Swine Symposium: Environmental concerns based on swine production1

Environmental issues have expanded to the forefront of livestock production systems. Air and water quality, human health concerns, and pathogens associated with manure are important issues being examined in swine production systems. In addition, methodologies to reduce or eliminate these issues have become important avenues of scientific research. These topics were the focus of the Swine Symposium on Environmental Concerns Based on Swine Production held at the joint annual meeting of the American Society of Animal Science, American Dairy Science Association, and the Canadian Society of Animal Science in Montréal, Québec, Canada, July 12 to 16, 2009. An introduction to the symposium, provided by D. J. Meisinger, executive director of the US Pork Center of Excellence (USPCE) located in Ames, Iowa, summarized 2 invitational workshops designed to develop research and extension needs in air and water quality (Meisinger, 2009). Discussions among experts at these workshops, hosted by the USPCE and the Environmental Committee of the National Pork Board (Des Moines, IA), resulted in the identification of producer materials that should be developed based on available research, a recommended list for development of producer educational and informational materials based on available research, identification of research efforts needed to fill gaps in information, and a recommended priority list for identified research needs (USPCE, 2009).