The swine program at Iowa State University reflects in size and quality, the importance of pork production to the state. Sixty-two individuals with at least a portion of their time devoted to swine are spread across four departments: Animal Science; Agriculture and Bioresource Engineering; Economics; and Veterinary Diagnostics and Production Animal Medicine. This is one of the largest concentrations of swine expertise in the world.
The swine program in the Department of Animal Science encompasses research and teaching programs in behavior, breeding and genetics, meat science, microbiology, nutrition, reproductive and general physiology. Swine faculty in the department are nationally and internationally recognized for the quality of their research, their contribution to the pork industry, their commitment to teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate level and to extension.
Developing new knowledge for the pork industry is an important role for faculty in the Department, but communicating results of this research to the pork industry is also a priority. The Iowa Pork Industry Center has its own staff and suite of offices dedicated to swine extension.
Support staff play a vital role in everything from administration to animal care and from laboratory and data analysis to meat processing.
Graduate students come from across the United States and around the world to study in the above mentioned disciplines. Iowa really is the heart of American pork production and ranks among the largest pork producing regions in the world. As a result, the environment at Iowa State University has a strong swine industry flavor, and makes it an ideal place to undertake graduate training.