2013 Allen D. Leman Swine Conference. Program and Pre-Conference Workshops

Allen D. Leman Swine Conference is an annual educational event for the global swine industry that will be held September 14-17 at St. Paul RiverCentre, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. It is internationally acclaimed for bringing science-driven solutions to the complex challenges facing the industry. Each year hundreds of participants from over 20 countries attend the Leman Swine Conference held in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Major players in swine production, animal health management, and marketing from around the world exhibit their products and services. 

Plan to attend this year’s premier swine health conference at the Saint Paul River Centre™, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Science-driven solutions™, cutting-edge information, critical issues and exciting ideas. Check out the full conference program!

Save yourself up to $175 with early registration! Take full advantage of the expertise available in one location by adding practical pre-conference workshops to the main conference. Think of the additional money you would spend to attend another conference just to get this information…airfare, ground transportation, more registration fees, etc.

Exciting No-Nonsense Pre-Conference Workshops include:

This year, Michael Dyck, Swine Reproduction-Development Program, University of Alberta, will facilitate a workshop directed at consultant veterinarians, breeding stock suppliers, and breeding herd managers. 

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM; 7.5 CE Credits
$195 through August 12, $220 starting August 13, lunch included
Limited Space: 100 participants
Chair - Dr. Michael Dyck, University of Alberta

The series of collaborative Reproduction Workshops at the Leman Conference continues. This year, Michael Dyck (Swine Reproduction-Development Program, University of Alberta) will facilitate the workshop.

Tentative Topics and Speakers:

Sow Welfare: An Overiew
Dr. Clover Bench, Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science, University of Alberta

Welfare Standards and Assessment
Dr. Ed Pajor, University of Calgary Veterinary Medicine

Research & Welfare: Key Areas & Considerations
Dr. Jennifer Brown, Prairie Swine Centre

Effects of Timing of Mixing Replacement Gilts and Sows on Reproductive Performance and Welfare
Dr. Rob Knox, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois

Breeding During Lactation
Dr. Rebecca Athorn, University of Adelaide

Conversion to Group Housing: Things to Consider
Dr. Tom Parsons, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Managing Sows in Spain – What Can We Learn?
Dr. Miquel Coillell, Merck Animal Health 

Interested in becoming a new Pork Quality Assurance Plus Advisor? Here is your chance to be certified. 

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM; 5 CE Credits
$50 through August 12, $75 starting August 13
Limited Space: 50 participants
Instructors: Sarah Schieck and Lee Johnston
Individuals interested in becoming a new Pork Quality Assurance Plus Advisor will have the opportunity to be certified. Current PQA Plus Advisors that need to be recertified in PQA Plus are also welcome. Minimum qualifications to become a PQA Plus Advisor are:

• Must be one of the following: a veterinarian, An Extension Specialist, or an Agriculture Educator, and
(NOTE: For the purpose of PQA Plus, the definition of an agriculture educator is a person who is full time in adult education or spends at least 50% of their time in production training.)
• Has a D.V.M, or B.S in Animal Science or equivalent degree, and
• Has two years of recent documentable swine production experience.

Application approval is needed for all participants by September 6 and should be submitted to Sarah Schieck. For more information about the PQA Plus Advisor training contact Sarah Schieck, UMN Swine Extension at (320) 589-1711 or schi0466@umn.edu.  

Can’t make it to the 10th Safe Pork meeting? Join the Pork Safety Round Table to stay abreast of the latest research in pork safety.

Join in the debate about the Brazilian swine industry

5:15 - 7:00 PM; 2 CE Credits
No cost
Limited Space: 100 participants
Chair: Dr. Daniel Linhares, Agroceres PIC

This session will address the following:
Debate on Health Challenges and Opportunities in Brazil
Recent Advances of Research on Pig Health
Discussion: How can Brazil take advantage of new information? and What key areas of research should Brazil focus on? 

Previous Leman Conference pre-conference grow/finish sessions have focused on how to optimize marketing; particularly how management can best deal with individual pig variation. This year’s session will focus on key factors that drive within barn variation, including birth weight, weaning age/weight, growth rate, and health strategy. 

8:00 - 12:00 PM; 4.0 CE Credits
$105 through August 12, $125 starting August 13
Limited Space: 100 participants
Chair-David Reeves

Grow/finish management requires a thorough understanding of the risk factors for performance. Previous Leman Conference pre-conference grow/finish sessions have focused on how to optimize marketing; particularly how management can best deal with individual pig variation. This year’s session will focus on key factors that drive within barn variation, including birth weight, weaning age/weight, growth rate, and health strategy. The speakers have been challenged to offer real world techniques for optimizing production. There will be ample time to answer audience questions.

