Iowa Swine Day June 26 to Tackle Topics of Interest to Pork Industry

Apr 15, 2014

AMES, Iowa — Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, food safety, animal welfare and biosecurity will be some of the pressing topics covered June 26 at the third annual Iowa Swine Day at Iowa State University.

Regional, national and international leaders in swine research, economics, veterinary medicine, production, animal welfare and the marketplace will address challenges facing the pork industry, animal science and consumers. The event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. at the Benton Auditorium, Scheman Building on the Iowa State campus.

Speakers include Dr. Richard Raymond, former U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary for food safety, and Justin Ransom, national director of supply chain management for McDonald’s.

Iowa Swine Day is open to the public, and especially targets pork producers, pork industry suppliers, extension personnel, consultants, researchers, veterinarians and students, who are eligible for a discount on registration if they are currently enrolled in school.

The cost of the meeting is $60, if registered by June 13. The fee includes coffee, snacks, a lunch and a copy of the proceedings. Advanced registration is available at http://www.aep.iastate.edu/iowaswineday/

Source: Iowa State University

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.