Iowa Pork Producers Association, National Pork Board and FarmHer Interns Tour Iowa Select Farms, Sow 32 Last Chance
posted on Thursday, May 31, 2018
“Visiting a sow farm was on my summer bucket list,” said an excited Hannah Borg, an intern with FarmHer. “I had no idea all of the biosecurity procedures that were in place at a farm like this. My mind was definitely blown on this tour, that’s for sure!”
Today we had the honor of hosting a group of student interns from the Iowa Pork Producers Association, National Pork Board and FarmHer, an organization that aims to empower women in agriculture, at one of our sow farms in southern Iowa.
It was a day of firsts for many of the interns who experienced a bench entry system, showering in and out of a farm and UV chambers, all biosecurity measures in place to ensure the farm is protected from any potential outside diseases.
“This tour was a great opportunity to expand my knowledge about sow farms,” said Molly Burke. “It was exciting to take a peek inside a brand new farm and watch the employees going about their daily routines caring for the animals.”
Prior to touring the farm alongside manager Doug Bates, interns learned about the history of Iowa Select Farms and discussed topics including our production system, animal well-being and newly implemented ventilation and filtration systems, just to name a few.
“The level of planning and organization that goes into a sow farm like this is crazy,” said Blair Bailey. “I will definitely put the knowledge that I learned today to good use during my summer internship and beyond. It was a really fun, interesting experience.”
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