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I am pleased to announce the hiring of Brian Arnold, Lafayette, Ill., as the VP of Member Outreach & Youth Development for the National Swine Registry. Brian is a graduate of Black Hawk East and Purdue University. He has served as an ag business instructor and co-livestock judging coach at Black Hawk East since 2006. He and his wife, Molly, along with their 1-year-old son, Reece, will be relocating to the West Lafayette area in the near future. We are excited to have Brian on board starting July 9th.
We have also hired Torie Schwartz, Rossville, Ind., as the Junior Activities Coordinator. Torie is a graduate of Black Hawk East and Western Illinois University, where she was a member of both school’s livestock judging teams. Torie also served as a junior board member and officer for the American Junior Shorthorn Association. We look forward to having Torie as part of our team.
Both Brian and Torie will be attending [ … ]
As many of you are aware, NJSA shows offer Bred-and-Owned awards for gilts as a special way to recognize junior exhibitors who are raising and showing their own pigs. For those of you headed to the NSR Summer Spectacular, this is a great opportunity and I thought I would go through the rules so you can make sure to be considered for this award if you raised your own hogs.
To be eligible for Bred-and-Owned awards, the exhibitor must declare that his or her pig is Bred-and-Owned when going through the pedigree portion of check in. The exhibitor must be shown as both the breeder and the current owner on the gilt’s registration paper. The name of the breeder or the current owner is not allowed to be in a family or farm name that includes a partner over 21 years of age. If there is more than one name listed [ … ]
Whew, we survived an exciting and busy week at Expo. One of my favorite aspects of my job is seeing the high quality animals that are exhibited at our shows and sales.
As producers, I know you guys are constantly striving to raise the next “great one.” So this month in Stock Marketing, I’m going to share a few quick tricks you can use to promote your entries for the summer sales, shows and conferences.
Get a good picture. A picture is worth a thousand words, so if you want potential buyers to get excited about your entry – snap a good picture. Sure, you can tell people it’s a “great one,” but often, seeing is believing. Such was the case in Duncan last year when Bruce and Jenny Kaufman of Kaufman Showpigs, Crawfordsville, Iowa, got a great shot of their Hillbilly Bone son. His picture drew the interest of Prairie State [ … ]
World Pork Expo Junior National
Des Moines, Iowa * June 6 – 8
Judge: James Backman, Calif.
Grand Champion Purebred Barrow Overall & Champion Yorkshire
Shown by Trey Fecke
Reserve Grand Champion Purebred Barrow Overall & Champion Spot
Shown by Zachary Brazel
3rd Overall Purebred Barrow & Champion Poland
Shown by Austin Irvin
4th Overall Purebred Barrow & Reserve YorkshireShown by Brenen Diesen
5th Overall Purebred Barrow & Champion LandraceShown by Kallie Brattain
Greetings from Des Moines! The 2012 edition of the World Pork Expo is officially under way. With a record number of entries in the World Pork Expo Junior National, a great lineup of judges and, of course, great hogs, we’re very excited to get the shows started tomorrow. Below are some “candids” from the barn as exhibitors began unloading and registering their entries today.
National Swine Registry CEO Mike Paul chats with Eastern Region Fieldman Ralph Doak about the hogs they’ve seen in the barn so far.
Members of National Junior Swine Association (NJSA) and Team Purebred check-in junior exhibitors in the swine barn.
A family unloads their gilt. This year’s World Pork Expo Junior National features a record-breaking number of entries!
The show ring is set for tomorrow’s shows.
Courtney Smith and Kaylee Miller took a break from check-in to pose for a photo.
This Yorkshire hog was curious to see our camera.
Not making it [ … ]
Hey NSR! My name is Katie Powers and I am very excited to be the Pedigree Department Intern this summer. We are busy in the office preparing for the upcoming shows, and I cannot wait to attend these incredible events! Time is flying and they will be here in no time.
Please allow me to introduce myself. My background is diverse – I am a native of Townsend, Delaware, and a proud alum of Oklahoma State University. I just entered the “big kid world” on May 5th, when I graduated from OSU with my bachelors degree in animal science with an emphasis in livestock merchandizing.
Raising livestock and working on my family’s farm throughout my childhood fueled my passion for the agriculture industry and still burns steady to this day. I grew up raising and showing all four species of livestock. My first show project was a crossbred lamb at [ … ]
Hello everyone! My name is Taylor Fritsch, and I’m pleased to introduce myself as National Swine Registry’s Marketing & Communications Intern for 2012. It’s such an honor – and such a pleasure – to be serving the members of the NSR. I’m very excited to jump right into the mix for the M&C division this summer assisting with writing, design, social media, photography and so much more.
My journey in agriculture didn’t begin with swine. As a proud Badger from the state of Wisconsin, my family is involved in the industry that makes up almost half of our state’s agriculture – dairy. Growing up I was active with my family’s 70-cow, 600-acre operation, feeding my fair share of baby calves and helping out in whatever way I could. When I became old enough to show, I was pretty excited about breaking a dairy heifer to take to the fair. When my [ … ]
Hi all! My name is Ali Harwell and I am the NJSA Intern this summer. I am so excited to have the opportunity to be involved in another side of this awesome organization. We are already busy getting ready for WPX and NJSS and cannot wait for everyone to see what we have planned for this summer!
A little more about me… I am a senior Spartan from Michigan State University (MSU) majoring in environmental studies and agriscience with a specialization in secondary education. With this degree, I will have the opportunity to teach kids about the many aspects of agriculture. I hope to inspire future generations to be good representatives of agriculture and share the good news our industry has to offer. Activities that keep me busy at MSU include the livestock judging team, Sigma Alpha Agriculture Sorority and Block & Bridle.
A native of Coldwater, Mich., I grew up in [ … ]
With the spring showpig sale season winding down, most of us have time to take a quick breath before plunging into show season. (If you’re not in the field, that is.) In the NSR Marketing and Communications Department, we’re using this break to catch up on paperwork, prepare for the next issue of Seedstock EDGE and start re-designing our website.
I’m sure many of you will be sending show and sale results off to your web designers. But before you do, put your site through the paces and see if it passes these tests highlighted in Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think (a fast, surprisingly entertaining read on web usability):
Don’t Make Me Think (or anyone for that matter) – Surfing the web should not be a critical thinking exercise and neither should navigating your website. Ensure that visitors to your site don’t have to think by making your site [ … ]
This past week, NSR hosted a group of visitors from China at the office in West Lafayette, Ind. The group, accompanied by Professor Wang of China Agricultural University, included buyers from three different Chinese companies. Throughout the visit, the buyers were escorted by George Bruns and Chuck Bastrom of Ag-World Inc., and Nicholas Zhang of China Animal Husbandry Group.
L to R: Professor Wang, Dr. Clint Schwab, & George Bruns
NSR CEO, Dr. Clint Schwab, and Director of Genetic and Technical Services at NSR, Dr. Justin Fix, hosted the meeting, which centered on the Swine Genetic and Testing Evaluation System (STAGES™). STAGES™ is a program developed by the National Swine Registry to facilitate genetic improvement through calculation of the most economically significant traits in purebred swine production. The international breeders, all customers of U.S. purebred genetics, were interested in the intricacies and daily functions of the genetic program. To learn more about STAGES™, click [ … ]