“I’ve wanted to be a veterinarian since I could talk.” That’s what Micah Jansen’s mother has told her. “I’m not even sure I knew exactly what a veterinarian was at that age,” she said, laughing.
However, Jansen, a technical services veterinarian with the US Zoetis Pork team, knows this is the right calling for her. She has served in this role since 2015, focusing on customers’ challenges and helping them find solutions.
“I work directly with pig producers and sometimes that takes me out in the field, in a barn, sometimes I’m on video calls, sometimes I’m on my cell phone,” she said. “I love the variety; every day is different.”
Combining passions for a great career fit
Although Jansen grew up on a grain farm in east central Illinois, her uncle on her mother’s side raised cattle and pigs so she’s been involved in all aspects of agriculture her entire life. As evidenced by her career goal as a 3-year-old, she has had a passion for animals for as long as she can remember.
“I’m also a people person, so that’s what’s great about being a swine veterinarian with Zoetis. I have the opportunity to work with everyone from the owner who is making a lot of decisions for the system, to the caretaker who is responsible for pig care every day,” she said.
Today’s pig producers are up against challenges including market downturns, labor issues, disease threats and more.
“I try to be as supportive as possible, listening to their situations and making it clear I understand their frustrations, fears and decisions,” she said.
Jansen tries to make solutions fit the challenges and always keeps ROI in mind, but also doesn’t take it personally if the customer’s decision doesn’t include a Zoetis product.
Opportunities that confirmed career choice
Knowing she wanted to stay in agriculture and work with animals, Jansen majored in animal sciences at the University of Illinois. It just so happened that a veterinarian her uncle worked with was practicing at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital in the ambulatory department. And her uncle asked if Micah could spend some time with her.
“That request morphed into an experience that carried through my undergrad years,” Jansen said. “I worked during school and the summers with the university swine farms and I gained more knowledge about show pigs, so I had exposure to different types of pigs and operations. It was during that time that I really started focusing my interest more on livestock, and specifically pigs.”
Jansen went on to earn her doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Illinois as well. She admitted narrowing her focus to swine veterinary work isn’t most students’ first choice.
“The fourth-year veterinary students I was around were trying to figure out how to get out of the pig work. But I thought it was fun,” she said.
She became more and more interested in it and by the end of her first year of veterinary school she was the “pig girl.” She said with swine medicine she is solving problems like understanding viruses and bacteria and how they’ll move through a herd. And more important, how to impact the herd’s future with biosecurity, vaccines and/or management.
“It’s rewarding to work in agriculture with pigs, and with people, and know that we’re producing food for the world.”
Her curiosity is never quenched. “There is no end to how much we can continue to learn about pig health,” she said, and she appreciates that the swine industry is strongly connected. “We’re always learning from each other, to figure out how we can improve on what we’re doing.”
Tying the past to the future
The swine industry is small and feels like a family to Jansen. That’s part of why she was excited about the Heritage Feeds Tomorrow campaign.
“There are many producers who have been raising pigs for generations; it’s really exciting that we get to showcase that through this program,” she noted.
Jansen’s own family has a lot to do with where she is today. “My family is the reason that I am a swine veterinarian. The interest in animals and agriculture growing up, the experiences I got to have because of my family, it’s all about celebrating the history my family has in the industry.”
She’s also interested in the future. “The efforts we’re making today will affect our industry down the road. It’s thinking about how we’ll impact pork production, not only today, but how we’ll raise pigs five years, ten years, a hundred years from now,” she said.
Jansen has two young children and a lot of animals on their farm including horses, cattle, dogs, cats and chickens. “I’m trying to foster an interest and passion in agriculture into my own kids,” she said.
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