What Are The True Costs?
Cookie Cutter nutrition tries to tell us that all diets are the same --- or that there is little difference between them.
- They accept the industry standards --- and the problems that go with them --- that are based on similar dietary technology. An example is high culling rates in sow herds. According to cookie cutter nutrition, you should accept these high rates because they are the standard in the industry.
- They expect little or no dietary innovation. Accepting cookie cutter nutrition means technology changes come slowly, usually through universities or experiment stations. Once the standards are deemed acceptable, there's little motivation for change.
- They pay the price with higher herd health costs. Problems associated with cookie cutter nutrition are managed and accounted for through areas other than true diet costs. Losses caused by cookie cutter nutrition are not associated with poor diet, but are accounted for by non-dietary criteria such as death losses, genetic costs, non-productive sow days, drug and higher yardage costs.
Michael Wenning
Michael L. Wenning,
President
Summary of Qualifications:
- President of Suidae Technology, Inc.;
co-founder of the company in 1983. - More than twenty-five years professional experience in practical building designs and ventilation engineering.
- Developed the TVS-2000 Total Ventilation Solution system for the express purpose of controlling Effective Environmental Temperature in swine housing.
- Helped develop computer models that integrate farm-specific biological data into financial models. These models can be used to predict the financial health, financial efficiency, and financial performance of any type of farm enterprise.
- B.S. and M.S. degrees in Agricultural Engineering from Purdue University.
As Suidae Technology's president, Mike's goals are to help farm managers improve biological performance and reduce common problems associated with raising pigs while improving financial performance and stability.
Mike understands that improving performance and reducing problems requires a coordinated effort among the production manager, veterinarian, nutritionist, and ventilation engineer to be successful. Therefore, he is active in promoting the design of nurseries and finishing buildings, which utilize "animal friendly" total mechanical ventilation technology.
Jim and Mike Waiting on the Wine
Mike's TVS-2000 Total Ventilation Solution system, which controls Effective Environmental Temperature in swine housing, optimizes animal performance with reduced reliance on antibiotics. Successful units are operating throughout the Midwest.
Mike is active in making producers worldwide aware of the concepts of Effective Environmental Temperature and its relationship to disease and productivity. He has presented seminars throughout the Midwest on practical applications of the science of environment and its effect on the biological performance of all phases of swine production and consulted on this topic in much of North and South America. Mike authored a chapter on ventilation for Alltech's book, "Biotechnology in the Feed Industry."
Mike: The Early Years
The computer models Mike helped develop can be used to predict the financial health, financial efficiency, and financial performance of any type of farm enterprise. The information can be useful when:
- providing information to lenders
- deciding about possible expansion plans
- evaluating the relative contributions from each of any number of various farm enterprises such as corn, soybeans, swine, beef, poultry, dairy, etc.
- calculating break evens for the purpose of setting up a marketing plan
Five-year budget plans may also be created and evaluated using the financial performance model.
And yes, Mike believes that it can and should be fun to raise hogs again!
Fred Madsen
Fred Madsen, Ph. D.
Nutritionist
Summary of Qualifications:
- More than 28 years of experience in animal nutrition research and product development. He has nearly 18 years experience in formulating swine diets.
- B.S. in Chemistry from Austin Peay State University; M.S. in Nutrition and Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition - Physiology from the University of Tennessee.
- Published more than 100 scientific papers in such journals as Experimental Biology and Medicine, Journal of Animal Science, Journal of Diary Science and Nutrition Reports International.
- Authored and co-authored several book chapters, including "The Trace Elements" in D. C. Church's The Ruminant Animal - Digestive Physiology and Nutrition, 1988, and "Trace Elements" in H. H. Horn & C. J. Wilcox, Large Herd Dairy Management, 1992.
- A frequent contributor to several agricultural magazines, including Feedstuffs.
Dr. Fred Madsen served in the armed forces before entering graduate school at the University of Tennessee. After receiving his PhD he worked for the Atomic Energy Commission conducting basic research in metal metabolism and endocrinology. Several papers on the relationship between dietary metals and insulin metabolism were published as a result of this research. He became a full member of the American Institute of Nutrition before the age of 30.
