The panel, chaired by Michael Martin, will comprise of Teagasc advisers Seamus Clarke and Gerard McCutcheon, guest speaker Colin Johnson from Iowa Pork Industry Centre and two Irish pig producers.

The conference will strike a positive note, addressing issues facing pig producers, following another year of disappointing returns. It will cover areas that the producer can control including slaughter weights, gilt culling rates and benchmarking herd performance.

Brendan Lynch, head of the Pig Development Unit will report on recent research at Moorepark, while Teagasc director, Professor Gerry Boyle, will address the importance of research and technology transfer in pig production.

Guest speaker this year is Colin Johnson, the extension programme specialist at the Iowa Port Industry Centre (IPIC). Colin has worked in Denmark on a diversified pig and crop farm, studying the industry and culture, hands-on. He maintains collaborations with Danish farm advisers and is familiar with European pig production as a result of this and through his contact with the Teagasc Pig Development Unit.

His interests in the industry are in producing quality pigs in an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner; this incorporates components of pig development and selection. He is himself a farmer and raises maize, soybeans, hay, oats, sweetcorn and beef cattle. Farmers and farm families are at the heart of all his efforts.

The Teagasc Pig Farmers’ Conference will take place at the Cavan Crystal Hotel, Cavan on Tuesday, 10 November and at the Clonmel Park Hotel, Clonmel on Wednesday, 11 November starting at 2.15pm.

The conferences opens at:

• the Cavan Crystal Hotel, Cavan on Tuesday, 10 November, and
• the Clonmel Park Hotel, Clonmel on Wednesday, 11 November