Greetings from south central
Kentucky. As I write this, my final President's message, the hog
market is slowly emerging from the lowest prices in the past 60
years. Industry restructuring continues and no one is sure where
things will settle out. Amidst the chaos, the AASP has continued
to provide us with leading-edge information and the opportunity
to sharpen and, indeed, change our skills if we feel that it is
needed. I have certainly enjoyed my 3 years as an AASP officer
and the past year as President. It has been a learning experience
and has kept me in contact with people who are setting the standards
in swine practice and in delivering service to their clients.
I appreciate all the help I have received from many of you, all
the members who serve on the various committees, and especially
Tom Burkgren and Sue Schulteis in the AASP office.
When I ran for AASP Vice-President 3 years ago, I set the following
as my goals for the organization:
- improve the competitive position of swine practitioners in
the North American and global swine industries;
- improve and expand the district continuing education activities
supported by the AASP;
- build on our relationship with the NPPC and assist them in
making pork the meat of choice by the year 2000;
- improve our support of the AASP Foundation and expand its
activities;
- see our already excellent journal, Swine Health and Production,
become the premier place in the world to publish swine-related
research and clinical information;
- continue the membership-driven focus, but expand to include
more producer- and consumer-driven activities, including more
attention to food safety and its impact on export markets; and,
- define the swine practitioner's role in food safety.
When I was interviewed by the Journal of the American Veterinary
Medical Association following last year's AASP meeting and
before beginning my year as president, I put food safety and antibiotic
resistance issues at the top of the list of priorities for the
AASP to address.
Some of these goals have been achieved, some partly fulfilled,
and others are still works in progress. Some will never be entirely
met but will remain ideals to work toward.
Some highlights that occurred during my 3 years as an officer
were:
- opening our own office in Perry, Iowa;
- bringing Tom Burkgren on full time as Executive Director,
along with Sue Schulteis as his administrative assistant;
- the changing of the guard at Swine Health and Production
as Bob Morrison, our first editor, ran for AASP office and
relinquished the editorial position to Cate Dewey;
- an active AASP member, Leonard Seda, being elected to serve
the AVMA as as their president;
- along with Iowa State University and the NPPC, bringing the
IPVS Congress back to the United States in 2002;
- the opportunity to work with a large number of you on various
committees and working groups;
- serving on the Editorial Board of SHAP and working
with the behind-the-scenes people who make it an excellent journal;
and
- Connie Schmidt's work with the AASP Foundation.
There weren't many low points during the entire time, but one
of them was the death of Wally Brandt, our AASP historian for
several years and a real friend to swine practitioners.
As I prepare to join the ranks of AASP past-presidents, a renowned
group of individuals I'm not sure I belong with, I want to encourage
our membership. We need to remain active in our organization as
we move forward and continue our service to swine veterinarians
and ultimately to producers and consumers. Your new AASP president,
Al Scheidt, and the other officers have ambitious agendas for
the organization. They will need a lot of membership input to
achieve them.
Thanks for the opportunities this organization has afforded
me and happy swine practicing!
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This page last updated April 19, 2012.