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Phil Anwender, Producer
Phil graduated from the University Of Guelph in 1983. He majored in Animal Science,
and also received a minor in Ag Business. He is a graduate of Class 8 of the
Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program. From 2007-2009 he was a Director at
Ontario Pork, and Chair of the Safety Net Committee. Over his time in agriculture,
Phil has done many presentations on risk management, government programs, and
other business issues related to the Ontario pork industry. Phil and his wife
have two children, and operate a 230 sow farrow to finish operation near Stratford.
Greg Bilbrey, Agristats, Inc.
Greg is the swine live production account manager for Agri Stats. In that role he travels to
serve and recruit participants for the Agri Stats benchmarking service.
Greg was born and raised in the Tennessee mountain area of the southern United States.
After receiving his BS degree in agriculture from Tennessee Technological University he
worked four years for a farm supply cooperative selling a wide variety of farm supplies and
managing store locations. Greg returned to school to pursue a master's degree in animal
science with a focus on swine production and management. His thesis title was
"The Effect of Rate of Developmental Growth on Sow Reproductive Performance".
In 1990 Greg received the MS degree from the University of Tennessee and began
working as a swine production and record specialist for the farm co-op system in Indiana.
He eventually became the Land O'Lakes district manager for swine product sales and growth
with a district that included parts of the Eastern Corn Belt - Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio.
After sixteen years of service as a swine specialist, Greg joined the Agri Stats team.
Jillian Grace, Geoffrey Lincoln and Johnathan Morgan Bilbrey (ages 13, 11 and 8, respectively)
are the things that bring the most joy and exhaustion to Greg and his wife Angela.
They all live together in Fort Wayne, Indiana and are active in their church and schools.
Greg and the boys participate in activities such as football, baseball, soccer, fishing and hunting.
Ange and Jilli like to shop.
Stephen Benedict, Farm Credit Canada (FCC)
Stephen Benedict is a Senior Relationship Manager with FCC in Stratford, Ontario
and has over 30 years of experience in the financial industry. He graduated
in Business Administration and holds diplomas in various areas of finance investment,
including Omega Agri Lending, Canadian Securities, Financing Independent Business
and Commercial Analysis. Stephen has also managed a number of sizeable hog and
loan portfolios in both Perth and Huron counties, and served as a former facilitator
for FCC's Hog Community of Practice, a group dedicated to knowledge-sharing
on industry trends and best practices.
Christopher Callaghan, Ontario Ministry
of Labour
Christopher has been working with the Ministry of Labour as an Occupational
Health and Safety Inspector for over six years. A graduate of the University
of Western Ontario and former Skills Training Officer and Training Consultant
with the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities, Mr. Callaghan has extensive
experience in the field of occupational training and skill development.
Nicolas deVillers, Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada
Nicolas Devillers was born in France and studied in Bretagne, the major swine
production area of France. He graduated in Animal Science in 2000 at the Superior
National School of Agronomy located in Rennes. He obtained his PhD in 2004 at
the University of Rennes and the National Agronomic Research Institute, focused
on the production of colostrum by sows in relation to piglets' survival. His
interest in the ethological approach (which considers the whole animal in its
environment) grew throughout his studies and led him to post-doctoral studies
on maternal behaviour in sows. Thereafter, he was hired as a research scientist
at the Dairy and Swine Research and Development Centre in Sherbrooke (Québec)
in 2005 to study swine behaviour and welfare.
Since then, he has led many research
projects on the influence of housing and management practices on the behaviour
of lactating sows and piglets. His research focuses on maternal behaviour of
sows, behavioural development of piglets, and assessment of welfare in sows.
More specifically, he started a research program on the assessment of lameness
in sows in 2008 and developed many techniques using accelerometers, kinematics,
footprints and force plates scale for measuring lameness.
