Tres Chic for Pig Posting

Cindy Zimmerman

Tres Chic I had to pose for a picture in the ISU wet lab during the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. PCVAD update meeting with my overalls and plastic booties to keep germs away from either me or the lab, not sure which.

I admit to being a pretty big weenie when it comes to looking at guts, but I held up well for viewing my first ever pig “posting.” And here I thought that was what I was doing on the blog! BIVI logo

The posted pictures of the posting are deliberately kept at a distance for anyone else who might be a bit squeamish. I did get some close-ups, but they are most interesting to vets, hog producers, the folks doing MAGIC at BIVI, and haruspices.

Animal Health, Swine

CSI: Circovirus Swine Investigation

Cindy Zimmerman

CSI Pigs are dying. The question is why?

Is it simply the presence of PCV2, which is found in virtually every swine herd worldwide?

Or is it the co-factors? PRRS? Mycoplasma? Salmonella? What is their motive?
BIVI logo
That is what the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. (BIVI) project known as MAGIC – or Monitoring Assignment for a Global Insight into Circovirus associated diseases – is trying to find out. Much like the popular TV show which celebrates the skills of crime scene investigators, researchers are digging deep and looking at every possible factor to determine what is causing what they are calling PCVAD, Porcine Circovirus Associated Diseases, characterized by progressive weight loss, lesions, infections and elevated mortality in mainly early finishing pigs.

BIVI Magic
In the picture taken at the BIVI PCVAD update meeting last week, Dr. Ken Schwartz of Iowa State University posts a recently deceased pig that might have had PCVAD and demonstrates the proper way to take all the necessary tissue samples for the MAGIC project. Samples are placed in carefully labeled bags and jars to be sent to the lab for study.

Here’s a 4:00 interview with Klaas Okkinga, BIVI swine marketing manager, with more about PCVAD and MAGIC. Listen To MP3 Klaas Okkinga.

Animal Health, Swine

Norwegian Culture On Display

Chuck Zimmerman

Norwegian CultureLast post of today. We had a wonderful dinner tonight but more on that later.

I thought I’d leave you with this image. You identify the man with the arrow. It will all make sense when I get caught up tomorrow.

For now though, it’s late and we’ve got an early tour departure time coming up. Plus they have this stuff called Aquavit that makes it very difficult to get anything accomplished. More on that too.

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IFAJ

Berry Picking In The Rain

Chuck Zimmerman

Picking Wild BlueberriesDid I mention it rained today? Off and on, hard and soft. But we didn’t really care.

Take this happy IFAJian out in the rain, happily picking his wild blueberries.

They were very good and not the only wild berries we found in this beautiful mountain stop.

AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2006 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred

IFAJ

The Moose Man Speaketh

Chuck Zimmerman

Nils RustadWhen we visited the Rustad-Skog moose lodge we all fit into a 250 year old cabin to listen to owner, Nils Rustad give us a history of the place and how they manage the moose population in Norway.

After Nils spoke we got to sample some very tender moose meat and drink the spring water that he sells from his property and which represents half the income of the “farm.”

You can listen to part of Nils’ presentation here: Listen To MP3 Nils Rustad Remarks (8 min MP3)

AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2006 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred

Audio, IFAJ

Looking For Moose

Chuck Zimmerman

Moose Hunting Lodge ViewAfter our group got a taste of the forestry business here in Norway we moved on out into the mountains and communed with nature.

We visited Rustad-Skog which is a moose hunting lodge. On the way out of the place people on the front of the bus said they saw a moose but those of us on the back did not.

We had rain off and on but it was beautiful either way. We learned how intertwined nature is to Norwegian people and everything they do, including farming.

AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2006 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred

IFAJ

Applying The Glue To Lumber

Chuck Zimmerman

Gluing The BoardsAt the Moelven tour stop we got to walk through the workshops and see them taking an agricultural product (trees) and turning them into functional elements of office buildings, ampitheaters and basically all kinds of buildings.

The Moelven company oversaw the construction of multiple 1994 Winter Olympics facilities like the one here in Hamar that housed the skating competition.

Here you can see a board moving through the assembly line. It’s being coated on one side with glue before it gets put into a stack and pressed together to form a laminated building material.

AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2006 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred

IFAJ

Trimming The Trusses

Chuck Zimmerman

Building TrussesThere were 3 separate tours going on today at the IFAJ Conress. I got picked to go on the forestry and nature tour. We started out at the Moelven company timber plant where they mainly make laminated trusses.

Here you can see a worker trimming a curved truss that’s made out of many separate boards of pine wood.

To get a better perspective you can watch a short video clip of this guy at work: Watch WMV File Trimming a Truss (2 min WMV)

AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2006 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred

IFAJ, Video

A Jarlsberg Reception

Chuck Zimmerman

Jarlsberg DisplayAt our opening night reception and dinner we heard from the CEO/President of Tine, the Norway dairy cooperative that makes Jarlsberg cheese. This year is the 50th year since they began making this great cheese. You can see the nice display of food we had with a Jarlsberg cheese wheel centerpiece.

I interviewed Tine President Hanne Refsholt prior to the reception and asked her to describe Tine and the dairy business in Norway. It sounds like dairy producers here have some of the same concerns as dairy producers in the United States.

Listen here to learn more about the dairy business in Norway: Listen To MP3 Hanne Refsholt Interview (6 min MP3)

AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2006 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred

Audio, Dairy, IFAJ

Interview With IFAJ Congress Organizer

Chuck Zimmerman

Mari BjorkeThe president of the IFAJ Congress 2006 organizing committee is Mari Bjorke, Geno (pictured here with one of our tour bus drivers).

I finally got a chance to interview her late yesterday. Since I’m on the committee that’s planning the IFAJ 2009 Congress in Ft. Worth, I asked her about what it took to put together this meeting. She says they started almost 7 years ago.

Listen to Mari tell us how the Norwegians are going to “feed our senses” while we’re here: Listen To MP3 Mari Bjorke Interview (3 min MP3)

AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2006 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred

Audio, IFAJ