Benchmark Magazine Article Archive

For the 2023 issue of Benchmark magazine, we have gone back to basics. Big data is a trendy term today, even though the value of the data has never been in doubt going back to the 1980s when PigCHAMP was first developed at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine.

Respiratory disease in pigs is arguably the most important health concern for swine producers today. In 1995, the National Animal Health Monitoring System reported respiratory disease as the leading cause of mortality in nursery and grow-to-finish operations.

African Swine Fever (ASF) is not yet present in the US, but this deadly porcine virus has been spreading globally since 2007.

As the industry continues to adapt to changing HR trends and challenges, retention remains a top priority for employers across the agriculture and food industries.

As human beings, one of our most basic needs is the ability to connect with each other. If we look back at the past 15 to 20 years, we can see that there has been a big vision goal to connect with people and communities across the globe.

It is a known fact that sows currently do not produce enough milk to sustain the optimal growth of their litters. This is an area that is particularly important and challenging for pig researchers nowadays because the hyper-prolific genetic lines that were developed led to an even greater demand for sows’ milk.

I recall during my graduate studies, that there was a somewhat heated exchange between my professors who were debating the economic value and practicality of my primary research project.

Imagine if in the same barn you had two groups with opposing genetic selection goals. The first group is modern genotype pigs with growth peaking late in finishing, and the second group of pigs are selected for earlier maturation.

The past two years have been challenging to say the least. But being in the pork sector has always required facing challenges with innovation and intelligence. The latest round of challenges-from the risk of disease to war in Europe, to regulations that don’t match with the day-to-day life of swine farming-are no different.

If you’re a pork producer in 2022, you’re well aware of ongoing issues and challenges that face your operation and your industry. Unfortunately, one of these is the constant threat of foreign animal diseases (FADs) such as African Swine Fever (ASF).

Even as the world slogs through the pandemic of Covid-19, and the poultry sector sees surges of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus, the global pig industry in many countries has already faced the onslaught of the deadly African Swine Fever (ASF), as most of the western hemisphere prepares to keep it out.

After staggering high unemployment rates in 2020, it dropped in 2021. The vital global agricultural industry experienced strong hiring in 2021, with a 30% increase in jobs posted on AgCareers.com. Globally, job postings in the swine industry on AgCareers.com increased by 6% in the past year. Looking at jobs by country, US swine jobs remained consistent, while Canadian swine jobs increased.

With disruptions caused by the pandemic and mounting uncertainty surrounding the crisis in Ukraine, ensuring a consistent, safe, and affordable food supply has never been more important.