February 25th:
- TQA Training Session: 1 pm
- PQA Training Session: 3:30 pm

February 26th:
- Industry Awards Lunch: 12:30 pm

Speaker Information:

February 26th:

- 9 AM: Daniel C. Ciobanu | Genetics of Susceptibility to PCVAD | Assistant Professor, Molecular Genetics

One of the most devastating and economically damaging pig diseases in the world is Porcine Circovirus Associated Disease (PCVAD). It can strike early or appear in a late form. Once it strikes, the consequences are never good. Both field studies and experimental infection studies have shown that in a given pen and among a given litter only some individual pigs exhibit clinical signs of PCVD, indicating that genetic factors play a role in regard to susceptibility and resistance. Dr. Ciobanu, an Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is conducting research to isolate the genetic factors. The goal of his swine research is to identify genes, genetic variants and genetic networks that explain phenotypic variation of susceptibility to PCVAD.

- 9:40 AM: Patrick Webb | Proposed USDA Rules, PIN Tags & Swine ID Plan| Director Swine Health Programs, National Pork Board

Dr. Patrick Webb is responsible for the Pork Checkoff’s efforts in animal disease traceability and foreign animal disease awareness, preparedness, response and recovery. The official identification and traceback of swine in commerce is a regulated process. Since the late 1980s the U.S. swine industry has had a mandatory system for traceback of swine that have entered into harvest channels to the last farm of ownership. This includes very specific means of identification for market swine and market sows and boars, as laid out in the Federal Code of Regulations. The Swine ID Plan provides the ability to determine origin of swine that enter harvest channels through the use of producer, packer, state and federally required records. As consumers become more interested in the food chain process the traceability issue will quickly move to the forefront. Dr. Webb will be addressing proposed rules changes in swine identification and traceback.

-10:20 AM: Jeffrey Vallet | New Tools Predicts Piglet's Nursing Ability Physiologist, USDA Agricultural Research Service

For the swine industry, preweaning mortality has long been a major problem, costing an estimated $1.6 billion each year. Now, a new tool may help give these at-risk animals a second chance. To improve neonatal piglet survival, Agricultural Research Service physiologists Jeffrey Vallet, Jeremy Miles, and Lea Rempel at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) in Clay Center, Nebraska, have developed a measuring technique referred to as the “immunocrit” that can determine whether neonatal piglets have received adequate colostrum from the sow. The immunocrit, which measures new¬born piglet serum immunoglobulin, is simple, inexpensive, rapid, and accurate.


- 11 AM: John Hinners | Foreign Consumers Markets & Product Choices|
Assistant VP of Industry Relations, USMEF

The United States Meat Export Federation is a trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry. Identifying the most common cuts of U.S. Pork is not what this talk will be about. John will be talking about the not so common cuts of U.S. Pork that our international customers prefer. This eye-opening look at beyond the “pork chop” is not to be missed.

- Invited to speak at 1 PM: Adrian Smith | 3rd District Congressman

The Nebraska Pork Producers Association has extended an invitation to Congressman Adrian Smith to be the guest speaker at lunch during Pork Industry Day. Smith represents the largest Congressional districts in the country, covering nearly 65,000 square miles, two time zones and 68.5 counties. It also includes seven of Nebraska’s major metropolitan areas, Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings, North Platte, Scottsbluff and Columbus. The Third District is also home to Cherry County. With 6,010 square miles, Cherry County is larger than the states of Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island. National Pork Producers Council presented Congressman Smith, with the “Friend of Pork” award at its fall legislative conference held in Washington, D.C. in September of 2012. The award is reserved for members of Congress who demonstrate a strong commitment to and continually work towards the advancement of the U.S. pork industry.