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This week’s speaker was Derrick Sleezer who is Program Design and Implementation Director for Barn Vista a cloud-based operation management software company located in Emmetsburg, Iowa, a division of Standard Nutrition Services, which oversees 40,000 sows and multiple feed mills in 18 states and Canada. Derrick also farms with his family in their family-owned Sleezer Inc. located near Cherokee, Iowa. Their operation produces 20,000 pigs annually and raises crops on almost 2,500 acres. The topic for the presentation was People, Pigs and Planet: Sustainable Farming. Sleezer defines this as using resources in a way that allows for the preservation of resources in a way that allows the land to be used later for the same purpose. Sleezer shared with us that today’s pig operations use less water, land and energy. He also advised the group that today’s pork is 8% leaner with 27% less saturated fat and that in 2011 pork tenderloin was certified as heart healthy and pork roast was certified in 2016. Because of efforts to provide proper nutrition for the pigs through fresh water, vaccinations, barn sanitation, bio-security and disease prevention the pork supply is safer and significantly leaner than the 1950’s. With these efforts the feed and water and other nutrition is monitored to provide for leaner pigs and a healthier product for consumers. Today’s breed of pig is better because of enhanced genetics. Sleezer also discussed the importance of the training received in the Pork Quality Assurance Program where training is provided every three years to 73,000 pork farmers at 18,678 sites. This program sets market standards for food safety. Sleezer also discussed the importance of efforts like Smart Barns and utilizing Smart Phones to ensure safe food, the well being of the animals and public health. This includes preventing disease and injury to the animals as well as treatment when needed. Camille we hope you enjoyed our video tribute Madam President. John Ewing, Jr. |
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