The program for the 7th Annual Iowa Swine Day June 28 is now complete, and potential attendees are reminded that discounted registration expires at midnight June 15. After that, individual registration will increase to $75 from $50; the free student registration will increase to $45.

Here are some highlights of the program.

In the morning plenary session, Jeff Ansell, a communications consultant will address the topic “When the headline is you.” Ansell gave a powerful and popular presentation at the Banff Pork Seminar last January. He discussed how journalists approach an interview, what they are seeking to achieve and how the interviewee can prepare for such an experience. Ansell lectures on crisis communications at Harvard Business School and on leadership presence. He consults U.S. police chiefs on race relations, has trained White House spokespeople, counselled BP’s partner in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, helped PG&E prepare for the Erin Brockovich case and advised the Vancouver Olympics CEO before, during and after the luge death of a Georgian athlete. A former journalist, he brings tremendous insight into the media world.

As cybersecurity get more attention, and as the role of the internet and the cloud in our day-to-day operations are expanded, the topic is of increasing relevance. Jeff Evenson, senior security analyst with Compeer Financial will address “Cybersecurity: Recognizing the risks as animal agriculture goes digital.” He has been safeguarding Compeer Financial against cyberattacks and other threats since joining the company in 2015. He has more than 34 years of operational and business experience in defense, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and mobile telecommunications arenas. A retired CTT Cryptologic Navy Chief, Evenson’s final assignment was as division chief at the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Information Warfare Center in Norfolk, Va.

Of course, antibiotic-reduced or antibiotic-free pork production is an area of growing interest as well. Marlin Hoogland, a veterinarian with Smithfield Hog Production, will address “Our experience with antibiotic-free production.” He grew up on the family farm in northwest Iowa that consisted of farrow-to-finish and batch-farrow operations. He worked on his uncle’s 1,600 cow dairy while attending Dordt College and then worked in the diagnostic lab all through vet school (necropsy floor and histopathology lab) at Iowa State University. He received concurrent masters in Veterinary Microbiology in 2005 and graduated from EVP in 2009. For the past 12 years, Hoogland has been with Smithfield Hog Production Division’s Midwest Region helping oversee 110,000 sows’ worth of production and 3.5 million market pigs annually. He also serves on Smithfield’s Research and Development Committee. In 2011, Hoogland was awarded the Young Swine Veterinarian of the Year award by the American Association of Swine Veterinarians.

Iowa Swine Day is June 28 in the Scheman Building on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames. These and 17 other topical presentations featuring speakers from the United States, Canada and Germany fill the day. There is also a special luncheon session for students featuring Roxi Beck of the Center for Food Security.

For more information, visit the Iowa Swine Day website.

Source: Iowa State University