Looking for a reliable place to find all information related to pigs, pork and hog production?

eXtension has a solution. It has just launched the “Hogs, Pigs and Pork” resource area at http://www.extension.org/swine. This vast online library offers material on:

• Production and management systems,

• Business management, marketing and human resources,

• Swine health and nutrition;

• Animal behavior and welfare issues;

• Breeding, genetics and reproduction;

• Facilities and equipment;

• Environmental stewardship;

• Pork quality;

• Pork safety;

• Youth projects;

• Statistics;

• Worker health and safety;

• Niche production;

• Consumer issues.

The site has research-based information for pork producers, veterinarians, agribusiness professionals, educators, students, consumers of pork — and anyone with an interest in hogs, pigs and pork. eXtension (pronounced e-extension), a part of Cooperative Extension, is an interactive learning environment delivering researched knowledge from land-grant university researchers and educators across the U.S. eXtension connects people seeking information with the experts who know their subject matter inside out.

Wealth of information

David Meisinger, The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence (USPCE) executive director and leader of the swine information on eXtension, says the “Hogs, Pigs and Pork” resource area provides a wealth of information valuable to many from the producer with a thousand head of hogs and the veterinarian treating pigs on the farm to the parent concerned about the quality of pork for family meals.

“The information on eXtension is just a fabulous resource for anyone remotely interested in hogs, pork and the areas it touches. That includes everything from manure and odor management and care for the environment to pork quality and nutrition,” Meisinger continues.

Todd See, professor of animal science at North Carolina State University and lead editor for the “Hogs, Pigs and Pork” site agrees. “This is material that was written by top-notch researchers at some of the major state ag universities. Producers should know it’s all science-based and reliable. Producers can use the information in their day-to-day operations. On top of that, the information is peer-reviewed by equally competent researchers. Producers can add this Web site to their artillery of resources.”

The “Hogs, Pigs and Pork” community of practice receives the majority of its information from the Pork Information Gateway (PIG) Web site http://www.porkgateway.org, which is managed by the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence. The Pork Information Gateway also contains information produced by researchers at many of the state agricultural universities. Visit the “Hogs & Pigs” resource on eXtension.org at http://www.extension.org/swine.

eXtension is an educational resource designed to provide you and others in your community with skills and knowledge that help you grow and empower you to improve your quality of life. You can trust eXtension to take the best university-based research and turn it into hands-on programs and practical information you can use to solve today’s problems and develop skills to build a better future.