With pork producers currently operating on negative margins, and projections that those margins will remain negative throughout 2017, minimizing production costs through disease prevention is more important than ever. The swine group at Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) was on hand during NAFB Trade Talk to offer some insight on the most important tools for producers to keep in mind this year.
“Disease hurts your cost of production, it increases mortality, slows growth, and makes you use more feed, so anytime we can prevent disease it improves the cost,” said Jeff Worstell, Director of Market Access, Swine, in an interview during Trade Talk. “That is the message behind BIVI’s innovative portfolio of vaccine products, world-class diagnostics, and global research capabilities.”
Worstell stressed the importance of forming collaborative partnerships with the veterinarians on an operation, as well as the need to prioritize good diagnostics as starting point.
“You have to understand the challenges facing specific operations and herds, so good diagnostics must be the starting point,” he said. “After that, it’s incredibly important to work together on a plan to prevent disease, including anything from vaccines to biosecurity to regional control, it’s all encompassing instead of just focusing on one silver bullet.”
Learn more in Jamie’s full interview with Jeff here:
Interview with Jeff Worstell, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc.
View and download photos from the event here: 2016 NAFB Convention
