Progress 06/01/24 to 05/31/25
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences for the 2024-2025 reporting period included US swine producers and allied swine industry members, scientific colleagues, precision livestock farming technology developers and researchers, and stakeholders affiliated with the Department of Animal Science at Michigan State Univeristy. These audience members were reached via stakeholder meetings, conferences, surveys, and discussion groups. Additionally, via exentsion.In particular, we interacted with members of the swine industry (producers, veterinarians, allied industry and academics working on swine research) at the Michigan Pork Producers Symposium (February 2025), at Iowa Pork Regional Conferences (February 2025) and the North Carolina Swine Innovation Forum (May 2025). We presented to a more general animal industry audience at theMichigan State University Department of Animal Science Stakeholder Advisory Council meeting (October 2024) and to an international scientific and technological research audience at the 11th European Conference on Precision Livestock Farming (September 2024). Additionally, we have reached international industry and lay audiences through four extension publications that were published on the MSU Extension website then translated into industry articles and podcasts. Changes/Problems:Survey fatigue remains a challenge among swine producers. Attendance at producer meetings is low (has been lower than expected since COVID), limiting opportunities for in-person engagement. Additionally, on-farm survey visits are not feasible due to ongoing biosecurity concerns that prohibit easy movement between multiple farms. However, we are drawing on our advisory board members for their direct connections to producers who can provide the data we need. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Research Associate (Postdoc) Babatope Akinyemi continued to build expertise in precision livestock farming (PLF), with a focus on swine industry applications. Over the past year, he worked closely with academic mentors and industry professionals. He presented two papers at the 2024 European Conference on Precision Livestock Farming in Italy, gaining insights into global PLF research and innovation. He also attended several industry meetings to collect data in North Carolina, Iowa, and Michigan with assistance from co-PDs in those various locations. He has gained experience sharing his information with lay audiences as a result of translating his work from research publications and presentations into extension publications and lay audience interactions. He has also been able to learn new analytical techniques and to gain additional experience preparing surveys for different types of audiences and to do qualitative data collection and analysis using a Nominal Group Technique with the assistance of PIs from Scotland's Rural College. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? On September 10, 2024, we presented findings on producer and veterinarian perceptions of precision livestock farming (Objective 2) at the European Conference on Precision Livestock Farming (ECPLF 2024) in Italy. On October 31, 2024, we shared swine producer perception results (Objective 2) with the MSU Department of Animal Science Stakeholder Advisory Council. At the Michigan Pork Producers Association (MPPA) Symposium on February 13, 2025, we presented producer perception survey results (Objective 2) as part of a feedback loop tied to willingness-to-pay data collection. Several extension articles from the IDEAS project have been published across platforms, including MSU Extension (3 articles/websites), Pork Business, National Hog Farmer, and Swineweb. PI Siegford was also interviewed for 2 podcasts in the reporting period. We continue to provide quarterly updates to our advisory board, sharing progress on publications, presentations, and project milestones after each team meeting. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Objective 1: We will hold a fourth annual meeting with the advisory board and maintain our schedule for regular communication and subsequent meetings. Objective 2: We will conclude willingness to pay surveys of producers in Iowa, Michigan and North Carolina and begin willingness to pay survey of consumers across the United States. Objective 3: We will see our peer-reviewed publication on the benefits of PLF data to off-farm stakeholders. Objective 4: We will publish peer-reviewed articles on producer and consumer willingness-to-pay for PLF. Objective 5: We will continue to disseminate our findings to the industry via our extension team members and at academic scientific conferences.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: We held our third annual stakeholder advisory board meeting virtually on April 23 and 25, 2025. co-PI Steibel and stakeholder advisory board member Llonch presented short talks on data security and consumer perceptions respectively. Objective 3: We submitted a peer-reviewed article titled "Beyond the Farm: Stakeholder Perspectives on Precision Livestock Farming in the Swine Industry" to the Journal of Rural Studies, where it is currently under review. The manuscript was the result of focus group discussions held during our 2024 annual meeting with our stakeholder advisory group. We focused on gaining insight from participants whose roles relate to government, certification, consumer groups, and other off farm but swine affiliated industries that could have uses for PLF technology or interests in how it is developed and used related to their own needs. Objective 4: We collected willingness-to-pay data from 50 swine producers across Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina, and several other states. Data collection is expected to be finalized by late July 2025 following our attendance at additional swine meetings by ourselves and advisory board members who are helping to collect data from producers they work with. Objective 5: Three extension publications were published on the MSU Extension website throughout the year. These were picked up and republished on various swine industry websites (e.g., National Hog Farmer, Swine Web, Feedstuffs, Farm Journal's PORK Business, Farm.com) and podcasts (e.g., Feed Strategy, Swine IT Podcast)
