CLIVE, Iowa—There will be four one-day educational conferences for pig farmers that will be held across the state, Feb. 20-23. The conferences are planned and supported by the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) and the Iowa Pork Industry Center (IPIC). Pig farmers are invited to register and attend one of the four events.

The conference locations are:

• Monday, Feb. 20 – Orange City at the Sioux County Extension Office, 400 Central Ave. NW, Suite 700
• Tuesday, Feb. 21 – Webster City at the Briggs Woods Conference Center, 2501 Briggs Woods Trail 
• Wednesday, Feb. 22 – Nashua at the Borlaug Learning Center, 3327 290^th St. 
• Thursday, Feb. 23 – Washington at the Washington County Extension Office, 2223 250^th St.

In addition to the regional conference program that runs from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. each day, a separate morning session from 9 a.m. to noon will provide Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus® training. The PQA Plus training is sponsored by IPPA and provided by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Producers can attend one or both sessions.

There are four topics for the afternoon sessions.

• European ASF Report – Producers and veterinarians will talk about African swine fever (ASF) herd management in different European countries. The information is the result of a trip was organized by the National Pork Board last fall.
• Economic Issues Update – ISU Extension Livestock Economist Dr. Lee Schulz will give an overview of economic activity that will impact pig farmers.
• Heat Stress Research & Strategies to Mitigate It – Dr. Brett Ramirez of ISU’s Ag & Biosystems Engineering, will talk about studies for improving barn ventilation, as well as strategies to reduce heat stress.
• The Value of Manure – the Extension Ag Engineer for the area will discuss ISU’s manure research and the information that can help you determine it’s value.

“Topics for the conferences were determined by the farmer members of the IPPA producer education committee. They partnered with IPIC to identify relevant speakers on the topics,” says Cory Van Gilst, IPPA producer outreach director.

Check-in starts 30 minutes before the start of each part of the day. Pre-register for the conference and/or PQA Plus certification training to ensure adequate materials are available to all. To pre-register:

• Go online to IowaPork.org/IPPA-Regional-Conferences; or
• Call IPPA at (800) 372-7675; or
• Email croepke@iowapork.org. 

(contributed press release)