Quotable Moments from the Ohio Pork Congress

Ohio pork producers shook things up during the 2022 Ohio Pork Congress. In addition to a power-packed line-up of speakers, they filled the meeting room at their new venue in Lima. Here’s a snapshot of the event that drew in 400 Ohio pig farmers and industry leaders on Feb. 8-9 in case you missed it.

“Accept and embrace the idea that your story matters. The way you present yourselves and way consumers find you matters. We can’t just rely on the retailer, the restaurant and the Checkoff program to tell the whole story.” – Steve Lerch, Story Arc Consulting, in Modern Consumers: Adapting to a World of Confusion, Clutter and Change

“What’s the opposite of real? Fake. When we look to position you as producers and an industry, differently in 2022, the message is pretty clear and simple. We are real farmers on real farms raising real pigs that produce real pork that’s real nutritious and real sustainable.” – Bill Even, CEO, National Pork Board, in Coffee Chat with Industry Leaders

“Phylogenetic lineages provide a more robust method of classifying PRRS virus.” -Igor Paploski, DVM, University of Minnesota, in PRRS Virus’s Evolution (Biostats)

“We have forgotten about individual sow treatments, particularly in breeding and gestation. By the time we treat them, they are typically down/lame and no longer recoverable.” -Chris Rademacher, DVM, Iowa State University, in Improving Sow Survivability

“Conduct exit interviews. If you don’t know why your employees leave, you can’t fix the problems. It’s very important to receive that feedback so you can take action. -Victor Ochoa, Swine Works, in How to Attract and Retain Employees

“Monitor water accessibility and intake daily. It’s a non-negotiable. Don’t forget to consider these six water availability interactions: floor space/pig, floor type, feeder design, environmental, health status, feed intake.” – Chock Booher, PIC, in Water, the Forgotten Nutrient

“We need to do a better job of mentoring the next generation of family farmers – and they may not be your family. So, support local, county and state programs for youth. Be an advocate and get involved.” – Mike Porth in What Are the Key Differentiators Between Great and Average Farms?

“Are you looking for porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) in your herd? PCVd2, in my experience, is not wasting away.” -Terri Specht, DVM, Heimerl Farms in PCV2: What’s New?

“Determining the ‘strain’ of circulating viruses by sequencing a single sample with the lowest Ct could lead to wrong conclusions.” -Andréia Arruda, The Ohio State University, in How Much Do We Know About PRRS

“U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan (US SHIP) is the next step in FAD preparedness.” – Chris Rademacher, DVM, Iowa State University, in U.S. SHIP – Why Should My Farm Participate?

“Don’t underestimate the power of your voice. Producers, you are our best assets. You are our key to everything.” – Cheryl Day, Ohio Pork Council executive director

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