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Akinyemi BEP, Siegford J, Jessiman L, Turner SP, Johnson AK, Akaichi F. 2025. Precision livestock farming usage among a subset of US Swine producers: Insights through a structural equation modeling approach. Smart Agricultural Technology, 10:100839.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Akinyemi BE, Turner SP, Akaichi F, Benjamin ME, Johnson, AK, Pairis-Garcia MD, Rozeboom DW, Steibel JP, Thompson DP, Zangaro C, Jessiman L, Siegford JM. 2024. Understanding the intention of US swine farmers to adopt, their actual adoption, and the intention of US veterinarians to recommend Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) technologies. Precision Livestock Farming 2024: Papers Presented at the 11th European Conference on Precision Livestock Farming, Bologna, Italy, 9-12 September 2024. 11:400-408.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Siegford J, Akinyemi BA. 2024. What drives swine producers to buy into precision livestock farming technology? MSU Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/what-drives-swine-producers-to-buy-into-precision-livestock-farming-technology
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
" Siegford J, Akinyemi BA. 2024. How do swine producers and veterinarians think precision livestock farming could help farms? MSU Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/how-producers-vets-think-precision-livestock-farming-help-farms
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
" Akinyemi BA, Siegford J. 2025. Data from smart farming technologies can benefit swine industry stakeholders beyond the farm. MSU Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/data-from-smart-farming-technologies-can-benefit-swine-industry-stakeholders-beyond-the-farm
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Progress 06/01/23 to 05/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:In 2023-2024 the target audiences were Objectives 1 and 3: swine industry stakeholders including farmers and pork producer groups at state and national levels, veterinarians and swine veterinary groups, swine breeding and genetic improvement companies, certification organizations, government entities that have roles in oversight of pork production, and non-governmental organizations. This audience comprises the stakeholder board previously assembled as part of Objective 1. We had a subset of the stakeholder with no direct knowledge and experience using PLF use the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) Focus Group Discussion (FGD) to determine their ideal PLF data as part of Objective 3. Similarly, we had the stakeholders with experience in PLF design, development, and implementation provide information on the benefits and costs of PLF. Researchers working in precision livestock farming were presented with some of our findings from Objective 3 at meetings and conferences. Objective 2: Pork producers and swine veterinarians. Surveys of members of these groups were conducted in MI (producers), IA (producers and veterinarians), and NC (producers and veterinarians) and we began reporting back to them on our findings. Michigan Pork Producer Association board members and North Carolina Swine Veterinarians were presented with some of our findings from Objective 2 at meetings and conferences. Changes/Problems:Analyzing survey data has proved to be complicated and the results difficult to interpret, which has slowed progress in moving from perception surveys to willingness-to-pay and cost benefit work. Some of the willingness-to-pay and cost benefit work will take place among smaller groups of producers as we have learned more about key actors in the swine industry and how best to get input from producers. Lesley Jessiman has joined the team from Scotland's Rural College. PIs Rozeboom and collaborator Thompson have retired from MSU and MSU Extension, respectively. A new postdoc, Valentina Bongiorno will join the team in the coming year to assist with communication and extension efforts. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Research Associate (Postdoc) Babatope Akinyemi has gained experience collecting data from and presenting it to swine producers and veterinarians. He has also networked with researchers working in precision livestock farming. He has gained proficiency in collecting data using a Q methodology approach and conducting structural equation modeling. As a result of the data he has collected, he submitted two manuscripts, one abstract, and one proceedings paper. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? During the North Carolina Swine Veterinarian meeting, we administered our last sets of vet surveys on Objective 2 and presented our preliminary findings afterward. In fall 2023, we presented our preliminary findings on swine farmers' perceptions of PLF to the board members of the Michigan Pork Producers Association (MPPA). During this presentation, we shared insights and data collected from the farmers, highlighting their awareness and perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes, sources of PLF advice, and their perceived pig welfare concerns. The board members provided valuable feedback on our findings, which will be instrumental in refining and validating our research and ensuring that it aligns with the industry's needs and expectations. An extension article from the IDEAS project has been published on several websites, including MSU Extension Pork, Pork Business, National Hog Farmer, and Swineweb. We continue to regularly provide quarterly updates to our advisory board following every quarterly team meeting to share the status of various publications and presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: We will hold another annual meeting with the advisory board and maintain our schedule for regular communication and subsequent meetings. Objective 2: We will publish papers from producer survey data and conclude data analysis for veterinary surveys Objective 3: We will continue to get feedback from our stakeholder advisory group regarding data from our producer and veterinary surveys as well as our willingness to pay tool and cost benefit calculator. Objective 4: We will conduct willingness-to-pay surveys with farmers and consumers. Objective 5: We will continue to disseminate our findings to the industry via our extension team members.