“Vets should stand between swine industry and public”
Pig vets of the future will nothing be like the ones who brought the science to the levels it is today. At the 2025 general meeting of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, the Dr Alex Hogg Memorial Lecture provided an interesting glimpse into who will be the swine vets of the future in the USA – and what role(s) they should play. The lecture contained lessons for the wider pig industry all over the planet.
To determine the demographics of future swine veterinarians in the US, it is good to look at information regarding the populations already in, and those applying to veterinarian schools. In the USA, in 1987 female students outnumbered male students for the first time.
That trend has continued. In 2023, the percentage of female students was 83.2%. This trend is likely to continue as only 13% of veterinary school applicants were male in 2023. This shift is noticeable in the teaching staff as well. Over 50% of research faculty, and over 60% of clinical faculty were women as of 2023.
Not only has there been a shift in gender, but also in racial and ethnic representation. In 1980, less than 5% of veterinary students were from underrepresented groups. That number grew to 25% in 2023. These changes are making their way from schools and into the veterinary profession.
Another shift is the generational shift. Generation Z, the generation born from 1996 to 2010, overtook boomers in the general workforce in 2024. The veterinary industry will follow this trend. In the past, the majority of veterinarians acting as the champion of the pigs have been white, male and either of the baby boomer generation or Generation X. The future champions will be more diverse, more female, and will be represented by the millennial and Generation Z. This represents a major change for the pig veterinary industry.
Is the swine veterinary industry to adapt to welcome this drastically different veterinarian?
Welcoming a new generation
This change is coming. Is the swine veterinary industry to adapt to welcome this drastically different veterinarian? The mostly white, male, baby boomer and Generation X veterinarians grew and shaped the US industry over their careers. The truth, however, is that they are not the future of this industry anymore. The future swine veterinarians are vastly different and will need the opportunity to adapt and change the industry to meet their needs. This change needs to come sooner rather than later for the health of the veterinary industry.
In 2024, Dr Chris Rademacher of Iowa State University shared a disturbing trend of veterinarians leaving the US swine veterinary industry. His team looked at veterinarians leaving swine medicine entirely. He reported that those who are leaving are young. They report travel, work life balance and an inability to “disconnect” from work as reasons for leaving. Other factors he reported included the solitary nature of the job, lack of advancement opportunities and gender-related challenges. Interestingly, only four out of eleven reported incomes as a significant reason for leaving.
Dr Rademacher also looked at those leaving practice but remaining in the swine industry. They tended to be older veterinarians with more than ten years of experience.
The industry today was not built or shaped by the next generation of veterinarians, and so unsurprisingly, it does not meet their needs. He identified some key concerns. The next generation vets place high value in the ability to disconnect. They place significant value on their life outside of their jobs and expect to be able to maintain both within balance. Again, the theme of too much road time, too much to do, and no way to disconnect came up repeatedly. Unfortunately, in personal correspondence, gender related challenges were also brought up by nearly every female practitioner I talked to.
Changes to the pig veterinary profession will be needed if the industry wishes to maintain and recruit this next generation of veterinarians.
Long term changes
The small animal industry is much further into this effort. They have made investments in emergency practices and hotlines which manage calls and cases outside of business hours. They have also developed significant relief veterinarian infrastructure. These changes have allowed small animal veterinarians to invest in their lives outside of veterinary medicine, while still caring for the needs of their clients. If the next generation wants the same opportunities to lead in the swine industry, then the client’s needs cannot be missed in the pursuit of work-life balance. Needed is a way forward that maintains both.
Second, the ability for small animal veterinarians to disconnect has not come without a price. The small animal industry has made a drastic shift away from veterinary owned practices. Small animal vets are finding better work-life balance, but it is at the cost of ownership and control. Something to consider carefully.
One change that may be an easier step towards balance would be telemedicine. Telemedicine may be a tool to drastically reduce travel time, which has been cited as a concern for those leaving the industry. There are certainly challenges that need to be overcome, but there is reason to pursue the opportunities in telemedicine further.
Another step that would take careful consideration but could have large payouts is the utilisation of veterinary technicians. This is not a suggestion towards the idea of a mid-level practitioner, but of a highly trained, limited-in-scope technician. Small animal veterinarians utilise well trained technicians to allow them to focus their time more appropriately. Could swine veterinary technicians do the same for swine veterinarians? These ideas need effort to develop and deploy.
Short term changes
Artificial intelligence is moving and adapting quickly. Attention should be paid to finding and testing technologies that support a reduction in hours, in travel and on-call time. According to the US bureau of labour statistics, in 2023, 67% of families with children 18 and under reported both parents working.
This is a change from the past and has made finding and securing high quality childcare a nationwide challenge. The veterinary industry in the US makes this even more difficult because typical working hours do not match most childcare hours. A simple shift in farm and clinic schedules could reduce the challenge of childcare for the veterinarians of the future.
Although pay was not a major concern presented by Dr Rademacher, a pay gap does exist for most age groups in this industry. The excellent news for our industry is that this gap completely disappears for practitioners 30 years of age and younger. If the goal is to recruit and maintain the next generation of veterinarians, the industry should equally value the work of female practitioners.
Last but not least: leadership. One of the best ways to shape the pig industry to fit the next generation, is to give leadership of the industry to the next generation. My challenge for the older generation is to evaluate how they are transitioning leadership. What young veterinarians on the teams are ready for leadership? If they are not ready, what role can vets play in developing and coaching them?
