Registration open for annual swine conference
Columbia Basin Herald/file photo Contestants herd their animals around the ring during swine competition at the 2016 Grant County Fair. The 2017 Swine Information Day is Feb. 3.
MOSES LAKE — Registration is open through Jan. 27 for Washington Swine Information Day, scheduled for Feb. 3 at the Pillar Rock Grill at the Moses Lake Country Club. The program is open to all pork producers, including 4-H and FFA producers.
The event is organized by Washington State University Extension, Washington Pork Producers and the National Pork Board Checkoff plan.
Classes begin at 9 a.m. and will continue through 5 p.m., with a break for lunch.
The featured speaker is Dr. David Madsen, Dillon, Mont. Madsen has more than “46 years of full-time professional expertise and a lifetime of pig savvy, growing up in a family of purebred pig producers (and) working as a veterinary pig specialist,” according to a press release from WSU-Grant/Adams County Extension.
Currently he conducts seminars for producers on swine health, swine management and training in the Pork Quality Assurance program. The program is sponsored by the National Pork Board.
The morning class session begins with “an outlook on the hog and grain market and managing risk during volatile market times,” the extension press release said.
That’s followed by a presentation from a representative of the Animal Services Division of the Washington Department of Agriculture. Morning classes conclude with “multiple presentations on the new Veterinary Feed Directive, to start Jan. 1, and what practices producers can implement to improve performance and minimize the need for a VFD.”
The VFD is a new U.S. government regulation designed to regulate the use of antibiotics in animal feed and water, when the drugs are used to treat human disease. Veterinary oversight will be required for all producers, whether or not the animals are intended for food production.
The afternoon session focuses on “safe pork production and good production practices for producers to implement on-farm,” the press release said. “Producers of all sizes will be able to certify in the PQA-Plus program and receive information for an on-farm audit.”
There will be presentations on the state’s feral pig problem, from USDA Wildlife Services, and an update on education outreach from Washington Ag in the Classroom.
Advance registration is requested. Registration is $25 per person, $20 for FFA and 4-H members. Registration is $10 for the afternoon session only. People can register at the WSU Extension website, or by contacting Sarah M. Smith, 509-754-2011, ext. 4313.