It has been a great first two weeks as the field staff intern for the National Swine Registry (NSR). I have spent the majority of my time thus far traveling with the Northwest Field Representative, Michael Lackey, and the Eastern Field Representative, Blaine Evans. Traveling with them has allowed me to visit a variety of breeders who share their personal views on breeding hogs. My experiences on the road so far range from Tracy Lorenzen giving me a hard time while looking at young herd sire prospects to babysitting young Anders Baade while his dad, Kyle, showed Michael Lackey and me a group of powerhouse boars in stud. It has been an awesome time so far getting to interact with breeders and seeing some of their sow herds and keeper females. Although, each breeder may like a different style of hog, the one thing that you can tell within each herd is that feet and legs are so important. We have seen a lot of hogs planning to come to the World Pork Expo (WPX) in ten days, and it will be exciting to see how they all fit in with each other and where they end up falling in each class. With a record number of open show entries, it will be another great show. From my travels to the numerous jackpots in the Midwest and hearing the buzz around them, the National Junior Swine Association (NJSA) shows at Expo will be tremendous as well! Everyone needs to get their rest and gear up for another exciting year at WPX, because from what I’ve seen, it’s going to be fun!

– Jackson