Understanding the Current State of Grow Finish Production in North America and Risk Factors for Growth Performance
Tom Stein, Metafarms

Tactical Seasonal and Strategic Modeling of Predictive Analytics in Pork Production
Kurtis E. Shampine, Senior Vice President, ProModel Life Sciences Solutions

Understanding the Importance of Birthweight on Grow Finish Production
Derald Holtkamp, Iowa State University

Understanding the Importance of Weaning Age and Weight on Grow Finish Production
TBA

The Characterization and Effects of Disease on Growth Performance 
Matt Allerson, University of Minnesota

Making Rational Health Decisions in Grow Finish Production
TBA 

PRRS Incidence Project, modeling aerosol plume spread, air leakage, electrostatic particle ionization system, PRRS vaccination, PRRSV coordinated interventions, PRRSV coordinated herd closures and tools for PRRS surveillance will all be addressed during this year’s SDEC Symposium. 

9:00 - 3:00 PM; 5.5 CE Credits
$145 through August 12, $170 starting August 13, lunch included
Limited Space: 100 participants
Chair - Montse Torremorell, University of Minnesota

National PRRSV Incidence Project: What Are We Learning for Regional Risks and Differences Between Regions? 
Dr. Steve Tousignant, University of Minnesota

How Do Air Plumes Move? Basic Concepts of Modeling Aerosol Plume Spread 
Dr. Greg Pratt, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Environmental Outcomes Division

How Important is Air Leakage in Filtered Farms? Testing Approaches to Measuring Air Leakage in Filtered Farms 
Dr. Larry D. Jacobson, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota

Preliminary Data on the Effect of Electrostatic Particle Ionization System on Decreasing Infectious Aerosols 
Dr. Carmen Alonso, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota

Effect of Vaccination on Decreasing PRRS Shedding and Virus Spread at the Population Level
Dr. Scott Dee, Pipestone Veterinary Clinic, Pipestone, MN

Coordinated Interventions to Control PRRSV in a Region: What Have We Learned
Dr. Chris Rademacher, Murphy Brown LLC.

Effect of Coordinated Herd Closures for PRRSV Control on Regional Shedding 
Dr. Joe Connor, Carthage Veterinary Service, Ltd., Carthage, IL

Integrating Tools for PRRS Surveillance and Outbreak Investigations at the Regional Level 
Dr. Jean Paul Cano, Boehringer-Ingelheim 

This workshop is designed for those looking to upgrade their skills in managing and analyzing data. The workshop will combine theory, practice, and some case examples of data management and analysis, including approaches to exploratory data analysis, and using basic statistical functions in Excel. 

1:00 - 5:00 PM; 4.0 CE Credits
$105 through August 12, $125 starting August 13
Limited Space: 50 participants
Chair-Dr. Bob Morrison, University of Minnesota

This workshop is designed for veterinarians looking to upgrade their skills in managing and analyzing data. We will combine theory, practice, and some case examples of experimental design, data management and analysis, including approaches to exploratory data analysis, and using basic statistical functions. Included in the registration fee is the "student version" of a statistical program called Statistix. We can get you a volume discount on the full program so please tell us by Sept 6 if that interests you.

Note: To participate you must bring along a laptop that has Windows 98 and or later versions, including XP, Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), and Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit).

Presenters: 
Dr. Spencer Wayne, Pipestone Veterinary Clinic, Pipestone, MN
Dr. Bob Morrison, University of Minnesota 

This is your opportunity to work with hog margin risk management analysis. Review the history on hog margin management vs. other alternatives. 

1:00 PM- 5:00 PM; 4.0 CE Credits
$105 through August 12, $125 starting August 13
Limited Space: 30 participants
Chair - Mr. Pat VonTersch, Professional Ag Marketing, Luverne, MN

This session will provide attendees the opportunity to work with hog margin risk management analysis. We will review the history on hog margin management vs. other alternatives. We will also discuss what opportunities will be presented in the future as it relates hog margin management; and what is happening fundamentally in hog, corn and meal markets. This session will be interactive so be pleased be prepared to have an open discussion about risk management.

Presenters:
Mr. Pat VonTersch, Professional Ag Marketing
TBA