Minnesota's Swine & U

In this podcast, Swine Extension Educator Sarah Schieck Boelke once again speaks with Lyle Lange and Mike Walker of Lange Ag Systems in Willmar, MN. This time she speaks to Lyle and Mike about Fall/Winter ventilation basics for swine barns. Lyle has over 46 years of experience in the livestock industry, and Mike has 26 years of experience. With the change of season to Fall and then Winter, there are some fundamental things producers should evaluate in the swine barn to ensure ventilation is at optimal performance. Lyle and Mike define basic ventilation terminology and provide practical strategies for common ventilation issues, such as cleaning soffits and fans, checking belts, and calibrating inlets. Lyle and Mike also discuss how to ensure the heating system is ready when needed.

Recorded August 10, 2026.

In this podcast, Swine Extension Educator Sarah Schieck Boelke speaks with Lucas Ferreira, Master’s student in Veterinary Science in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, about his research on trailer contamination at the harvest plant facilities during the unloading of market hogs. The study includes two harvest facilities that Lucas and others visit regularly throughout the year to collect environmental samples from the unloading dock and trailers to analyze for pathogens, such as PRRSv, PEDv, PDCoV, and SVA. The research also includes talking to the drivers about their biosecurity practices. In the podcast, Lucas gives preliminary results and explains the research is ongoing. Year 1 of 2 has been completed.

Learn more about trailer contamination at the harvest plant facilities during unloading of market hogs as featured in the podcast.

• Assessment of PEDV Trailer Contamination at the Harvest Facility blog post on Minnesota Swine News.
• SHIC-Funded study quantifies trailer contamination risk at harvest plants posted in Swine Health and Information Center website.

In this podcast, Swine Extension Educator Sarah Schieck Boelke speaks with Rob Holcomb, UMN Extension agricultural business management educator, about Minnesota Paid Leave for agriculture. Rob explains what agriculture employers need to participate, how to set up an account, and employer reporting responsibilities. He also shares resources for more information.

Resources mentioned in the podcast

• Minnesota Paid Leave website
• UMN Extension Managing a farm webpage
• UMN Extension Agriculture Business Management YouTube - MN Paid Leave playlist
• Rob Holcomb's contact information: [email protected]; 507-258-8754

This podcast was recorded on June 15, 2026

In this podcast, Swine Extension Educator Sarah Schieck Boelke speaks with Lyle Lange and Mike Walker, both of Lange Ag Systems of Willmar, MN, about summer ventilation basics for swine barns. Lyle has over 46 years of experience in the livestock industry, and Mike has 26 years of experience. With the change of season to Summer, there are some fundamental things producers should evaluate in the swine barn to ensure ventilation is at optimal performance. Lyle and Mike define basic ventilation terminology and provide practical strategies for common ventilation issues, such as cleaning fans, checking belts, calibrating inlets, and more.

In the podcast, Swine Extension Educator Sarah Schieck Boelke speaks with Samuel Berrio, who is a current graduate student in the University of Minnesota's Department of Animal Science studying Animal Science with an emphasis in Swine Nutrition. Samuel’s research involved evaluating the precision and accuracy of the doser in electronic sow feeders.

Learn more about research featured in the podcast

• Abstract published in Journal of Animal Science, Volume 104, Issue Supplement 3. doi: 10.1093/jas/skag107.050.

In the podcast, Swine Extension Educator Sarah Schieck Boelke speaks with Sara Williams, who recently completed her master's of science degree in Animal Science with an emphasis in Swine Nutrition from the University of Minnesota's Department of Animal Science. Sara’s MS research involved formaldehyde-based feed sanitizers in sow feed to reduce pathogens. Her research gives some promising results on this topic.

Learn more about formaldehyde-based feed sanitizers in sow feed featured in the podcast

• Abstract published in Journal of Animal Science, Volume 103, Issue Supplement 1. doi: 10.1093/jas/skaf102.313.

In the podcast, Swine Extension Educator Sarah Schieck Boelke speaks with Drs. Kim VanderWaal and Igor Paploski about PRRS virus Classification. Both are faculty members in the University of Minnesota Veterinary Population Medicine department. PRRS virus Classification is basically naming of the PRRS virus according to the genetic sequencing of the virus. Kim and Igor explain how PRRS viruses were classified previously and changes to how they are being classified based on their work.

Learn more about PRRS virus classification featured in the podcast

• Swine Health Information Center fact sheet on the epidemiological insights on the PRRS-Loom Variant webtool
• Link to PRRS-Loom Variant webtool
• Journal article published in Epidemiology, Volume 10, Issue 2. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00709-24

In the podcast, Swine Extension Educator Sarah Schieck Boelke speaks with Dr. Marie Culhane about H5 Influenza. Especially as it relates to cases in poultry and dairy, and the risk of it for pigs. Dr. Culhane is a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Veterinary Population Medicine. Her expertise is Influenza as it relates to food animals.

Learn more about H5 Influenza featured in the podcast

• This podcast was based on a Swine in Minnesota blog post, "H5 Influenza Q & A with Drs. Marie Culhane and Carol Cardona"
• Journal article talks about how susceptible pigs are to influenza.
• Journal article explains how pigs are a mixing vessel for influenza viruses.
• Minnesota Board of Animal Health H5N1 in Livestock Resources
• Minnesota Board of Animal Health HPAI hotline and response
• Individuals can contact local DNR wildlife staff or the DNR information center at 888-646-6367 to report sick or dead birds.

This podcast was recorded on April 22, 2025

In the podcast, Swine Extension Educator Sarah Schieck Boelke speaks with Rachel Schambow who is a researcher with the UMN Center for Animal Health and Food Safety at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Rachel speaks about the analysis her and her colleagues did of USDA’s Sick Pig Surveillance component at Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories. She also talks about USDA’s Sick Pig Surveillance program in general and how producers and veterinarians can support surveillance for African Swine Fever and Classical Swine Fever.

University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine Center for Animal Health and Food Safety have created informational sheets about the sick pig Veterinary Diagnostic Lab’s (VDL) surveillance program to help producers and veterinarians understand what it is and how they can participate. There are two versions of the informational sheets - one is aimed towards the intensive commercial swine industry, while the other is aimed more at non-swine veterinarians and general audiences.

In the podcast, Extension Swine Educator Sarah Schieck Boelke speaks with Gabriella Lima who recently finished her Master of Science degree in the Department of Animal Science. Gabriella speaks about a research project she worked on. The research project was very comprehensive in what it all looked at, but specifically, Gabriella looked at the effects of growth performance and carcass characteristics when feeding hybrid rye to organically raised growing-finishing pigs. Gabriella does briefly share the other aspects of the research project that were studied by others, but didn’t share those results.

Learn more about research featured in the podcast

• Abstract published in the Journal of Animal Science, volume 102, Issue Supplement 2, Pages 58-59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae102.068
• Organic pigs & rye: The rest of the story article was originally printed in The LAND publication (July 5, 2024) and reprinted on the UMN Extension Swine blog.
• Article featured in UMN Extension's Source magazine Fall 2024 issue.
• Article featured on UMN West Central Research and Outreach Center's website, titled: Organic Pigs and Hybrid Rye.
• Summary of 2024 Organic Swine Field Day event held at the West Central Research and Outreach Center
• Article published in National Hog Farmer, November 2024
• Podcast recorded with Swine Podcasts by Wisenetix, featuring Dr. Lee Johnston

This podcast was recorded on November 5, 2024.