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1. We held a second annual meeting with the stakeholder advisory board on January 16 and 17, 2024. Objective 2. We completed a full set of data collection from 53 swine farmers and 61 veterinarians in Michigan, Iowa North Carolina, and a few other states regarding perception of PLF. One proceedings paper has been accepted for presentation and publication on the survey data. Two separate manuscripts using farmers' and veterinarians' data are being prepared for publication in the Agriculture and Human Values journal. Objective 3. To leverage our stakeholders' knowledge gained over the past year, we conducted a focus group discussion using the nominal group technique to understand the ideal PLF data for various stakeholders. This data is currently being jointly analyzed by two members of our team from MSU and SRUC. Objective 4. Drafts of willingness to pay surveys have been created for producers and are being discussed for consumers. Objective 5. Dissemination of our findings from producer perception surveys began via MSU Extension websites and Pork Quarterly magazines, which led to pork industry outlets such as National Hog Farmer, SwineWeb, Farmer's Advance, and Farm Journal's PORK Business republishing the story. Broadhead also interviewed PI Siegford for a podcast on Boehringer Ingelheim's website and Wisenex interviewed postdoc Akinyemi for their swine podcast series.
Publications
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Siegford JM. 2024. Chapter 20: Precision livestock farming and technology in pig husbandry. In: Advances in Pig Welfare, 2nd Ed. (eds. I. Camerlink & E. Baxter). Woodhead Publishing. Pp. 449-469. doi:10.1016/B978-0-323-85676-8.00015-8.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Akinyemi BE, Akaichi F, Siegford JM, Turner SP. 2023. US swine industry stakeholder perceptions of precision livestock farming technology: a Q-methodology study. Animals, 13(18), 2930. doi: 10.3390/ani13182930.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Akinyemi BA, Siegford JM. 2023. Will precision livestock farming be adopted on swine farms? MSU Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/will-precision-livestock-farming-be-adopted-on-swine-farms
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Progress 06/01/22 to 05/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience: Objectives 1 and 3: swine industry stakeholders including farmers and pork producer groups at state and national levels, veterinarians and swine veterinary groups, swine breeding and genetic improvement companies, certification organizations, government entities that have roles in oversight of pork production, non-governmental organizations. This audience was assembled as our stakeholder board as part of Objective 1 and we had them use Q methodology to assess their earlier interview responses as part of Objective 3. Researchers working in precision livestock farming who were presented with some of our findings at a conference from Objective 3. Objective 2: Pork producers and swine veterinarians. Surveys of members of these groups were conducted in MI (producers), Iowa (veterinarians and producers) and NC (producers and veterinarians) and we began reporting back to them on our findings. Changes/Problems:We extended our perception survey data collection into year 2 and were able to collect as many producer responses as we needed. However we still need 9 more veterinary surveys and so are continuing to collect those. While we hope to conduct willingness to pay surveys with producers this year, the difficult economic year for the swine industry may force us to put this off for another year. However, we plan to make progress on the consumer survey side and to begin efforts to disseminate findings to the groups we've collected data from. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Research Associate (Postdoc) Babatope Akinyemi has gained experience collecting data from and presenting findings to swine producers and veterinarians. He has also networked with researchers working in precision livestock farming. He has gained proficiency in collecting data using a Q methodology approach and conducting structural equation modeling. As a result of the data he has collected, he submitted two manuscripts, one abstract, and one proceedings paper. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? We have attended one scientific and one veterinary meeting so far to share the findings from Objectives 2 and 3 and attendance at additional meetings is planned in the coming years. We have provided quarterly updates to the advisory board following our quarterly team meetings to share the status of various publications and presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Objective 1: We will hold a second annual meeting with the advisory board and maintain our schedule for regular communication and subsequent meetings. Objective 2: We will conclude surveys of veterinarians in Michigan and North Carolina and begin surveys in Iowa. Objective 3: We will see our peer-reviewed publication on Q methodology work with the advisory board to publications as well as develop lay publications and communications with stakeholders. Objective 4: We will complete willingness to pay surveys with farmers and consumers. Objective 5: We will begin disseminating our findings to the industry via our extension team members.