Cate Dewey, University of Guelph
Dr. Cate Dewey is a Professor of Swine Health Management and Epidemiology and
the Chair of the Department of Population Medicine, at the Ontario Veterinary
College at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. She received her DVM
from the University of Guelph in 1979 and after working in private veterinary
practice, returned to Guelph to earn her MSc and PhD in 1988 and 1992 respectively.
She has been the editor of the Journal of Swine Health and Production since
1998. Most of her research work involves on-farm studies with a focus on spread
and control of infectious diseases and the impact of disease and management
on productivity.
Michael K. Dyck, University of Alberta
Dr. Dyck joined of the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences
at the University of Alberta in January 2004. As member of the Swine Reproduction
and Development Program he has been conducting research focused on improving
reproductive efficiency in swine. Previously he worked with First Choice Genetics,
A.I. Division of Thames Bend Farms Ltd. in Woodstock, Ontario, ReproMed Ltd.
in Toronto, (Canada's largest human sperm banking facility) and TGN Biotech
Inc., Quebec City.
He is also a lead researcher with the Pan-Canadian NSERC Strategic Research
Network -EmbryoGENE: www.embryogene.ca
Luigi Faucitano, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Luigi is coordinating a unique research program aimed at studying the impact
of pre-slaughter management on animal welfare and meat quality in pigs. This
activity has resulted in more than 100 publications, including the book "The
Welfare of Pigs- from Birth to Slaughter" that sold more than 300 copies
worldwide. He obtained a doctorate degree in Animal Science at the University
of Bologna (Italy) in 1996 and conducted his post-doctoral studies in Brazil
and Spain running projects on preslaughter handling, stunning and slaughter
in pigs.
Since 1999 he has filled the position of meat scientist at the Dairy
and Swine Research and Development division of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
in Sherbrooke (Quebec).
Paul Ferreira, Grand Valley Fortifiers
Paul graduated from the University of Guelph in 1988. He has worked in the Swine
Industry for over 20 years focusing on animal nutrition and production. Paul
assisted in the Management of Elite Swine's production division in Ontario and
currently acts as the Technical Support Manager with Grand Valley Fortifiers.
Paul has assisted farms across Canada and the United States. He has recently
spent a considerable amount of time in Russia and also has visited farms in
Kazakhstan, the Ukraine and Africa. Paul and his wife Krista live in Ayr, Ontario.
Clarence Keen, Producer
Clarence has been farming with his father for 25 years and they still work together
every day. Once a dairy farm, they made the switch to chicken sixteen years
ago and added two hog finishing barns in 2001. Shortly afterward they built
a feed mill that feeds approximately 5000 hogs and 150,000 chickens annually.
They currently cash crop 2000 acres.
Clarence and his wife Joanne have a total
of 5 children, all three boys help out on the farm.
Lucio Leite, Producer
Lucio has been a pig farm manager since 1990,with work experience in Brazil,
USA and Canada. Currently he manages Greenwood Pork Inc with 1500 sows from
farrow to finish located at Waterford,ON. Lucio graduated from Uberlandia(Brazil)Animal
College in 1989 with specialization in Swine Industry and in 1990 completed
Pig Champ advantage diploma. Lucio is married to Celia Leite and they have one
child.
Trent Loos, Loos Tales
Sporting a black cowboy hat and handlebar mustache, Trent Loos is a farmer,
rancher, and radio host with a special love for folks who lead the same life
he has chosen. Trent is a sixth-generation resource provider, originally from
Illinois but now in South Dakota, specializing in supplying seed stock to pork
producers, and beef cattle. When he's not busy cutting cattle, Trent's new passion
is spreading the word about the many positive things in production agriculture,
where it is "individuals, not the institutions, that make a difference."
He does this by traveling the country, meeting with farmers and ranchers, and
then sharing their stories on his daily radio programs: Loos Tales and The Truth
Be Told; heard in nine states across the Midwest USA.
Trent has also developed
a series of presentations entitled "Generations of Pride" which he
delivers to schools, civic organizations and agricultural groups. "It's
hard for any farmer to keep the big picture in focus when we've got our daily
chores to take care of," says Trent. "From special interest groups
to bioterrorism, there are many factors affecting the future of food production
as we know it. It is vital that we keep up on what is going on in the world
in order to ensure the safety and longevity of our industry."
