On Nov. 7, 2019 students and staff at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville had the opportunity to attend the sixth annual Badger Swine Symposium in Velzy Commons located in Ullsvik Hall. 

This program was free to attend with lunch included, which was sponsored by the Wisconsin Pork Association (WPA). This program was supported by Pork Checkoff funds and sponsored by the Animal Science Departments at UW-Platteville, River Falls, and Madison. The Extension Swine team and the WPA also helped sponsor the event. 

To start the event off, speakers began with a Wisconsin Industry Exchange and then further led into some university research trials. Dr. Pete Lammers, a UW-Platteville animal science professor, and some students at the university discussed a probiotic scour treatment, a prebiotic/probiotic product to limit the use of antibiotics in the farrowing barn and a niche feeding trial with hazelnut’s effects on pork quality.

Later in the afternoon, discussion of the 2020 financial outlook and future trends for the industry were presented by Mr. Steve Malakowsky, who is the Vice President of Swine Lending at Compeer Financial. Following Mr. Malakowsky was Dr. Patrick Webb of the National Pork Board who spoke on everything people wanted to know about foreign animal disease and what to expect when foreign animal diseases hit, including implications on trade.

 “The Swine Symposium covered a multitude of topics ranging from futures market prices, current research in the industry, and protocol regarding Foreign Animal Diseases. I enjoyed the diversity in the speakers and subject matter,” Olivia Kepner, a student at UW-Platteville who attended the event, said.