Swine Genetics Management Ron Bates It is my good fortune to be able to provide a monthly contribution for the FARMS.COM web site. For those of you I have not had the opportunity to meet, I am one of two State Swine Specialists at Michigan State University. My program area is Swine Genetics Management and I have been at MSU since August, 1996. I received my B.S. degree in Animal Husbandry at Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture, Doylestown, PA in 1981. I earned my M.S. in Animal Science and Ph.D in Animal Breeding from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK. After leaving OSU, I was on the faculty at the University of Missouri from 1986 to 1994 as State Swine Breeding Extension Specialist. In January, 1995 I joined Osborne Industries Inc. Osborne, KS as Technical Director. In 1996 I had the opportunity to join the faculty as State Swine Specialist at Michigan State University.
My educational programs have concentrated primarily in the area of breeding systems for both seedstock and commercial pork producers. I have written extensively over my career on commercial breeding programs and was fortunate to speak last fall at the Midwestern Pork Conference on Closed Breeding Systems for Commercial Pork Producers. I also am a member of the National Swine Registry's Genetic Advisory Committee. This committee provides oversight for the genetic evaluation program for NSR members. I also interact with private breeding organizations and their staff. My research interests over the last several years have focused on two primary areas. The first has been the evaluation of novel terminal breeds within U.S. pork production. We have evaluated stress negative Pietrain sired progeny with Duroc sired progeny for growth, carcass merit and meat quality. In addition we are determining DNA markers that associate with growth, composition and meat quality traits and we will further refine those markers so they can be incorporated into breeding programs. In addition, I have also been able to also publish work on management issues regarding needle teeth clipping of new born pigs, using P.G. 600TM in sows and electronic sow feeding in group housed gestating and lactating sows. We are also completing research on what developmental effects impact sow longevity. For this monthly article I will cover topics regarding swine genetics relevant to issues facing pork producers and will rely on known fact or recently published data. I would ask that those of you who use this web site feel free to suggest topic ideas or ask questions that are pertinent to your farm business. To contact me use my email address; batesr@msu.edu. I will answer questions within the monthly article provided on FARMS.COM. Topic suggestions will become apart of the monthly article also. I do ask that your questions not inquire about direct comparison of seedstock providers in which data do not exist. I will not be able to answer questions like, "What seedstock company is better A or B?". The answers to these types of questions are difficult to verify with side-by-side unbiased comparisons and the seedstock choice that works on one farm may not work on another. I do look forward to communicating with you and hope that we can provide you with information that is meaningful to your farm business. 
State Swine Specialist
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824