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1. We held a face-to-face annual meeting with the stakeholder advisory board that also included the project team. We also conducted individual conversations with many members of the board to help us prepare the willingness to pay survey for producers. Objective 2. We finalized our dataset of surveys from swine producers in Michigan, Iowa and North Carolina and a few other states regarding perception of PLF. The veterinary perception survey dataset is nearly complete. Objective 3. We followed up our interviews with stakeholders in our advisory board with a Q methodology study to examine similarities and differences in perspectives related to PLF in the US swine industry. One peer-reviewed manuscript and a proceedings paper ahve been published on the interviews and another peer-reviewed manuscript submitted as part of the special issue arising from the USPLF conference. Objective 5. We are beginning to extend findings back to swine industry stakeholders via quarterly communications with our adivsory board and through presenting at the meetings where we collected data.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Akinyemi BE, Vigors B, Turner SP, Akaichi F, Benjamin M, Johnson AK, Pairis-Garcia MD, Rozeboom DW, Steibel JP, Thompson DP, Zangaro C, Siegford JM. 2023. Precision Livestock Farming: a qualitative exploration of key swine industry stakeholders. Frontiers in Animal Science: Precision Livestock Farming. 4:1150528. doi: 10.3389/fanim.2023.1150528
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Akinyemi BE, Vigors B, Turner SP, Akaichi F, Benjamin ME, Johnson AK, Pairis-Garcia MD, Rozeboom DW, Steibel JP, Thompson DP, Zangaro C, Siegford JM. 2023. Swine industry stakeholder perceptions of precision livestock farming technology: A Q-methodology study. US Precision Livestock Farming 2023:Conference Proceedings of the 2nd US Precision Livestock Farming Conference, Knoxville, TN, May 21-24, 2023. 2:23-35
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Siegford JM. Accepted. Chapter 20: Precision livestock farming and technology in pig husbandry. In: Advances in Pig Welfare, 2nd Ed. (eds. I. Camerlink & E. Baxter). Elsevier.
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Progress 06/01/21 to 05/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:In 2021-2022 the target audiences were Objectives 1 and 3: swine industry stakeholders including farmers and pork producer groups at state and national levels, veterinarians and swine veterinary groups, swine breeding and genetic improvement companies, certification organizations, government entities that have roles in oversight of pork production, non-governmental organizations. This audience was interviewed as part of Objective 1. Objective 2: Pork producers and swine veterinarians. Surveys of members of these groups were conducted in MI (producers) and NC (producers and veterinarians). Changes/Problems:COVID disrupted many face to face meetings within the swine industry. In 2021 and 2022 many of these meetings were beginning to return to face to face formats, but some were still virtual or hybrid. Meeting programs for the coming year are full--making it hard for us to find space to present work and collect data. We will extend data collection for Objective 2 over the remainder of the grant until we have as many survey responses as we need. We are also developing online survey tools to use to complement the paper survey we initially developed. Co-PI Belinda Vigors has left Scotland's Rural College but will remain a consultant for the project. (She was heavily involved with the design of the protocol used to conduct surveys, which was accomplished before she left SRUC.) What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Research Associate (Postdoc) Babatope Akinyemi joined the project in December 2021. He is an agricultural economist and has been learning about swine farming and precision livestock farming technology. He has been working with members of the grant team on Objectives 1 and 2. As a result of the interview data he has collected, he submitted an abstract to a professional meeting on precision livestock farming. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: We will hold a face to face meeting with the advisory board and establish a schedule for regular communication and subsequent meetings. Objective 2: We will continue to survey producers and veterinarians in Michigan and North Carolina and begin surveys in Iowa. Objective 3: We will finalize analysis of the interviews and prepare the results for dissemination through peer-reviewed publications as well as through lay publications and communications with stakeholders. Objective 4: We will develop willingness to pay surveys for farmers and consumers. Objective 5: We will begin disseminating our findings to the industry via our extension team members.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1. We created a stakeholder advisory board. Objective 2. We created surveys for use with veterinarians, producers and swine extension agents. We have begun collecting data from producers in Michigan and from producers and vets in North Carolina. Objective 3. We have concluded all interviews with stakeholders in our advisory board. The data have been cleaned and are being prepared for analysis. An abstract from this work has been submitted to the 2nd US PLF conference (to be held May 2023).
Publications
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