Newly Funded: University of Minnesota Researchers Secure $500K USDA Grant to Study Novel Pig Influenzas

Mar 30, 2022

A team of researchers at the University of Minnesota has secured $500,000 to study how new influenza virus strains emerge, persist, and spread in pig populations--and what age, well-being, farm-production type, and epidemiological factors might help predict whether a new virus strain emerges.

Though most pigs recover from influenza, the virus affects pork producers financially because infected pigs take longer to gain weight--meaning more time on the farm prior to market. The most common cause of new infectious strains in both pigs and people is something called viral gene reassortment, which occurs when two different influenza viruses infect the same cell and then swap gene segments.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.