AMES, Iowa -- Pork production operation owners, managers and employees in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and South Dakota are invited to participate in the 2005-06 PorkBridge educational series set to begin in December.

Mike Brumm of the University of Nebraska is the coordinator of this year’s PorkBridge program and Mark Whitney of the University of Minnesota will serve as moderator for all sessions. PorkBridge originally was offered as a two-state pilot program to a limited audience last year in Ohio and Nebraska. The response was so positive that it was expanded to provide desired information to more people involved in pork production.

“PorkBridge focuses on providing timely, relevant and accurate information on six specific topics to people who own or work in swine grow-finish facilities,” Brumm said. “We know that producers in the Midwest want this type of information and this program helps us deliver it literally to their door step.”

Iowa Pork Industry Center (IPIC) at Iowa State University (ISU) coordinates all program details, including registration and subscriber mailings. ISU animal science associate professor Ken Stalder is the Iowa program contact. He said the program offers a great deal of information that’s easily accessible to most pork producers at a reasonable price.

“Cost for participating in this subscription-only series is $125, which covers materials and phone calls for all six sessions,” Stalder said. “The program runs on an every other month basis from December 2005 through October 2006.”

PorkBridge combines electronic information viewed on computer with live oral presentations via phone by experts in the topic areas. The week before each session, subscribers will receive a CD containing that session’s topic-specific presentation and information on accessing the live speaker presentation. Each session is one hour in length, beginning either at noon or 7 p.m. Session times will be filled on a first-requested, first-filled basis.

Session dates, speakers, their university affiliations and topics are as follows.

• Dec. 8, 2005  Mike Brumm, University of Nebraska, Impact of out-of-feed events and water restrictions on grow-finish performance
• Feb. 9, 2006  Locke Karriker, Iowa State University, The basics of on-farm necropsy
• April 6, 2006  Rick Stowell, University of Nebraska, The basics of ventilation controllers
• June 1, 2006  Robert Thaler, South Dakota State University, Keeping pigs eating in hot weather
• Aug. 3, 2006  Alex Ramirez, Iowa State University,  The basics of grow-finish biosecurity
• Oct. 5, 2006  Lee Johnston, University of Minnesota, Animal welfare considerations in grow-finish facilities

An informational brochure with subscription information is available on the IPIC Web site at www.ipic.iastate.edu/PorkBridge/2005brochure.pdf  Iowa residents who want more information can call Stalder at (800) 808-7675.

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