Rob McDougall, Paragon Farms
Rob McDougall is currently the General Manager at Paragon Farms. Paragon
has 17,000 sows in Ontario, within owned facilities and land base; they
have approximately 75 employees and 30 contract growers. Previously
Rob worked as Ontario Director of Operations for Maple Leaf Agri Farms
and as Production Manager for Cold Springs Farm.
Ryan Martin, RWF Farms
As Production Manager at RFW Farms Ltd.Ryan has an ongoing passion for understanding
the science of modern hog production. His key role is to provide leadership
to his committed Production Team, spurring them on to new heights of knowledge
and achievement. He remains focused on genetic potential, feed & nutrition,
management strategies and cost control in an effort to keep RFW Farms Ltd. profitable
and successful. Ryan has a home-based office in Arthur where he lives with his
wife Sandra and their 3 children. RFW Farms Ltd. is a farrow to finish, hog
production company. They have contract barns in Southern Ontario and in the
Eastern and Western Corn-belts, USA. RFW Farms' corporate office is in Grimsby,
Ontario.
Egidijus Mickevicius, Hypor
Egidijus graduated Gruzdziai Veterinary School (Lithuania) in 1993 with an Animal
Science Degree. It took 12 months working on a mixed in Sweden to realize that
swine was his true area of interest. Egidijus worked in the USA, UK, Poland
and Russia before immigrating to Canada in 2000. Here, he worked on a genetic
nucleus farm in Saskatchewan and was a multiplication production and technical
support manager in Airdrie, Alberta. In 2006 he moved to Ontario and is responsible
for Sales and Technical Services, Eastern Canada for Hypor, a Hendrix Genetic
Company.
Egidijus is passionate about "New Era" pig production and
is always looking for ways to find solutions and help producers identify areas
for improvement in their operations.
Egidijus is married to Sibile and together
they share the joys of rising 3 children: Gabriele, Adomas and Lukas. He is
proud to be part of the Canadian Swine Industry and to contribute to this conference.
Patrick O'Neil, Ontario Pork
Patrick O'Neil is Ontario Pork's Marketing Division Manager. He has been in
this role since September 2011. He has worked for Ontario Pork since August
1999 in various roles in the sales and marketing department and most recently
as a Strategist focusing on government relations and the launch of Ontario's
new, permanent Risk Management Program.
Prior to working at Ontario Pork, Patrick
studied at the University of Western Ontario and worked on the family farm near
Thorndale, Ontario.
John Otten, Producer
John was born and raised on a poultry, swine and dairy farm in Huron County.
In 1980 he began farming with a partner in a 70 sow farrow to finish. In 1989
he began selling feed for dairy and swine in North Huron, Bruce, and Grey counties.
In 1991 he graduated with a Diploma in Business and began a work as a Swine
Feeding Specialist with Shur-Gain, living in Simcoe. His territories have included
the region of South Oxford and Niagara, New York State, Perth and Wellington.
In 1994 he became involved in Three Site Production and in 1995 joined TPC as
a partner. This became a 3 site 7,500 sow co-mingled multi-site production system.
He traveled many parts of North America to see how other production systems
operated and was in charge or making improvements.
In May of 2000 he joined
MacDougald Management in Wellesley (today operating as South West Vets) and
manages the swine production system Professional Pork Alliance. His industry
involvements include the Ontario Pork task Force on Marketing 1998 and President
of Ontario Pork Congress in 2000.
