SMEC Offers New Course:Swine Production Management and Consultation

June 13, 2012 — 

The Swine Medicine Education Center (SMEC) is offering a new class, SMEC481, focusing on swine production management and consultation starting in the fall of 2012. The course will be offered to 4th year veterinary students as a 1 or 2 week long clinical rotation. Upcoming course dates will be October 22 – November 4, 2012 (after SMEC480 course) and March 18 – 31, 2013 (prior to a SMEC480 course). Students can enroll in the course as a 2 week rotation for 2 credits or as a 1 week course for 1 credit.

Students will have the opportunity to learn swine production management and consulting skills within a progressive swine production and management system. Time will be split approximately 50/50 with in class discussion topics and on-farm learning opportunities where students will visit a breeding farm, nursery facility, finishing facility, wean-to-finish facility, gilt developer unit, and a truck wash facility.

The learning objectives of the course include topics across all swine production phases in addition to business and financial management. An example of topics to be covered include: biosecurity training, farrowing management, neonatal piglet care, genetics, pig flow management, finishing contracts, grower responsibilities, employee management, and new agribusiness ventures.

Skills and knowledge gained in this course will better prepare new graduates to start their professional careers. “A thorough understanding of swine production management practices is required to efficiently execute disease investigations, design intervention strategies, and to create herd health programs. This course will both introduce and allow students to gain additional expertise with these management practices. After graduation, clients expect you to have a working knowledge of swine management and commercial production which can be difficult to attain without extensive experience within a production system. This course will serve as a formal introduction and will provide an opportunity for students to evaluate these practices on commercial production facilities” says Dr. Josh Ellingson, SMEC clinician.

Availability is limited; please contact Dr. Locke Karriker (karriker@iastate.edu) or Dr. Josh Ellingson (jellingson@amvcms.com) immediately if you are interested in enrolling.