Popular Pig

Dr. Gordon Spronk is a native of the Pipestone, Minnesota agricultural community. Upon completion of his education with a DVM degree at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota in 1981, he returned to Pipestone to practice at Pipestone Veterinary Services. Dr. Spronk is a co-founder of the “Pipestone System” of pig production.

Dr. Spronk currently serves as Chairman of the Board for Pipestone Holdings LLC, a diversified agribusiness that provides products and services in support of livestock owners locally, nationally, and internationally. Dr. Spronk lives near Pipestone and has three children: Courtney, Jordan, and Morgan. He enjoys spending time with his children, and grandchildren.

“The problem is that COVID interventions destroyed 25% of food service demand and then COVID interventions closed our packing plants. There are still pigs left behind…”

“Never underestimate the interaction of your workspace and your community.”

“The competitive advantage of the American swine industry are these large, double shift, very efficient plants. There is a flaw now that we have exposed…”

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture understands the extreme pressure farmers face today. To ensure farmers have access to adequate help that suits their needs, the Department of Ag. provides subsidized counseling for farms. Ted Matthews is the director of MN Rural Mental Health and is based out of Hutchinson, Minnesota.

More Information: Farm Counseling Website

Ted Matthews Contact Information:

Cell: (320) 266-2390

Email: [email protected]

Phillip Hord is a fifth-generation pork producer and is continuing his family’s legacy at Hord Family Farms, which raises hogs and cattle as well as growing the crops to feed them. As a research coordinator, he helps to find innovative ways to care for the animals like improving their diets and much more. His father, Patrick Hord, serves as president of the business, and his grandfather, Duane Hord, is still part of the day-to-day operations. We spoke with Phil about Covid-19, their company’s response, and its impact on the US industry.

“Disease mitigation has always been a part of our DNA.”

– Phillip Hord

For more information, please visit : Hord Family Farms

Wesley Lack is the Chief Operations Officer at Maximum Ag Technologies, a company founded with Larry & Dustin Reed in 2013, which serves as the US distributor of Maximus Control Systems. Prior to Maximum Ag, Wes spent 13 years working on the production side of the swine industry.

Wesley has managed small and large farrow to finish systems throughout the midwest. Wes is no stranger to the industry and is applying his production knowledge to the continuous advancement and development of the Maximus control and the industry.

Check out: Maximus Solution

Tami M. Brown-Brandl, Ph.D., is an agricultural engineer at the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Meat Animal Research Center. Dr. Brown-Brandl works in the area of animal environment and animal stress/well-being, from an engineering perspective, and has published 118 peer-reviewed journal articles.

“Precision management farming is going to transform how we are managing facilities, but we are never going to remove the caretakers. My hope is that we can make the caretakers more effective.”

Tami M. Brown-Brandl, Ph.D

Learn more about: Dr. Tami Brown-Brandl

Shane McAuliffe is from Kerry, Ireland where his family has 2,000 sows across 4 modern sites including Ireland’s first freedom farrowing farm. He holds a Masters in Pig Health from the Royal Veterinary College in London, where he studied associations between respiratory disease status, production performance, biosecurity and antibiotic use on Irish pig farms.

McAuliffe also serves as Secretary of the Irish Pig Health, and is the Chairman of Pig Health and Welfare on the Irish Farmers Association National Pig and Pigmeat Committee. In 2019, he was chosen as an EU Pig Ambassador for his work in community management. An advocate of pig welfare, Shane also works part time as the International Swine Business Manager for EASYFIX Ireland where he develops the worldwide market for the EASYFIX range of environmental enrichment for pigs.

For more information, please visit : ASF Poland: Outbreaks in the west far from over

Kevin leads MSAB Capital, a corporate venture fund of Johnsonville Holdings, investing in early stage companies in life sciences and emerging technologies. Prior to leading MSAB Capital, Kevin spent 30 years at Johnsonville Sausage in various technical and business functions including Research & Development, Food Safety & Quality, Procurement, Crisis Management and Business Development.

Kevin is active in numerous professional organizations such as the North American Meat Institute (NAMI), BioForward and BIO; in addition to leading industry committees for UW-Madison and Iowa State University. He received the AMSA Meat Processing Award in 2010 and is a UW-Platteville Distinguished Alumni Member.

For more information, please visit : The Johnsonville Way

Dr. Mark Knauer was born and raised on a pure-line pig and cattle operation in southern Wisconsin. He received his B.S. in agriculture education and M.S. in animal breeding at Iowa State University. Following his time at ISU, Mark completed his PhD in animal breeding and genetics at North Carolina State University.

After graduating, Mark completed a short Postdoc at the Institute for Pig Genetics in the Netherlands before accepting a position with the National Pork Board as the Director of Animal Science. Dr. Knauer is currently a swine extension specialist at North Carolina State University where he focuses on genetics and production management.

For more information, please visit : The sow body condition caliper, a paradigm change in sow management

Dr. Tyler Holck has extensive leadership and project management experience dedicated to food animal production, primarily the pork industry, with both large international and small entrepreneurial corporations. Some of which include Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis Animal Health, NOBL Laboratories, and Iowa State University.