Abstract The swine industry has transitioned from a commodity industry to a highly integrated food industry. This shift has resulted in capital and technology intensive farms and plants, reducing reliance on multi-generational family labor, and created a greater demand for skilled, full-time workers. Long-term demographic trends of declining and aging rural populations also contribute to the challenge of attracting and retaining domestic workers. In addition, the existing U.S. visa programs for foreign workers are poorly suited to the needs of the swine industry whose jobs require year around animal care. Issues like labor shortages, employee turnover, attracting and retaining skilled workers, and a need for new talent as the workforce ages are common themes. Pork industry groups, colleges, and universities have collaboratively developed new programs to expand the pool of talent beyond traditional efforts such as scholarships or programming through 4-H, FFA, and junior swine programs and shows. Early career awareness is developed through Destination Pork. Destination Pork is a high school curriculum that acquaints students with pork industry information, jobs, and career opportunities and is available free of charge to ag educators. This curriculum has been downloaded over 600 times across 41 states with only 8% of users directly involved in the pork industry. The Professional Swine Manager certificate program was developed and delivered through community colleges. This 19-credit program provides the skills and knowledge needed as a production technician or manager. Swine Science Online, a comprehensive university-based distance learning program established in 2010. Swine Science Online teaches the scientific principles and management skills involved in pork production operations. This 16 h distance education certificate program has enrolled 344 students in the past five years. Real Pork Scholars is a professional development and executive mentorship program for graduate-level students. This program is grounded in research and driven by relationship-building, aimed at cultivating future industry leaders and specialized experts. Beyond these national initiatives, state pork producer organizations have launched targeted, local workforce development programs. For example, Illinois has recently established a new Livestock Apprenticeship Program to prepare individuals to succeed in the role of swine animal care technician. Similarly, the North Carolina Pork Council offers the NC Pork Student Intern Reimbursement Program and Emerging Pork Leaders Carolina which aid high school and college students in preparing for careers in the pork industry. Collectively these layered programs are creating a robust ecosystem for talent development, strategically addressing workforce challenges across the entire spectrum of the industry, from farm-level production roles to specialized roles like nutritionists and veterinarians.
M Todd See (Wed,) studied this question.