My challenge to the younger generation is to not leave. They should stay in this profession and be a part of the change they want to see happen. They should engage in these conversations and bring forward solutions. They should be ready to step up and lead.
The production focused approach of our industry is no longer a relevant approach for the modern consumer
What does it mean to be the pig’s champion?
The next question becomes, who gets to influence veterinarians regarding what it means to be the champions of pigs? The question that needs further discussion is regarding the pork consumer. Do they get to play a role? Do they get to influence what it looks like to be the pig’s champion?
Unfortunately, millennials and Generation Z are hugely different generations. The old playbook is not working to increase pork consumption in these individuals. The US National Pork Board recently completed a large market study to understand and segment pork consumers. Their work has shown a significant drop in pork consumption year over year.
The drop in consumption falls along generation lines with millennials consuming significantly less pork compared to baby boomers. Even more concerning, the consumption drops even further when comparing Generation Z to millennials. The production focused approach of our industry is no longer a relevant approach for the modern consumer.
Instead, the pig industry must make a shift to a consumer centred industry. The industry needs to shift to focus on the needs and wants of consumers. The industry will not thrive if it cannot win over the millennial and Generation Z consumers. At the exact same time, I am aware that consumers have no idea how food is produced in the United States. They are in no way qualified to determine how pigs are raised. So how to move forward with both things being true?
What the swine industry needs are intelligent, highly educated professionals, with experience and expertise that can stand in this gap. Needed are swine veterinarians.
Social media: Rubber mats
I have been in a unique position within our industry now for several years because of social media. I post videos highlighting the way we raise pigs in the US. Although I do not get feedback from consumers necessarily, I do get feedback from the public on a regular basis.
These comments have helped me to understand how little the public truly knows about how food is produced. These comments have also taught me that despite their lack of knowledge or legitimate understanding, the public can still play a role in helping me as a veterinarian to improve animal welfare.
I grew up in the swine industry, so raising sows on concrete seemed very normal and unproblematic to me. Then I posted to social media and experienced many comments regarding the viewers’ concerns for pig comfort when being raised on concrete.
Because of the constant comments, I became more aware of stiff sows and sows looking painful when standing up as I was filming for videos. I also struggled with how to respond to some of the direct comments regarding sow lameness. I could not reply that lameness is not an issue in our industry with it being in the top 3 causes of death loss on most sow farms.
I found myself in a gap. The public was pointing out a problem, sow discomfort and lameness on concrete, for which I did not have a solution. This led to me working with rubber flooring and eventually installing it in a barn for a pilot project (see picture). The project was a success, which led to Pipestone, a rubber flooring company and three different universities working together to apply for a pork board grant. That grant was funded, and the project started collecting data on rubber flooring in November of 2024.
This rubber flooring project is a fitting example of finding a potential solution that may improve the experience of the pig, may improve health and production on farm, and may improve the public perception of how pigs are raised. If this project works out, it is a win for pigs, producers and consumers.
Social media: Production numbers
Another comment I receive all the time is that pig farmers and veterinarians only care about production numbers and finances, and they do not actually care about pigs. This is false. However, this did start me thinking about the sorts of reports I look at on a regular basis: multi-page production and financial reports every single week. They identify concerns and set goals to improve on the metrics measured.
The industry historically has not looked at pig care or welfare metrics in the same way. Veterinarians will not drive continuous improvement if those metrics do not get measured. So, together with the Pipestone Data Management Team, I started to measure and report welfare metrics. Our report looks at care for lame sows measured by the number of treatments and treatment success rates. We look at care for farrowing sows, again, measured by number of treatments and treatment success rates. We also look at a variety of other treatment-related metrics which help to at least start to measure pig care and welfare in a quantitative way. Now that the report is in the packet, it is a part of the discussion. A solution that is good for pig outcomes, production and public perception of the veterinary industry.
Social media: Castration and tail docking
It was the public that brought to my attention how much we need a solution to the pain at castration and tail docking problem. I knew this was an issue with no clear and easy solution, and so it was easy to ignore until I started posting on social media. A comment I get on a regular basis is this “She says she cares about pigs, but off camera she is going to cut off their tails and tear their testicles out without anaesthesia.” The people posting have no concept of the amount of labour involved with picking pigs up a second time. They are not able to understand the nuance and challenge of this issue.
Those things are true. At the same time, it is also true that they are not wrong. It does not make sense to say that I do care about pigs and at the same time support castration and tail cutting without anaesthesia. Being on social media helped me to see the issue of pain control at castration in an entirely different light. I have again found myself in the gap.
Prop 12 as an example
If we do not stand in the gap, then others will. Prop 12 is an example of what this looks like. Vets were in the trenches focusing on health and disease elimination. The voters in California were focused on freedom of movement for the sows. No one stood in the gap to bring solutions forward that would work for both the producers, the pigs and the people of California. So, the people of California wrote the solution.
The industry should not have to wait for the next Prop 12. Veterinarians are the people who can and should develop, evaluate and roll out solutions that work for producers, pigs, and the people of California. The industry needs to make this a priority, to find a way to prioritise development of pig, producer and public focused solutions.
It will be a shame if pig veterinary expertise sits by the wayside while the unqualified public writes the guidelines on pig production. The swine industry needs the vet’s expertise, experience and ability to solve complex problems. Veterinarians can and should stand in the gap.
