AMES, Iowa – If you want something more than a run-of-the-mill pork industry program, look no further: Iowa Swine Day offers the most current information on emerging critical industry topics by renowned speakers from the U.S. and around the world. Organized and provided by Iowa Pork Industry Center at Iowa State University, this year's event is set for July 25 at the Iowa State Center in Ames.

Why should you attend? The planning committee of producers and allied industry representatives ensures that no two programs are alike, and that every program offers information not available elsewhere.

If this is the first time you'll attend, be ready for a full day of knowledge. Following the morning plenary session and lunch, you'll choose your own schedule from the four concurrent topical sessions with four presentations in each: current topics, improving on-farm labor, protecting herd health, and ISU research. With speaker consent, sessions are recorded and provided later on the IPIC YouTube channel, so don't worry about missing any of these in person.

If you're a returning attendee, here's something to pique your interest: a preconference symposium focusing on soybean meal. Topics are communicating the dynamic landscape of increased soybean meal availability, the expanding horizons of soybean meal discoveries in swine diets, and field-proven feeding strategies for improving pork production. Moderated by David Holzgraefe, eight leading swine industry experts present Soybean Meal 360 for the very first time. The symposium runs from 12:30 to 5 p.m. on July 24 at the Scheman Building, 1805 Center Drive.

If you're a numbers person, here are some for Iowa Swine Day 2024. Including the preconference symposium, there are six primary sessions, 28 individual talks, 31 speakers, and more than 30 sponsors. Cost is $85 and parking for all events is free. Registration begins at 7 a.m. and the official program starts at 8 at Stephens Auditorium, 1900 Center Drive.

All attendees registered for Iowa Swine Day are welcome to attend the symposium as well as the ISU swine networking social following this symposium. Sponsored by AB Vista, Iowa Pork Industry Center, Lynch Livestock, and TechMix, the social starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center at 2508 Mortensen Rd.

Registration cost is $85, students may attend at no charge, and preregistration is strongly encouraged. Walk-in registrations are discouraged.

The full program, information, registration forms, and directions to the venues are available on the Iowa Swine Day conference website.

Iowa Swine Day is hosted by the Iowa Pork Industry Center with support provided by the ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

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IPIC was established in 1994 as a coordinated effort of the colleges of Agriculture (now Agriculture and Life Sciences) and Veterinary Medicine at ISU. Its mission is to promote efficient pork production technologies in Iowa, maintain Iowa's pork industry leadership and strengthen rural development efforts. IPIC focuses its efforts on programs that are integral and complementary to ISU Extension and Outreach. Through IPIC, Iowa producers receive accurate and timely information to make their operations more efficient and profitable.