Southern Indiana Pork Conference to cover key industry issues

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Educators and agribusiness experts will offer pork production updates and explore the latest industry trends at the Southern Indiana Pork Conference.

The free conference, co-sponsored by Purdue Extension and Indiana Pork, will run Feb. 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at the Dubois County 4-H Fairgrounds, 4157 S. state Route 162, Huntingburg. Indiana Pork will provide a complimentary lunch.

The goal of the conference is to bring together pork producers, academics, veterinarians and others in the pork business to talk about key industry issues, said Kenneth Eck, Purdue Extension-Dubois County educator and one of the conference organizers.

“The event is held to help farmers and industry improve their production practices while trying to better manage their operation’s profitability,” he said.

This year, the conference will touch on the veterinary feed directive as well as updates on swine barn renovations, animal health, and farm finances and regulatory issues.

Topics and speakers include:

* 10:15 a.m.: “Existing Hog Barn Renovations - What Can I Tackle?”; Morgan Hayes, assistant Extension professor in livestock systems at the University of Kentucky.

* 11:00 a.m.: “Farm Succession - Passing on the Family Hog Farm”; Alan Van Cleef, senior wealth adviser at German American Financial Services.

* 12:15 p.m.: “State Regulatory and Legislative Issues and How They’ll Affect You”; Josh Trenary, executive director, and Ben Wicker, director of producer outreach at Indiana Pork.

* 1:15 p.m.: “Veterinary Feed Directive - How Does It Affect My Farm?”; Eric Renshaw, veterinarian at the Indiana Board of Animal Health.

* 2:00 p.m.: “Health Concerns for Southern Indiana”; Natalie Baker, veterinarian at the Warrick Vet Clinic.

After the last presentation, Eck will present an optional Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA+) certification and examination session for those interested in obtaining certification.

The full agenda is available online at http://bit.ly/2jQTHAq.

Reservations are required by Feb. 1. To sign up, go to http://bit.ly/2kkc51o or call Indiana Pork at 317-872-7500.

For more information, contact the Purdue Extension-Dubois County office at 812-482-1782 or email duboisec@purdue.edu. 

Writer: Mikaela Wieland, mwieland@purdue.edu 

Source: Kenneth Eck, 812-482-1782, kjeck@purdue.edu  

Agricultural Communications: (765) 494-8415;
Darrin Pack, dpack@purdue.edu 
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