just not that into a VP nomination. (“I made it very clear to him that I’m focused on Iowa.”) Yet that type of hard-to-get posturing is common at this stage in many campaigns.

Ernst first gained widespread recognition in 2014 when she starred in “Squeal,” a TV commercial in which she told voters “I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm.”

Over a hog-squealing soundtrack, Ernst closes the ad stating “Washington’s full of big spenders; let’s make ‘em squeal!”

Video: Sweetener Effects on Gut Health - Dr. Kwangwook Kim

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Kwangwook Kim, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, discusses the use of non-nutritive sweeteners in nursery pig diets. He explains how sucralose and neotame influence feed intake, gut health, metabolism, and the frequency of diarrhea compared to antibiotics. The conversation highlights mechanisms beyond palatability, including hormone signaling and nutrient transport. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Receptors responsible for sweet taste are present not only in the mouth but also along the intestinal tract.”

Meet the guest: Dr. Kwangwook Kim / kwangwook-kim is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, specializing in swine nutrition and feed additives under disease challenge models. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from the University of California, Davis, where he focused on intestinal health and metabolic responses in pigs. His research evaluates alternatives to antibiotics, targeting gut health and performance in nursery pigs.