John and his lovely wife Keena have four grown
children and have a fondness for cars (fast, black, muscle cars). Living in
town with farm roots they enjoy the outdoors in summer, growing different plants,
flowers and trees
Dallas Reimer, Minor Brothers Farm Supply
Dallas grew up in Steinbach Manitoba on a 400 sow farrow to finish / Cash crop
farm. He spent 3 years in an ESI multiplication unit before going back home
to take over the family farm. In the fall of 2007 he took a sales job with Shur-Gain
and in 2010 took a position at Minor Bros. where he is currently managing the
swine sales and nutrition department. He also plays a role in the daily affairs
of the Canborough Farms system that is managed and owned by Minor Bros.
In his spare time Dallas enjoys networking with team members, increasing his knowledge
of the industry and growing as an industry person. He enjoys many sports such
as Football, Hockey, Golf, and baseball. He also enjoys spending time with his
wife Nadine and 4 children whose ages are 1, 2, 5, & 6 and lives in Brantford
Ontario.
Jay Remsik, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services
(WSPS)
Jay Grew up in Blenheim and worked summers on a farm while
attending university. For 12 years he has been a Consultant assisting agricultural
clients to implement Health & Safety in their workplace. He is based out
of London covering Huron, Middlesex and Perth counties and managing the Chatham-Kent
and Windsor-Essex area.
Matt Ritter, Elanco Animal Health
As a swine advisor Matt's area of expertise is pig handling and transportation.
Matt received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Animal Science at Michigan State
University and his Ph.D. in Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois under
the guidance of Dr. Mike Ellis. The objective of Matt's Ph.D. program was to
determine causes of dead and non-ambulatory pigs at U.S. packing plants and
to identify management strategies to reduce these losses.
Jaydee Smith, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture,
Food & Rural Affairs (OMAFRA)
Jaydee Smith is with the Agriculture Development Branch, Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in Ridgetown. He has studied at the University
of Guelph (BSc, MSc) and at the University of Bristol, UK (PhD). His current
activities include providing producers with information and tools to help them
maximize their returns from the pork they produce.
Jack Tacoma, Tacoma Engineers Inc.
Jack is the founder of Tacoma Engineers Inc a busy structural engineering practice
with offices in Barrie and Guelph servicing the agricultural, industrial and
development industries. Jack is also a past president of the Canadian Farm Builders
Association. In addition, Jack works as a leadership and organizational change
coach.
Kevin Vilaça, South West Ontario Veterinarians
Kevin has been involved in various sectors of the Ontario swine industry for
many years. After graduating from his B.Sc. at the University of Guelph, Kevin's
interest in swine led him to pursue a Masters degree in Epidemiology with an
emphasis in swine health. His main area of research surrounded the PRRS virus
and how PRRS vaccination affected boar fertility. Kevin has presented and published
the results of his research at the annual meeting of the American Association
of Swine Veterinarians. One year into his Masters degree, Kevin decided to pursue
a veterinary degree at the same time.
Since graduation from OVC, Kevin has worked
with Kirkton Veterinary Clinic, Maitland Veterinary PC in Listowel and Linwood
Veterinary services. He is currently one of 9 swine veterinarians and a partner
at South West Ontario Veterinary Services; an amalgamation of 5 veterinary practices
that formed in 2010. He is a member of the Canadian Veterinary Reserve, has
been a director of the Ontario Association of Swine Veterinarians (OASV) and
directly involved with OSHAB just to mention a few. He loves the outdoors, fishing
and hunting
Marvin Wastell, GroMaster
Dr. Wastell was raised on a general livestock farm in Southeastern South Dakota.
He received his B.S. and M.S in Animal Science from South Dakota State University
and his Ph. D in Animal Nutrition from Iowa State University.
Dr. Wastell worked
as a Swine Research Specialist for Central Soya at Decatur Indiana; Director
of Nutrition for Farm Bureau Services, Lansing, Michigan; Animal Nutritionist
for Carl S Akey, Lewisburg, Ohio; Animal Nutritionist and shareholder for Farmington
Feed and Supply and shareholder and management in a 500 sow farrow to finish
operation. In 1982, Dr. Wastell was one of the original founders of Gro Master.
