disease

The World Pork Expo is on the near term agenda (June 9-11 in Des Moines, Iowa) followed closely by the National Pork Board's 2010 Pork Management Conference in Hilton Head, SC.

SwineCast will be bringing you in-depth conversations from both events. Want to learn more about what's going on in Des Moines? We talk with the Pork Board's Assistant Vice President - Communications, Cindy Cunningham to overview the many seminars and educational programs that are free to attendees. The Pork Management Conference brings top speakers on issues external to the industry as well as updates on key topics all producers need to know. Get registered or learn more about the agenda via the program guide.

Questions? Comments? Please feel free to contact us.

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SwineCast^® Conversations

What Are The Educational Opportunities At The World Pork Expo?

Cindy Cunningham, National Pork Board Vice-President of Communications, updates us on the programs, seminars and events at 2010 World Pork Expo.

Asian Foot and Mouth Disease? Impact North American Producers?

Swine producers in North America should take action to stop potential Foot and Mouth Disease carriers at the farm gate.

Filtering Nutrients From Wastewater With Algae

Walter Mulby, USDA Agricultural Research Service Microbiologist, shares information on research into low-cost algae-based systems to reclaim nutrients from manures.

Agriculture Telling its Story

Animal‑rights is not about treating animals more nicely Wesley J. Smith, Award winning author and Senior Fellow in Human Rights and Bioethics at the Discovery Institute, shares his view that animal-rights is an ideology and that agriculture must do a much better job of explaining the great traditions of animal husbandry and the tremendous human benefit we receive from the proper and humane use of animals. Both the audio and transcript of the presentation is available.

How Agriculture Needs To Work Together What are some of the core issues, projects, and principles that Agriculture should organize around and tackle?

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Man-Made Climate Change: Hoax or Myth Dr. Jay Lehr, Science Director of The Heartland Institute, breaks down the hoax and myths behind man-made climate change. This is a three part presentation , via DairyCast, from the 2010 Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Convention.

An important update from past NPPC president Don Butler on three Free Trade Agreements which are complete in every respect except… we’re waiting on Congressional passage. Given the twin hammers of H1N1 and world economic upheaval, the U.S. pork industry is doing all it can to grow demand through exports and maintain the black ink of the past few months.


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It looks like the demand picture is getting a little brighter. At least the foodservice side of the picture appears to be improving according to the National Restaurant Association. Its monthly performance index, based on a survey of restaurant owners, rose above 100 in March for the first time since August 2007. Hopefully the optimism of restaurateurs can translate to high demand for dairy products and increased profit for dairy producers.


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We’re pumped to share presentations from the recent Swine Forecast 2010 virtual conference this week in your email update. This program brings together speakers and groups of swine producers around the U.S. and Canada to share concerns and questions in a timely and forthright fashion. You’ll get the skinny from bankers on access to capital, market updates from Dr. Steve Meyer and a look behind the curtain in the packer/retail area of the industry.

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There has been much discussion focused on PRRS eradication at recent swine health meetings. Ideally, the goal should be to eliminate this fierce killer of unborn pigs from the U.S. entirely. This week, two programs will be looking at what it might take to accomplish this goal.

I’ll be in Chicago for the Boehringer Ingelheim PRRS Symposium which precedes the International PRRS Symposium as part of the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases. These high-level, international gatherings bring the best and brightest to bear on the PRRS issue. We’ll have interviews and presentations available for you on the discussion next week.

Also, the presentations from Swine Forecast 2010 go online at SwineCast.com this coming Dec 9. Great overviews of several segments affecting swine production. If you missed the live webinar, you don’t want to miss this replay.

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One the road today, traveling from Madison, Wisconsin, after spending a few days at the World Dairy Expo, the premier event for the dairy industry. In spite of continued low milk price and another PETA video+demonstrations at the event, there appears to be some optimism among producers. As dairy producers put the worst behind them and begin to focus on a brighter future, hopefully for beef producers this may mean fewer culled dairy cows hitting the markets.

Another great benefit from the event will some excellent conversations on improving management and communications. Be sure to take a look at some of dairy producers responses to industry attacks via our conversation with Polly Ligon O’Grady.   

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