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Agriculture This Week: Farming always evolving

When you have grown up on a farm in the 1960s and ‘70s it is almost beyond belief the changes in farming we see today. 

It was a mixed farm for me, and that meant pigs and grain. 

In my youth I hauled a lot of ground grain to feed the pigs using cleaned five-gallon pails that originally were filled with some weed spray, or another. 

Looking back over some 40-years it seems like it was such a crazy thing, but repurposing the pails was pretty standard. I’m pretty sure potatoes came from the garden to the cellar bin in similar pails. 

Of course I clearly recall Dad taking plugged nozzles off the sprayer, his gloves getting soaked in the process, and then simply blowing out the nozzle with his breath. 

Knowing what we do now it’s a wonder what health problems were caused in a time we didn’t know better, or were reluctant to change. Dad lived to a considerable age, his heart giving out one day, but one wonders. 


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Season 6, Episode 8: National Swine Health Strategy Coming Soon

Video: Season 6, Episode 8: National Swine Health Strategy Coming Soon

Pork producers say herd health is essential to the long-term success of the industry, and that message is driving the National Swine Health Strategy, a comprehensive plan set to be finalized this spring. Dr. Meredith Behr Petersen, director of swine health at the National Pork Board, outlines the timeline leading up to the plan’s final approval set for this spring and the steps involved in identifying producer priorities. She also explains how producers and the broader industry can align around the strategy to strengthen herd health and profitability.