Improving Pig Livability Consortium and Iowa Pork Industry Center Launch PigX Podcast

May 28, 2020 — 

Organizers are excited to announce the upcoming launch of PigX, a monthly podcast developed to share information from the national Improving Pig Survivability project with pork producers and other decision makers in the swine industry. The first session airs June 1.

Jason Ross is director of the Iowa Pork Industry Center and professor of animal science, both at Iowa State University. He said the podcast is a component of a coordinated effort by the project team to provide information on research results that people can put to use immediately in their operations.

"With 30 percent of piglets never making it to market, that's a costly issue," he said. "We're working directly with producers, with allied industry partners, and with an interdisciplinary team of faculty and staff from Iowa State, Kansas State University and Purdue University on individual projects to identify mortality causes and develop strategies to reduce mortality."

Each podcast session will include different speakers, each focusing on specific information and knowledge gained from the project. The initial session speakers include Ross and Joel DeRouchey, project team member from Kansas State, describing the survivability project itself; Chris Hostettler, director of animal science for the National Pork Board, and Tim Kurt CEO of Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, the entities that funded the $2 million project.

The goal of the PigX podcast is to bring together experts in the swine industry to discuss practical, science-based strategies that pork producers can use to reduce mortality in all phases of production. Listen to this preview of the podcast and put June 1 on your calendar.

You can find and subscribe now to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify or Stitcher.

PigX podcast updates also will be available on the project website.