Registration Open for Pig Performance Symposium Offered by Zoetis

Online registration is open for Evaluating, Optimizing and Utilizing Technologies to Improve Pig Performance, a symposium offered by Zoetis. This special technology symposium is free and will be held immediately following the Midwest meeting of the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS). The session will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

This symposium is ideal for pork industry professionals who want to know more about new and established technologies impacting the pork industry. The discussion will cover how technologies are continuously evaluated, implemented, and reevaluated to maximize pig performance as conditions change. Industry experts will discuss the best ways to evaluate how these technologies impact different stages in the pork industry from the pig to store shelves.

“We are committed to the pork industry and sharing information regarding best practices to elevate the industry into the future,” said Gloria Basse, vice president, U.S. Pork Business, Zoetis. “Our symposium will include the top minds in the pork industry in everything from on-farm nutrition to the economic advantages of new technologies.”

The symposium will feature several speakers and a wide variety of topics:

• Kenneth M. Quinn, PhD, President of the World Food Prize Foundation and former U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, will discuss the importance and value of technology globally.
• Adam Moeser, DVM, PhD, Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, North Carolina State University Gastroenterology Group and Pig Health and Production Group, College of Veterinary Medicine, will talk about the impact of technologies on the gastrointestinal environment.
• Aaron Gaines, PhD, Vice President of Production Resources and Operations, and Beau Peterson, PhD, Director of R&D, both of The Maschhoffs LLC, will jointly discuss systems to evaluate technology performance.
• Roger Johnson, PhD, Director of Pork Quality at Smithfield-Farmland Fresh Meat Group, will share the packers’ experience with new technologies.
• David Weaber, Economist at Delhaize America, will focus on the impact of on-farm and packer technologies on retailers.
• Brian Buhr, PhD, Interim Dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota, will present on the economic evaluation of new technology, including immunological castration.
• Ron Prestage, DVM, incoming President of the National Pork Producers Council, will give an overview of pork supply chain technologies and export issues.
• Jim Pettigrew, PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois, will share information about the Food and Drug Administration’s recent announcement regarding Guidances #209 and #213.

To register for Evaluating, Optimizing and Utilizing Technologies to Improve Pig Performance, visit www.asas.org or http://tinyurl.com/q8c9o8l. For more information on the symposium, contact Dr. Marnie Mellencamp at martha.a.mellencamp@zoetis.com.