Registration Open For 2026-2027 SowBridge Educational Series

Dec 31, 2025

By Sherry Hoyer

SowBridge, the distance educational series for those who work with sows, boars, and piglets and with genetic and reproductive issues, begins its next program year in early February 2026, and registration is now underway. The series is provided online through Zoom, and each session is recorded for later viewing.

Suggestions from participants guide the selection of future topics and speakers, and the opportunity for interaction with session speakers remains unchanged. SowBridge provides all participants with the opportunity to hear directly from experts and to contact those experts following the individual sessions.

Sessions generally are held on the first Wednesday of the month and run from 11:15 a.m. to about 12:15 p.m. Central time. The fifth session is moved up one week to May 27 to avoid conflicts with the World Pork Expo.

During each session, participants can ask questions to industry expert presenter from the comfort of their home, office or swine unit. Each registration provides access to one Zoom connection per session and all program materials provided by presenters.

The cost is $200 for the first registration and half that amount for each subsequent registration from the same entity.

Source : iastate.edu

Video: Next Mile Ep 1: Navigating Disease Prevention

The Next Mile, host Dr. Meredith Petersen, Director of Swine Health at the National Pork Board, sits down with Dr. Cara Haden, Director of Animal Welfare and Biosecurity at Pipestone, to unpack the National Swine Health Strategy and what it means for producers across the country.

Meredith walks through how the strategy came together: a producer-led effort launched in March 2025 in response to input gathered at the National Pork Industry Forum, built around two core goals, keeping foreign and emerging diseases out of the U.S. herd and reducing the impact of domestic diseases already here, including long-term elimination targets for PRRSV and PEDV.

Cara then brings the conversation down to the farm level, sharing how Pipestone scores biosecurity across seven key areas: air, feed, water, people, supplies, trucks and pigs, plus everything within the farm perimeter. She and Meredith dig into why farm leadership and daily culture, not just protocols on paper, ultimately determine whether biosecurity efforts stick.

Whether you're a producer, veterinarian, or anyone invested in herd health, this episode offers a grounded look at where the industry is headed and what everyday habits make the biggest difference.