SHIC Delivers Swine Health Information at Leman Conference

Sep 01, 2025

The Allen D. Leman Swine Conference, an annual educational event for the global swine industry, will take place September 20-23, 2025, at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minnesota. Swine veterinarians, pork producers, and other swine professionals will convene to attend the Leman Conference and learn the latest information and research outcomes in swine production, biosecurity, and animal health management. The Swine Health Information Center, a Leman Conference Program Partner, will have an informational display near the registration desk at the event. Drs. Megan Niederwerder and Lisa Becton will each chair breakout sessions sponsored by SHIC, covering both on-farm and transport biosecurity.

On Monday, September 22, 2025, the main conference breakout session entitled “Opportunities for on-site biosecurity practices,” is scheduled from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. The session is sponsored by SHIC and Dr. Megan Niederwerder will serve as chair. Presentations for this session include:

Environmental contamination in dead boxes and composting bins of wean-to-finish farms
Dr. Igor Paploski, University of Minnesota
Airborne biosecurity: Comparison of air filtration and an electrostatic precipitator technology
Mark Schwartz, University of Minnesota and Schwartz Farms
Uncovering the gaps: Insights from PRRS outbreak investigations
Dr. Christine Mainquist-Whigham, Pillen Family Farms and DNA Genetics

On Tuesday, September 23, 2025, the main conference breakout session entitled “Addressing the market hog trailer biosecurity challenges,” is scheduled from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. The session is sponsored by SHIC and will be chaired by Dr. Lisa Becton. Presentations for this session include:

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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.