Ryan Samuel recently joined the South Dakota State University Extension team to serve as an SDSU Extension swine specialist.

“Ryan comes to us with production as well as extensive research experience which I believe will be beneficial to our state’s pork producers,” says Alvaro Garcia, SDSU Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Program director and professor.

Prior to joining SDSU Extension, Samuel worked as a research project manager with Alltech at the Center for Animal Nutrigenomics & Applied Animal Nutrition in Nicholasville, Ky. His research focus was Alltech nutritional solutions for monogastric agricultural animals.

In his new role with SDSU Extension, Samuel is eager to continue pursuing his passion for research. In this SDSU Extension role he is also looking forward to working directly with South Dakota’s pork producers.

“The biggest thing I am looking forward to is sharing information with producers. It’s no good for me to have this knowledge and research information if I only hold on to it,” he explains.

Samuel developed an interest in swine nutrition as a youth working on his uncle's Alberta, Canada farm. “I was working in the farrowing rooms of PigPen Hog Farms, a 1,600-sow isowean facility, and it occurred to me that there was so much difference between sows at the same stage of production and similar genetics — I thought, there has to be something missing nutritionally,” Samuel says, of the nagging questions which led him to pursue master’s and Ph.D. degrees in animal science following his undergraduate degree in chemistry.

Samuel is eager to develop and share research-based information with South Dakota pork producers to help them improve their management practices and profits.

“It seems this position has brought my career full circle, where I will be able to work with and help producers like my uncle,” he said. “I am excited to aid in the success of pork producers throughout South Dakota.”