Producers head to Des Moines for Iowa Pork Congress
DES MOINES - The 35th annual Iowa Pork Congress set to begin Tuesday, in Des Moines, will feature new speakers, seminars and exhibitors for the thousands of people expected to attend.The official Pork Congress kickoff will be held Tuesday evening with a reception and auction at Hy-Vee Hall in downtown Des Moines. The Iowa Pork Foundation will hold its annual auction to raise funds for the youth scholarship program.
On Wednesday, Mark Greenwood with AgStar Financial Services will provide a financial overview of the U.S. swine industry, followed by speaker Dr. Hans Rotto of Ames, who will talk about the significant increase in incidence and severity of porcine circovirus associated disease that has occurred in Iowa and how to combat it. Dr. George Charbonneau with Swine Services Group of Canada will describe the clinical presentation and diagnosis of PCVAD in Ontario, Canada, the Interventions that have been used in the treatment, control and prevention of the disease and using PCV type 2 vaccines to control PCVAD.
Eldon McAfee, legal counsel for the Iowa Pork Producers Association, will cover regulations and recommended practices from manure management plans to construction and expansion, with particular attention given to new Iowa Department of Natural Resources rules.
“Several companies will be promoting new or enhanced products and services this year. We also have several new exhibitors. Of course, we always try to provide seminars that deal with current issues and speakers who have the most current information available on those issues,”î said John Vossberg, a pork producer from Janesville who is serving as chairperson of the IPPA Iowa Pork Congress Committee.
Source: Fort Dodge Messenger