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Chevy’s Finch speaks fluent truck, helped create Duramax engine

Praises farmers as ‘the people who are feeding the world’

By Farms.com Media Team

If you stop by the Chevrolet Commercial Vehicles exhibit at the National Farm Equipment Show, you might be very lucky and run into a 71-year-old team member from Milford, Michigan who you might describe as razor sharp, a true gentleman, but who knows he could still win an arm-wrestle with anyone else in the building.

Mike Finch has been retired for 17 years now, but Chevy still wants him at the trade shows. He says it’s because he speaks “fluent in trucks.” But there’s more to the story. Or the other Chevy staff would not refer to him at times as “the legend.”

Finch was there at the very beginning of the Chevy Duramax diesel engine. As in, there was literally a blank sheet of paper. Which eventually became the Duramax, described by Truck Trend as “the first high-pressure common-rail, direct-injection powerplant to hit the U.S. vehicle market.

“The original Duramax was a vast improvement over GM’s previous indirect-injection diesel, and it beat both Dodge and Ford to the punch when it debuted for the ’01 year.”

Finch of course has some interesting stories about the development of the Duramax, including the collaboration between GM and Isuzu (DMAX) and the insistence that the production be located in Moraine, Ohio.

Finch, who was also involved in the development of Chevy’s 4500 and 5500 medium-duty truck lines, today lives very close to the General Motors Milford Proving Ground, which was the industry’s first dedicated automobile testing facility when it opened in 1924.

And he always enjoys his time at the farm show in Louisville.

“I love the farm families. I really enjoy meeting them. These are the people who are feeding the world.”


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Dr. David Rosero: Fat Quality in Swine Diets

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In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. David Rosero from Iowa State University explores the critical aspects of fat quality and oxidation in swine diets. He discusses how different types of lipids affect pig performance and provides actionable insights on managing lipid oxidation in feed mills. Don’t miss this episode—available on all major platforms.

Highlight quote: "Increasing levels of oxidized fats in swine diets reduced the efficiency of feed utilization, increased mortality, and led to more pigs being classified as culls, reducing the number of full-value pigs entering the finishing barns."

Meet the guest: Dr. David Rosero / davidrosero is an assistant professor of animal science at Iowa State University. His research program focuses on conducting applied research on swine nutrition and the practical application of smart farming. He previously served as the technical officer for The Hanor Company, overseeing nutrition, research, and innovation efforts.