Tom Burkgren, DVM, Exec. Dir., American Association of Swine Veterinarians, sure seems to love his job. In the middle of an annual meeting with about 1,200 people attending and over 160 speakers you’d think the stress would be showing. But nooo. He’s smiling and tonight he’ll be one of the auctioneers at the AASV Foundation live fundraiser. So even with …
Issues Facing Swine Producers in 2016
I met Neil Dierks, CEO, National Pork Producers Council, in New Orleans and got to talk with him about issues facing swine producers this year. A big one has to do with food security. He says, “The world is shrinking. Globalization is real which means pathogens can cross borders very rapidly which can raise questions on health in the herds.” …
Swine Vets Learn from Other Animal Ag Vets
Prior to the start of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) in New Orleans, a group of swine vets heard from their counterparts in cattle, poultry and aquaculture during a Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (BIVI) seminar. Dr. Nels Lindberg of Kansas belongs to a team of veterinarians known as Production Animal Consultation. For him, the most important controllable factor for …
BIVI Starts Healthy at #AASV2016
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. (BIVI) got the 2016 American Association of Swine Veterinarians meeting off to a healthy start Friday with a twist on their traditional pre-AASV Swine Health Seminar, hearing from vets in other animal agriculture fields. “It was a very unique program, different than what we’ve had in the past,” said Dr. Nathan Schaefer, BIVI Professional Service Veterinarian. …
Common Ground Takes Families Out To Ranch
CommonGround has launched a new video on animal welfare, highlighting how ranchers care for their animals. The short piece features Colorado CommonGround volunteer and rancher Kelsey Pope and her mother, Cindy Frasier, and helps consumers that are actively looking for the story behind their food. The video shows Pope and her family out together working on their ranch. Together, Frasier …
Farm Foundation Forum Set for Jan. 20
The Farm Foundation Forum will take place January 20, 2016 and focus on the issue of antibiotic use in both humans and animals. If you have an interest in agricultural, food and rural policy, including members of Congress, congressional staff, executive branch officials, industry representatives, NGO representatives, academics and members of the media, the Farm Foundation encourages you to attend. …
Farm Foundation to Hold Antimicrobial Stewardship Summit
Antimicrobial stewardship is of vital interest to the livestock industry. That’s why our friends at Farm Foundation will hold a free, national summit highlighting policy, education and economic issues surrounding the stewardship of antimicrobial drug use in food-producing animals Jan. 20-21, 2016, in Washington, D.C. A collaboration of Farm Foundation, NFP, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), the …
Combating Emerging PRRS Strains
Researchers are constantly learning more about the the evolution of PRRS. During the recent Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) PRRS session at the North American PRRS Symposium, Dr. Mike Murtaugh, University of Minnesota, shared characterizations of new emerging strains of the PRRS virus. “We found from looking at a large amount of data from farms and systems sequencing viruses and …
BIVI Panel Shares PRRS Control Info
The principles of PRRS control are practiced throughout high-volume swine areas. During Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc.’s (BIVI) session at the recent North American PRRS Symposium, Area Regional Control (ARC) coordinators took the stage to share how they apply the tools and their approach to coordinated disease control. Dr. Erin Lowe, BIVI, is no stranger to utilizing ARC and crunching the …
Planning Ahead for PRRS
Our nation’s Windy City hosted the 2015 North American PRRS Symposium and Boehringer Ingelheim hosted a session on “Combatting the Latest PRRS Cycle.” Dr. Bill Hollis, Carthage Vet Services, was one of the speakers who focused on the production side of PRRS and explained key field experiences used in control and management with one of the newest PRRS strains, 174. …