Podcast: A global perspective of the swine industry

The Real P3 podcast series is an initiative where pork professionals from around the world are interviewed about challenges and solutions in their day-to-day work. In this episode, Dr Casey Bradley speaks to Zhaohui “Edward” Yang, currently a PhD student at the University of Minnesota studying swine nutrition and business management.

From Guangdong, China, Yang’s parents were working at a university farm when he was born, and his dad, a university professor, worked in various roles in the pork and feed industries. At 18, he moved to the US at a time when his family owned a 500-sow farrow-to-finish operation, which they subsequently sold due to the sluggish pork market and continuous challenges with heat stress.

After receiving his BSc degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2016, he went to the University of Minnesota for a MS degree studying the alternative feed ingredients, and in 2018 began his PhD. He is also working toward his business degree.

Understanding the pork business

“You need to understand the pork business before you own a farm,” Yang says. He talks about the importance of narrowing the gap between research and application, and better your business skills to be successful. He highlights marketing, stressing the need to understand customers, and shares his thoughts on “finding your own sweet spot” and remaining competitive. He offers his advice to those in the pork business to remain profitable.

Dr Casey Bradley discusses his insights on Chinese companies moving to Africa to produce pork there, and what he believes are the limitations to pork production globally, emphasizing that one size does not fit all, and each individual country and continent has its own set of unique circumstances. She also speaks to him about the role of nutrition, both now and in the future, as well as the important issue of sustainability.

In the previous weeks, Pig Progress published earlier episodes of the Real P3 podcast series:

• The prologue of the podcast series;
• Episode 1: Mihaela Angheluta, Denmark;
• Episode 2: Christine Snowden, Ohio, United States;
• Episode 3: Johan Odendall, Zimbabwe;
• Episode 4: James Lamb, North Carolina, United States;
• Episode 5: Dr Wayne Johnson, China;
• Episode 6: Colin Twomey, Ireland;
• Episode 7: Paul Faris, United States;
• Episode 8: A recap of 2020;
• Episode 9: Angie Krieger, United States;
• Episode 10: Henry Silva, United States;
• Episode 11: Shannon Dierking, United States;
• Episode 12: Sanne Baden, Denmark;
• Episode 13: Brian Strobel, United States;
• Episode 14: Nii Odoi, Ghana;
• Episode 15: Pieter Beerens, the Netherlands;
• Episode 16: Steven Payne, South Africa;
• Episode 17, part 1: Caroline Gonzalez-Vega, USA;
• Episode 17, part 2: Jim Smith, USA;
• Episode 17, part 3: Ana Lucia Pozzobon de Souza, USA.