ISU to Co-host International Conference on Swine Feed Efficiency

John Patience portrait
John Patience

AMES, Iowa — Iowa State University and Kansas State University will host an International Conference on Feed Efficiency in Swine in Omaha Oct. 21 and 22.

The conference will deliver the results of the multidisciplinary Feed Efficiency in Swine research project conducted by Iowa State, Kansas State and three international institutions.

Additional speakers have been invited from across the United States and eight foreign countries to present the latest information on feed efficiency in the areas of pig health, physiology, nutrition, genetics, pork quality, feed processing and sow reproduction. More than 40 presentations from university and swine industry experts will be available in a program that blends science and application.

“The program committee made an extra effort to present new information that answers such questions as whether intensive, multi-generational selection for feed efficiency results in pigs that are more easily stressed, more susceptible to disease or more likely to produce poor quality pork,” said John Patience, Iowa State professor of animal science. “This is just one of many topics that will be addressed at the two-day event.”

Patience has directed the research project, which was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The target audience includes:

  • Pork producer owner-operators
  • Management personnel in pork production
  • People in swine nutrition, genetics, feed processing and pharmaceutical sectors
  • Students, academic and extension professionals

The meeting will be at the Hilton Omaha.

Complete program and registration information can be found online. Discounted registration of $200 per person, which includes meals and breaks, is available for the first 400 registrants. Then, the registration increases to $300 per person.