What Drives Mortality in Grow-Finish Pigs | Dr. Daniel Linhares and Dr. Edison Magalhaes

About the Guests Daniel Linhares, DVM, MBA, PhD –  Professor & Director of Graduate Education at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Worked for 8 years as a practicing veterinarian, technical services, and health assurance; now he is dedicated to training MSc and PhD students as part of the ISU fieldepi team, working with swine producers and health professionals in the US and abroad. Edison Magalhães, DVM, MBA, MSc, PhD  – Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. Dr. Edison Magalhaes previously worked for four years in the Brazilian swine industry as a swine veterinarian practitioner. He then pursued his Master’s and PhD in Swine Epidemiology at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Currently, Dr. Magalhaes leads the SwinalytIQ Lab, a multidisciplinary team composed of undergraduate and graduate students from veterinary medicine, animal science, data science, and computer engineering. His program focuses on research and extension that supports the U.S. and global swine industries by developing data-driven approaches to improve health, productivity, and decision-making, helping producers better utilize their production data. What can you expect to learn from this episode of Popular Pig? You will learn how most grow-finish mortality ties back to conditions and performance in the sow farm. You will learn how integrating siloed data reveals connections between health, environment, and production outcomes. You will learn why weaning age, variation within groups, and early health challenges influence downstream performance. You will learn how barn setup, environment, and basic husbandry practices impact pig survivability early on. You will learn how gilt development and sow farm management set the ceiling for overall system productivity.