Swine outlook depends on hog health and youth engagement

Ariana Schumacher / Agweek By Ariana Schumacher Today at 5:30 AM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? BROOKINGS, S.D. — It’s expected to be an interesting next five years for the pork industry, according to Eric Weaver, assistant professor of Swine Nutrition at South Dakota State University. “We have some challenges, but we also have some more opportunities,” he said. “The challenges being sow and pig mortality and making sure that we maintain efficient use of resources. And the opportunities are pork quality and, for us, moving students, getting students more aware of technologies and how those are being used in the swine industry. Making sure that we have students that understand the hands-on of raising pigs and also can utilize the technologies that are coming.” ADVERTISEMENT There are several areas where research opportunities are still apparent in the industry. Weaver said late gestation nutrition is an area for a lot of opportunity. “We knew that with feeding just one gestation diet that we’re under-feeding nutrients to the sow in that period,” he said. “And so being able to adjust our feeding systems and our strategies so that we can meet her needs in late gestation, we’re trying to optimize that from a cost standpoint and to make sure we’re meeting her needs so that she stays in the herd is one of the most important things.” He said the second area is taking advantage of the technologies that are available for doing research. “Cameras, sensors, the latest and greatest, I guess, in that area,” Weaver said. ADVERTISEMENT Read more pork news 10 years of the SDSU Swine Education and Research Facility 6m ago Swine health outbreaks emphasize the importance of preventative measures Oct 27 A 3D pig skeleton enters the rural veterinarian shortage conversation Oct 26 The SDSU Swine Research and Education facility expansion happened this year, and that will help improve the research possibilities at the university. The $1.8 million project increased the wean-to-finish capacity by 50% to 1,800 pigs. This allows them to raise pigs from birth to market weight. “It’s a tremendous help to our research because we’re studying the long-term impact of sow nutrition on the progeny,” Weaver said. “Before we expanded that, we didn’t have the ability to follow about a third of those pigs all the way to finish. Now, we have that.” The research done at SDSU will make a positive impact for swine producers across the country. In the overall swine industry over the next five years, Weaver said he expects to see more interest in connecting to the consumers. “Making pork a better eating experience,” he said. “The consumer at the same time wants that to be done efficiently. We have to be able to maintain our cost competitiveness and our efficient resource use.” ADVERTISEMENT Consumer trends have been fairly static in the pork industry, Weaver said. “It hasn’t gone up and it hasn’t gone down,” he said. Reaching the younger generation of consumers is key. “I think the National Pork Board has really laid out a good plan for how we reach the new, younger consumers. They have needs for taste and convenience that we haven’t specifically addressed as an industry. And so I think that’s where we can be, where we’ve got some opportunity as an industry,” Weaver said. Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags AGRICULTURE PORK SOUTH DAKOTA SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURE EDUCATION LIVESTOCK By Ariana Schumacher Ariana is a reporter for Agweek based out of South Dakota. She graduated from South Dakota State University in 2022 with a double major in Agricultural Communications and Journalism, with a minor in Animal Science. She is currently a graduate student at SDSU, working towards her Masters of Mass Communications degree. She enjoys reporting on all things agriculture and sharing the stories that matter to both the producers and the consumers. Twitter Facebook Listen to this article Conversation ADVERTISEMENT What To Read Next Education Born into FFA, Cannon Falls’ Cameron Addington heads to national office 2d ago · By Noah Fish Education Teagan Erbele looks forward to year of service as National FFA officer 2d ago · By Jenny Schlecht Education Former FFA member donates 110-acre farm to Minnesota FFA Foundation 3d ago · By Noah Fish ADVERTISEMENT Get Local