Fred Working in the Field
Fred later worked for Syntex Corporation and ConAgra. During his tenure with ConAgra he learned the art of animal nutrition and developed several profitable feeding programs in the process. Some of his diets and programs were new innovations to the feed industry. While at ConAgra, Fred worked with several species of animals including horses, dairy cows, poultry, pets, and ruminant as well as non-ruminant type zoo animals.
Since joining Suidae Technology he has devoted his time to the development of unique diets for swine, while still searching for new ingredients to be used in the feed industry.
Fred is also heavily involved with education as well as the development of transition metal complexes and plant compounds used by other animal nutritionists. His consulting has taken him to Europe, Puerto Rico, California, Australia, Mexico, China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. He consults on a variety of subjects to several large U.S. and European corporations.
Jim Mager
James E. Mager
Regional Systems Manager
Summary of Qualifications:
- Over 20 years of experience in the swine industry
- International and commercial expertise in breeding stock selection
- Field service and supervisory field experience
- Genetic consultant
- B.S in Animal Science and Agricultural Education from the University of Nebraska
Before joining Suidae Technology in 1998, Jim worked as a field consultant and supervisor for the Nebraska SPF Swine Accrediting Agency. His responsibilities included collecting farm data for evaluation purposes, breeding stock selection, and developing marketing program for seedstock producers.
At Suidae Technology, Jim assists with new business development, producer networking, genetic consulting, and production systems management.
Jim is a graduate of the Swine Artificial Insemination School. He is a certified Ultrasound Scanner by the National Swine Improvement Federation and a member of several agricultural and livestock organizations.
Lyle Dorjahn
Lyle Dorjahn
Summary of Qualifications:
Over 20 years of experience in the swine industry
- Experience working with all breeds of swine and applying those genetics in both commercial and show ring situations
- Has bred, raised, and sold winning swine show stock nationwide
- Experienced in all aspects of artificial insemination
- International and commercial breeding stock selection expertise
Before joining Suidae Technology, Lyle had been breeding and merchandising show stock from his herd in Illinois. Prior to that he managed the SPF breeding herd for Ivan Miller & Sons in Nokomis, IL and later was Commercial Sales Director at Prairie State Semen Supply in Champaign, IL. He has also worked with Ag World Exports, assisting in genetic selections for overseas export.
Lyle brings a broad spectrum of practical production knowledge to Suidae Technology, from consulting with commercial units to prepping show pigs for sales and shows.
A member of several purebred swine associations, Lyle also serves as president of his local county fair and also serves as an advisor for youth agriculture activities. He has judged youth swine shows nationwide.
History of Suidae Technology Inc.
Maurice Hannon
Maurice Hannon and Mike Wenning founded Suidae Technology, then called Pacer Feeds, in early 1983. Dr. Fred Madsen worked with Pacer Feeds as a nutritional consultant. The emphasis was on providing performance nutrition products that would enable producers to get more pigs out the door with fewer problems. Major areas of business were in Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, and Nebraska.
Maurice was very knowledgeable about swine genetics and production management, which helped producers improve their genetic selections and purchase higher quality boars and gilts while honing their management skills. Mike was trained at Purdue University with a Master's degree in engineering, and worked with customers on improving air quality and comfort level of the pigs through ventilation and building design changes.
In 1988, Fred joined Pacer Feeds as a full partner and began working full time to create unique diets to improve production levels, enhance natural immunity, and reduce common swine operation problems.
The company's name was changed in 1988 to Suidae Technology to more accurately reflect the diverse services we offer. Suidae is Latin for "Family of Swine." Our focus is providing technology through products and services to solve problems at the farm level.
Dr. Madsen giving a Presentation
In July of 1998, Maurice retired and moved to New York with his wife. Mike and Fred became the sole owners of Suidae. Through the support of our many loyal customers, the business has continued to grow and flourish and expand its customer base to twelve states. We have access to Financial Services including Risk Management and Networking Services to assist customers in these important areas.
The diet technology is being continually updated and improved to give our customers a competitive advantage and keep them at the forefront of the swine industry.