SowBridge

SowBridge is a webinar series for those who manage or care for sows, their litters, or boars, including farm owners, employees, technicians, managers, and technical service providers. Participants receive relevant and accurate information from university and industry experts.

How does SowBridge work?

Register in January for a year of monthly SowBridge webinars. 

Live webinars are delivered on Zoom with recordings available online for 6 months after the webinar. Before each webinar, subscribers will receive an email with links to participate and download any materials for the given webinar.

Webinars generally take place on the first Wednesday of the month from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Central Time.

2026 SowBridge webinar dates, topics, and speakers

• February 4: The role of specialized people in reducing sow mortality, Carlos Roudergue, Country View Family Farms
• March 4: New World Screwworm: What to look for, Sonja Swiger and Phillip Kaufman, Texas A & M University
• April 1: Managing large litters, Abigail Jenkins, Tosh Farms 
• May 6: When to process piglets in relation to survival, Chris Puls, United Animal Health
• May 27: Gilt feeding strategies to enhance longevity and productivity, Tyler Niblet, Texas Tech University
• July 1: Water quality, biofilms, and water line management, Gabi Doughan, Iowa State University
• August 5: What are cull sow buyers looking for? Hayden Parks, The Parks Companies
• September 2: On-farm semen management, Kara Stewart, Smithfield
• October 7: What’s the latest PRRS research, Daniel Linhares, Iowa State University
• November 4: Fixed time AI with gilts, Rob Knox, University of Illinois
• December 2: Satisfaction and stress factors of barn employees, Mag Lopez, University of Missouri
• January 6, 2027: Anemia’s impact on sow removal, Rafe Royall, South Dakota State University

Register for 2026

Registration for the 2026 program year is open and includes 12 monthly Zoom webinars, running from February 4, 2025, to January 6, 2027. The registration deadline is January 15, 2026, to ensure materials are received for February’s webinar.

The cost for the series is $200 for the first registration from a farm entity and half the amount for each subsequent registration from the same farm entity. Registration is through Iowa State University.

Questions?

Sarah Schieck Boelke, Extension educator
[email protected] or 320-235-0726 ext. 2004

Lee J. Johnston, Extension swine specialist
[email protected] or 320-589-1711 ext. 2117

Participating universities

SowBridge is provided through a cooperative effort of these colleges and universities from the nation’s major swine-producing states and coordinated through the University of Minnesota and Iowa State University:

Casper College (Wyoming), Iowa State University, Kansas State University, North Carolina State University, North Dakota State University, Purdue University, South Dakota State University, Texas A&M University, The Ohio State University, University of Illinois, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri, and University of Nebraska–Lincoln