Dr. Brad Freking: Pig Business and COVID-19 | Ep. 47

“[To survive major economic challenges], in my mind, producers should have about $100 per pig marketed annually of working capital capacity. If things get really bad, and I lose $50 per pig for 2 years, we will be OK." – Dr. Brad FrekingWhat you will learn:- Thoughts on WHO’s asymptomatic, presymptomatic COVID-19 cases;- How fast are the packing plants recovering and product mix change?- What swine professionals sometimes misunderstand about packing plants;- Handling economic challenges as a pig business and on having cash reserves;- Biggest challenges on mid/long-term for the industry;- Why now is the best time to get herd immunity to COVID-19;- Internal research results: share with others or keep it with you?- Thoughts on people, processes and systems: why our managers have a profit & loss statement;- Why the quest for the best feed efficiency from a nutrition standpoint does not make sense;- Pigs/Sow/Year vs. quality pigs delivered to the nursery.Brad’s favorite swine-related book: Diseases of SwineBrad’s favorite book in general: Peter Zeihan’s booksOur guest is Dr. Brad Freking. Dr. Freking is the CEO and Owner at New Fashion Pork, received his BS on Animal Sciences from South Dakota State University, and Doctorate on Veterinary Medicine from the University of Minnesota.This episode was published by Lauro Faccin.