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7/15/10
NATIONAL SWINE NUTRITION GUIDE WELL-RECEIVED BY BY INDUSTRY, ACADEMICS
AMES, Iowa — A comprehensive swine nutrition guide released earlier this year is getting rave reviews from users.
The National Swine Nutrition Guide, funded by a United Soybean Board grant, was developed in collaboration with land-grant universities, agribusinesses and the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence, which is housed in the National Swine Research and Information Center on the Iowa State University campus.
The guide consists of a 320-page book, a 37-page set of tables and a CD with a computer diet balancer program.
The diet formulation and evaluation CD can be used to formulate swine diets on a leas-cost basis or evaluate the nutritional adequacy of existing diets. The functions can be applied to diets for sows, boars, nursery pigs, growingâfinishing pigs and replacement gilts and boars.
“This development effort has been a great collaboration between the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence, several extension nutritionists and all the major feed companies. The result is a reference book and software that will be of great value to the industry for years to come,” said David Meisinger, director of the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence.
About 400 guides have been distributed, mostly to people attending a set of regional conferences held in February and March, plus a session at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines June 10 and one in Denver July 14.
Mark Honeyman, animal science professor and coordinator of Iowa State’s research farms, has incorporated information from the guide into an upper-level swine management class he teaches.
“The book is an excellent, comprehensive resource for the producer, nutritionist, manager, teacher and student of swine nutrition and pig feeding,” Honeyman said. “It represents the best practical knowledge and application of feeding pigs in the United States.”
Honeyman updated lectures and laboratory exercises based on the new resource, and said students will leave his class with the latest understanding of swine nutrition and management.
“The pamphlet of tables is a concise reference tailored to swine that will be on my desk at all times,” he said. “The CD program will give students experience in building diets and feeding programs for pigs using the most current information.”
Bob Woerman, owner of Woerman’s Animal Nutrition Consulting in Brandon, S.D., attended a regional training session last spring and put the diet formulation software program to work immediately.
“It was fun using the program,” Woerman said. “I received a diet request from a client in North Dakota where the ingredients for growing-finishing rations are a bit more complex than some states, where fewer ingredients are offered. The program didn’t hesitate and a good final result was obtained.”
Woerman said the resource book and tables, combined with the diet formulation software, is an excellent resource for swine producers, nutritionists and veterinarians.
The National Swine Nutrition Guide is available for purchase for $125. More information is available at http://www.usporkcenter.org.
The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence was established in 2005 as a public/private partnership to bring together academic expertise in research, teaching and extension. Center partners include two governmental agencies, the national pork industry associations, 17 state pork producer associations and 24 land-grant universities.
11/3/09
U.S. PORK CENTER OF EXCELLENCE RECEIVES GRANT FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE SWINE EDUCATION
AMES, Iowa – The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence has been granted nearly $300,000 from the U.S. Department of Education to implement the Professional Swine Manager/Technician Certification Program for community college students and pork production workers.
The grant, provided by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), will run from Jan. 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2011, and will cover the implementation phase of the current project funded in conjunction with National Pork Board.
The Professional Swine Manager/Technician Certification Program is designed to meet the industry need for consistent, research-based instruction on all phases of pork production.
“This new grant fits well with our mission in terms of training and education,” says U.S. Pork Center of Excellence (USPCE) Executive Director David Meisinger. “It complements the work of the Swine Science Online project, which involves four-year institutions, by allowing us to focus on two-year institutions and a certification program for all workers.”
Participants in the program may receive two types of certification: certified technician in breeding, farrowing, and/or grow-finishing, and certified swine manager. Courses will be broadcast in real-time to several sites throughout the country. Certification is obtained by successfully completing an on-line, proctored test. Certification and training records will be recorded by USPCE and National Pork Board in a database accessible to employers.