Inc.(initially a feed company and later a livestock equipment company). Gro
Master markets the Crystal Spring line of equipment throughout the United States,
Mexico, South America, England and the Netherlands. Gro Master also markets
other lines of swine equipment, one of which is the Pro Sort System for large
pens. Gro Master has been involved with research and marketing the large pen
auto sort system since 2002. The Pro Sort System has been marketed and sold
in Canada, USA, Mexico, Argentina, England and the Netherlands.
Greg Wideman, South West Ontario Veterinary Services
(SWOVS)
Greg is a partner in a swine-only veterinary practice founded in 2010
(SWOVS). His professional interests include on-farm clinical research,
disease surveillance and control, and production analysis. Greg received
his BSc from the University of Waterloo in 1998 and DVM degree from
the University of Guelph in 2003. Greg and his family live in Stratford,
Ontario.
Kilby Willenburg, ReproQuest
Kilby was born and raised in Central Illinois on family farm that produced corn
and soybeans and a farrow to finish swine operation. Currently he is VP of Research
and Development at Reproquest, Inc. His research interests include understanding
the factors responsible for male infertility and semen preservation. He completed
his B.S. in Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois in 1999. He then earned
his M.S. in Reproductive Physiology at the University of Illinois under Dr.
Rob Knox in 2002. In 2008 he graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison
with a doctorate in Reproductive Physiology under the guidance of Dr. John Parrish.
Mark Wilson, Zinpro Corp.
A native of Iowa, Mark grew up on a farm. He has spent 11 years as a Professor
at University of Minnesota, 10 years in the feed industry and 7 years as vice
president in the reproduction industry. Mark is part of the research and nutritional
services team at Zinpro Corporation and is also an adjunct Professor at the
University of Wisconsin and University of Minnesota. He holds a Ph.D. and Masters
from the University of Kentucky and a BS degree from Iowa State University.
He is a frequent speaker at symposiums and scientific meetings nationally and
internationally.
Drew Woods, Shur-Gain/Nutreco
Drew is a Swine Nutritionist. He attended the University of Guelph where he
received his BSc. in Animal Science and his MSc. in Animal Nutrition. Drew works
on all aspects of swine nutrition but has a keen interest in liquid feeding
and the associated use of dry and liquid co-products from the human food and
ethanol industries. Drew works closely with colleagues around the globe to further
his knowledge of co-product usage.
Frank Wood, Conestoga Meat Packers
Frank Wood has been the Procurement Manager at Conestoga Meat Packers Ltd. for
9 years. His position includes member support, logistics, continuous improvement
initiatives and purchasing. Frank attained a diploma in Agricultural Business
from the University of Guelph in 1990. After graduation he worked at Ontario
Pork for ten years. He held several positions there including logistics and
field support for producers.
Malachy Young, Gowan's Feed Consulting
Joined Gowan's Feed Consulting (GFC) in March of 2004 and became a partner in
the business in 2006. He works with a team of nutritionists and business personnel
at GFC to implement the latest nutrition and production technologies for producers
to maximize profitability. Malachy currently oversees the nutrition and research
program for the company.
Michael Young, Canada Pork International
Michael has worked in the Canadian red meat industry over 30 years. He
specializes in pork and beef processing, fabrication, merchandising, market
development and sales building initiatives within the wholesale, retail
and food service channels serving domestic and export markets.
Prior to
joining Canada Pork International in 2007, Young served as Vice President,
International Programs for Canada Beef Export Federation and held senior
management positions with the Beef Information Centre, Sunterra Meats
and Alberta Pork Producers Development Corporation. Young learned mixed
species primary processing, fabrication and sausage making skills in the
seventies, became a journeyman retail meat cutter in 1981, attained marketing
credentials from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in 1989
and received Master Cutter Certification from the Canadian Professional
Meat Cutters Association in 1993. In his professional career Young has
conducted over 300 cutting and merchandising seminars and training sessions
to promote Canadian pork and beef around the world.
Michael and his wife
Karla reside in Sooke, British Columbia, Canada and have four children.
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