By Carter Schmidt
Swine producers, researchers and other industry professionals from across the region gathered for the 10th annual South Dakota State University Swine Day on Sept. 29 at Club 71 in Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
The event was hosted by SDSU Extension in collaboration with the SDSU Department of Animal Science and the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.
“I think Swine Day has been a fantastic opportunity to be able to get that interaction between our staff and our students here and the industry,” said Rafe Royall, assistant professor and SDSU Extension swine specialist. “It’s an awesome opportunity for us to present the best of ourselves to the folks that we’re really here to serve as research and extension personnel.”
The day started with a student poster competition where undergraduate and graduate students presented their research to attendees. Following the poster competition, Michael Gonda, interim head of the Department of Animal Science, welcomed guests and spoke about department initiatives. After the welcome, Royall presented about the National Swine Health Strategy, followed by faculty Crystal Levesque and Eric Weaver, who presented about swine research happening currently at SDSU.
The day concluded with a keynote presentation by Dr. Joel Nerem, a veterinarian at Pipestone. His topic focused on the economics of infectious diseases in wean-to-market pigs and the impact biosecurity in wean-to-market farms has on reducing those infections.
“Health has a major impact on the profitability of pig farmers, and it has a major impact on pig welfare, right? So, our goal is always to try and maximize pig health and maximize our customers' profitability,” Nerem said.
Nerem said Swine Day at SDSU is important to local producers and the swine industry overall in South Dakota.
The afternoon session included swine research update presentations from Ph.D. students Katlyn McClellan, Foreman Atoo and Jessica Lira, and then an “Industry update from an economist’s perspective” with Mike Minor and Jordan Reker, risk managers with Professional Ag Marketing.
Source : sdstate.edu