The Swine report
|VIDEOS
Amanda Minton, Associate Director of Reproductive Technology at Acuity Swine and Karl Kerns, Assistant Professor at Iowa State University, discuss capturing relative phenotypes to help us understand and ultimately improve boar fertility.
Justin Fix, Director of Business Development and Genetic Improvement with Acuity and Caleb Shull, Director of Research at The Maschhoffs discuss how genetic evaluation varies from nucleus to commercial production and how that variation creates a bias in data analysis.
The Swine report|News
Dr. Rebecca Robbins was installed as president of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians on March 3, 2026, during the association’s 57th Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. She succeeds Dr. Locke Karriker. Karriker is now the immediate past president. Dr. Chris Rademacher has ascended to president-elect. The newly elected vice president is Dr. Clayton Johnson.
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For the past 20 to 30 years, PRRS has taken an incredible toll on the farmers and veterinarians striving for the best possible animal health outcomes. Efforts to control the disease and minimize animal suffering require intensive intervention, with research showing up to a 3.79x increase in antibiotic use for infected herds. And despite those best efforts, the end result can still be devastating. “PRRS has been the most frustrating thing we’ve had to deal with as veterinarians,” says Dr. Jason Hocker, partner and veterinarian at AMVC, a firm managing 161,500 sows across 11 states and 45 farms. “The virus changes and adapts and seems to always be one step ahead of us. It’s something we’ve not been able to make lot of progress on as an industry.” The emotional toll on pig caretakers The impact of PRRS extends beyond the animal and into the lives of those who care for them. “It’s not just frustrating, it’s also emotionally taxing to the vets, farmers and farm employees who have to dea
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Nobody gets excited when an auditor pulls into the driveway, but in an era of increasing retail pressure and global scrutiny, the Common Swine Industry Audit (CSIA) is evolving from a simple checklist into a pork producer’s most powerful shield. The CSIA task force’s 2026 updates are the most significant overhaul in a decade, shifting from looking for flaws to benchmarking positive welfare outcomes. By aligning with international standards and providing rigorous third-party verification of on-farm care, these science-based revisions are securing the industry’s ‘freedom to operate’ and ensuring U.S. pork remains a trusted, high-quality staple in the global supply chain. Securing ‘Freedom to Operate’ The CSIA is a tool for third-party verification, not just internal training, explains Stephanie Wetter, National Pork Board’s director of animal welfare. It provides the credible data needed to justify pork’s place in the global supply chain and protects the industry’s right to operate by
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