The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence was established in 2005 as a public/private partnership to bring together academic expertise in research, teaching and extension related to pork production. The center is housed at the National Swine Research and Information Center on the Iowa State University campus. USPCE partners include two governmental agencies, the national pork industry associations, 17 state pork producer associations and 24 land-grant universities.
June 1, 2009
U.S. PORK CENTER OF EXCELLENCE ANNOUNCES UPDATES TO THE PORK INFORMATION GATEWAY
AMES, Iowa – The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence has updated the Pork Information Gateway (PIG) to create a more user-friendly Web site. The updates feature a new site design and a home page featuring up-to-date pork headlines that can be seen at http://www.porkgateway.org.
“The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence and all its partners are always looking for ways to improve collaboration and communication,” says the center’s executive director David Meisinger. “The Pork Information Gateway has become a very popular Web site with over two million hits last year and over 10,000 pieces of information. We wanted to make it more modern in its appeal, more user-friendly in its application and more complete in its content. We are addressing all of these points to make this popular Web site even more useful.”
New features on the site include a home page featuring pork headlines and commentaries; links to news, markets and weather information; and drop-down menus to organize content. Other changes include the addition of a “Niche Production” domain and updates to PIG Opportunities. The Web site updates greatly enhance the scope of information available for U.S. Pork Producers by providing a more usable and intuitive information gateway.
PIG was launched in 2006 and is an online resource tool that is free to the U.S. Pork Industry. To see the upgrades—or to see the site for the first time—visit www.porkgateway.org. You must be registered to see much of the content but registration is free and your information is secure in this confidential database.
The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence was established in 2005 as a public/private partnership to bring together academic expertise in research, teaching and extension related to pork production. The center is housed at the National Swine Research and Information Center on the Iowa State University campus. There are two governmental agencies, both national pork industry associations, 17 state pork producer associations and 28 land-grant universities involved in the coalition.
December 17, 2008
United Soybean Board Funds U.S. Pork Center of Excellence’s National Swine Nutrition Guide
The United Soybean Board has approved soybean checkoff funding for the development and distribution of the National Swine Nutrition Guide by the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence.
The National Swine Nutrition Guide is an education and extension effort aimed at providing science-based feeding and nutrition information to U.S. pork producers and the industry. This effort is a partnership between the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence, United Soybean Board (USB) and several land-grant universities including: Purdue University, Kansas State University, University of Nebraska, University of Missouri, University of Illinois, North Carolina State University, University of Minnesota and Iowa State.
“Nutritional efficiency is important in today’s pork industry,” said Leon Sheets, a USPCE board member and pork producer from Iowa. “The National Swine Nutrition Guide will provide pork producers across the U.S. with updated tools and information to provide the best nutrition for their animals that will eventually help to feed the world.”
The two-year funding commitment from the soybean checkoff allows for development of feed formulation software, publication and distribution of the National Swine Nutrition Guide, development of training materials to educate producers on the use of the guide and four regional conferences to be held throughout the U.S. in 2010. The funding of this project will begin on Jan. 1.
“Supporting our number one customer, the livestock industry, continues to be a primary focus for the United Soybean Board. We are pleased to be able to work with the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence and help fund the development of the nutrition guide for the benefit of pork producers, the second largest user of soybean meal,” said Laura Foell, from Schaller, Iowa, USB director and committee vice chair of domestic marketing.
“The National Swine Nutrition Guide will be an effective education and extension tool for the U.S. Pork industry,” said USPCE executive director David Meisinger. “The USPCE is very proud to have been awarded this funding by the soybean checkoff which will aid in our efforts to educate the pork industry. In today’s turbulent economic times, providing tools to our producers to aid them in remaining profitable while providing for their animals is important.”
The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence, housed at the National Swine Research and Information Center at Iowa State, was established in 2005 as a public/private partnership to bring together academic expertise in research, teaching and extension related to pork production. There are two governmental agencies, two industry associations, 14 state pork producer associations and 24 land-grant universities involved in the coalition.