Dr. Levesque’s principal research interests of are protein and amino acid metabolism during pregnancy and maternal nutritional influence on offspring growth and development. In this episode, she shares her experience in nutrition for developing gilts and highlights how we must consider the differences between them and finishing pigs when addressing nutrition. What do you think about that?

Dr. Daniel Columbus is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science at the University of Saskatchewan and a Research Scientist of Nutrition at Prairie Swine Centre. In this episode, Dr. Columbus talks about how nutrition affects pig health. Have you watched it? Please, share your thoughts on that with us!

Here, Dr. Rademacher discusses ways to improve pig survival by identifying diseases in the herd earlier. Identifying a disease early, no matter what it is, will allow you to take better care of the pigs. As a result, the sooner you identify those at-risk pigs, the sooner they will be treated. What are your thoughts on this topic? Share them with us.

Dr. Levesque earned her Ph.D. at the University of Alberta and her post-doctoral training at Prairie Swine Centre and the University of Guelph. She now holds the position of Assistant Professor of Monogastric Nutrition at South Dakota State University. She shares some of her thoughts on gilt development and its differences from finishing hogs. Interesting, right?

In applied pork production, Dr. Vande Pol received her M.S. in 2016 and her Ph.D. in 2020 from the University of Illinois. In this episode, she discusses the most effective ways to increase piglet survival. Additionally, she describes how teats are classified based on pre-established criteria. Were you aware of that?

Dr. Jay Johnson holds a B.S. and M.S. from the University of Missouri, a Ph.D. from Iowa State University, and a Postdoc from Purdue University. He works for USDA, with research on heat stress in multiple species, primarily focused on swine. Dr. Johnson discusses his expectations regarding genetic programming for gilts under heat stress. Have you watched this episode?

Transitioning the gilt into a successful sow is not always a simple task. They require particular attention and we cant treat them just like any other finishing pig. Similarly, graduate students often need quality education and preparation for their next step in their career. In this episode I talk with Dr. Crystal Levesque about raising the developing gilt as well as how to best prep graduate students to enter the industry.

"The developing gilt is not a finishing pig. The way we create value in management and feeding on the finisher side does not apply to developing gilts." - Dr. Crystal Levesque

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻:

1. How do we change the sow

2. Raising the developing gilt

3. Assisting growth through health improvements in gilts

4. Sow feeding programs going forward

5. Training and educating students

6. What students are missing coming into the industry

𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁: Dr. Crystal Levesque was born and raised on a broiler and mixed grain farm in central Saskatchewan, Canada. She completed her PhD at the University of Alberta followed by post-doctoral training at Prairie Swine Center and University of Guelph prior to accepting a position of Assistant Professor of monogastric nutrition at South Dakota State University. Her main research interests are protein and amino acid metabolism during pregnancy and maternal nutritional influence on offspring growth and development. She is actively involved in collaborative research on the impacts of alternative feeds and dietary additives on piglet growth, immune function, and gut health post-weaning and the use of the pig as a model for human health.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

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Maintaining a high health status on our farms is essential for good production outcomes. Dr. Corzo talks about the Swine Health Monitoring Program and how it has been given pieces of information on PRRSV, PEDV, and other diseases. This monitoring helps minimize disease spreading and supports farmers' decisions. Have you heard about the Program before?

How confident do you feel about your testing results when investigating PRRS cases? Dr. Corzo highlights how crucial it is to investigate and test PRRS in the herd. The greater the testing sample or frequency of the testing events, the more trustworthy results we will have. If you want to understand that, watch the full episode with Dr. Corzo.

Chris gives us some good advice on what we should look for when starting pigs. He highlights the importance of being good on the basics: properly beforehand heating the barn, ensuring your feeders and waters are well-functioning, and so on. As he says, production is all about the details. Do you agree with him? Let us know!