Swine producers, researchers and other industry professionals from across the region gathered for the 10th annual South Dakota State University Swine Day Sept. 29 at Club 71 in Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
The event was hosted by SDSU Extension in collaboration with the SDSU Department of Animal Science and the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.
“I think Swine Day has been a fantastic opportunity to be able to get that interaction between our staff and our students here and the industry,” said Rafe Royall, assistant professor and SDSU Extension swine specialist. “It’s an awesome opportunity for us to present the best of ourselves to the folks that we’re really here to serve as research and extension personnel.”
The day started with a student poster competition where undergraduate and graduate students presented their research to attendees. Following the poster competition, Michael Gonda, interim head of the Department of Animal Science, welcomed guests and spoke about department initiatives. After the welcome, Royall gave a presentation on the National Swine Health Strategy. Faculty members Crystal Levesque and Eric Weaver then presented research being conducted at SDSU.
The afternoon session included swine research updates from Ph.D. students Katlyn McClellan, Foreman Atoo and Jessica Lira da Silva, followed by an “Industry update from an economist’s perspective” with Mike Minor and Jordan Reker, risk managers with Professional Ag Marketing.
The day concluded with a keynote presentation by Dr. Joel Nerem, a veterinarian at Pipestone. His presentation focused on the economics of infectious diseases in wean-to-market pigs and how biosecurity on wean-to-market farms helps reduce those infections.
“Health has a major impact on the profitability of pig farmers, and it has a major impact on pig welfare, right? So, our goal is always to try and maximize pig health and maximize our customers’ profitability,” Nerem said.
Nerem said Swine Day at SDSU is important to local producers and the swine industry overall in South Dakota.
“SDSU does a lot of really great work in creating scientists and in creating future veterinarians and in producing future producers, future pig farmers, and so it’s important that with a program like they have here, it’s important to highlight the accomplishments of those students, as well as bring in folks that can talk about where the industry is and where it’s going,” he said.
The poster competition included three categories: undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. students. Winners received scholarships of varying amounts.
Ph.D. division
- First: Darcy Pamulaklakin: “Nutrient-enriched gilt development diet improved growth efficiency and body composition during a confirmed PRRSv 1-4-4 L1C.5.32 outbreak”
- Second: Jessica Lira da Silva: “Effects of dietary copper source in nursery and grow-finish pigs”
Master’s division
- First: Kynna Crawford: “A new approach to screening ingredients affecting early feed intake: evaluating the efficacy of a Plackett-Burman design”
- Second: Courtney Pohlen: “Growth performance effects of dietary intact protein or synthetic amino acids on early grower pigs”
Undergraduate division
- First: Karin Sweeter: “Defining standardized ileal digestible histidine to lysine ratio requirements in 18- to 50-lb nursery pigs”
Swine Day at SDSU was made possible with support from the South Dakota Pork Producers Council, XFE Products, Farm Credit Services of America, and Phibro Animal Health Corporation.
Editorial callouts
Numbered editorial queries and substantive changes corresponding to the copyedit log.
1. Caption: Removed ‘Dr.’; retained ‘Dr.’ on first article reference for a veterinarian.
2. Department names: Retained formal capitalization pending verification.
3. Presentation sequence: Replaced repeated ‘presented about’ with clearer phrasing.
4. Afternoon program: Tightened ‘research update presentations’ and transition.
5. Jessica Lira: Confirm whether this is Jessica Lira da Silva.
6. Keynote description: Replaced awkward ‘impact biosecurity … has’ construction.
7. Nerem quotation: Removed double space and standardized apostrophe; wording unchanged.
8. Competition introduction: Tightened the categories and scholarship sentences.
9. Division headings: Lowercased ‘division’ pending confirmation of formal names.
10. Research entries: Standardized colons after winner names.
11. PRRSv strain designation: Verify exact spelling and research-title usage.
12. Sponsor acknowledgment: Changed ‘with the support from’ to ‘with support from.’
13. Sponsor name: Verify ‘Philbro’ versus ‘Phibro.’
For more information: https://www.sdstate.edu/news/2026/10/swine-producers-researchers-industry-leaders-gather-10th-annual-swine-day-sdsu
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