Chris discusses the benefits of mentoring on pig caretakers' learning. The more you are on the farm with them, the better. Through effective training, you will be sure that your employees can identify herd problems earlier to initiate treatment as soon as possible. Isn't that interesting?

Chris talks about some differences between pigs' caretakers nowadays and the ones from some years ago. He highlights how past caretakers had some inherent animal husbandry skills, especially being raised on farms. So, now, the pigs' caretakers' profile has changed. And what can we do to support these professionals? Share your thoughts with us.

A PRRS negative result means your herd is PRRS free, right? Theoretically, yes. But Dr. Corzo highlights the importance of not assuming your herd is PRRS free because of a single negative result. You must ensure that you will have more negative results over time, so this could be considered a consistent result over time. Do you agree with him?

Fred has been building a solid career in the swine industry, helping other people succeed. He discusses how technology in sow production will support employees' decisions about how to manage the farm and the animals. What exciting developments do you expect to happen in sow production in the future?

Decreasing swine mortality still tends to be the largest opportunity for farmers to increase overall profitability, which is why it is important that we understand all the factors that play into herd health. Dr. Chris Rademacher and I address this issue in today’s episode and talk about methods that can increase disease preparedness and what is necessary to start your nursery pigs off properly.

"We will always have some sort of disease status in our industry, so it's really more about coming up with ways to manage around that." - Dr. Chris Rademacher

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻:

1. Current challenges with nursery pigs

2. Introducing new caretakers to swine husbandry

3. Dr. Rademacher's input on weaning age

4. How to start pigs off right

5. Next steps in handling PRRS

6. Key points

𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁: Dr. Chris Rademacher is a clinical professor and the ISU Swine Extension Veterinarian in the Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine (VDPAM) department at Iowa State University. He received his B.S. and DVM from the University of Minnesota in 1998. Following graduation, he joined New Fashion Pork. He became the Director of Health Services and spent 10 years helping to grow the company from 1,000 sows to 60,000 sows. In 2009 Dr. Rademacher joined Smithfield Foods as the Director of Production Improvement. He has led programming efforts in common swine industry foreign animal disease preparation, as well as VFD antibiotic regulations for the Iowa Pork Industry Center, as well as research on PEDV, PRRS, strategic antibiotic usage, and Seneca Valley Virus.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

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Dr. Holmes graduated from North Dakota State University with both a B.S. and M.S. in Animal Science and subsequently attended the University of Minnesota to receive a Ph.D. in Swine Nutrition. She discusses enzyme recommendations for sows' diet during the summer heat and outlines the use of xylanase and its benefits according to specific situations. What are your thoughts on that?

Dr. Corzo emphasizes the importance of managing the swine environment correctly to ensure that the PRRS virus has no way to enter a farm. We must control all processes on the farm, such as people and vehicle flow, and supplies. And this must be done daily. What are your thoughts on that?

Dr. Holmes explores the conventional way of managing lactating sows’ diet during summer. After the lysine adjustment, fat is the focus, since it is a very concentrated source of energy and presents a lower heat increment in the sow’s metabolism. She then shares some thoughts on alternative ways to manage that. What are your thoughts on that?

Dr. DeDecker received her B.S. in 2006 from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in Animal Science. She then pursued her Ph.D. in swine well-being at the University of Illinois. In this episode, she talks about what to expect in terms of on-farm technology and the importance of taking advantage of that in the research field. Have you watched this episode? Tell us in the comments!

One of the key points to improving herd health and decreasing losses is to think about how to keep PRRS from spreading, to lower the chance for this virus to recombine in regions of high density. Dr. Corzo shares some thoughts on that and on managing and controlling PRRS positive cases. Interesting, right?