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Missouri family adapts into hog production

Matt Stubblefield is adamant about the fact that he is a cattleman, not a hog farmer. But with generations of pork producers in his family, raising hogs was just a part of the farm operation.

“The hog barn on my father-in-law’s property was built by his grandpa in the 1950’s or ‘60’s,” said Matt’s wife, Rockael.

Like many farming operations in the mid- to late-1900’s, raising a few feeder pigs was standard for the Cuba, Missouri family. Matt’s great-great-grandpa would feed out about 1,000 head each year, according to his dad, Drew. Eventually, the Stubblefields started raising their own pigs and moved their sows to a pasture setting.

Going in and out of the hog business a few times, the family re-entered the business in the late 1990’s when Drew bought a gilt at the 4-H youth auction and bred her to a neighbor’s Poland China boar. Hogs have resided on the operation ever since.

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Season 7, Episode 6: Using Competitive Exclusion to Reduce E. coli in Weaned Pigs

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Newly weaned pigs are especially vulnerable to pathogenic E. coli, which can cause diarrhea and other health challenges. Research is exploring how introducing beneficial bacteria before exposure to harmful bacteria could help reduce the severity of post-weaning disease, with timing playing an important role.

Dr. Marcelo Almeida, assistant professor in Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, and Dr. Rodrigo Paiva, graduate student and pathology resident at the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, discuss their research on competitive exclusion in weaned pigs. They explain how this approach works, why introducing beneficial microorganisms before E. coli exposure may improve outcomes and what they learned about diarrhea, E. coli shedding and pig performance. The conversation also explores the potential to address antimicrobial resistance and the considerations for applying these findings in commercial pork production.