The ‘Lift and Shift’: Managing Pigs and People Through Winter Disease Pressure

It’s that time of the year where you brace yourself for the worst when the phone rings, says Adam Annegers, sow production manager at JBS, during the recent State of the Pork Industry Report.

“I call it the lift and shift,” Annegers says. “You can have your schedule all lined out, and then the phone rings and redirects you. Winter means being flexible because diseases thrive in this weather.”

Raising pigs in southeast Iowa comes with its fair share of health challenges and 2026 is no different. Now is a critically important time to make sure you provide needed support to your team, he says.

“At the onset of a health challenge in the sow barn, there’s not always a lot we can do to have a better outcome for the piglets,” Annegers points out. “It’s difficult on the teams. Focus on keeping your team motivated to get through difficult times knowing that at some point, disease pressure will lessen. Then, they can get back to raising a lot of good, healthy pigs again.”

This time of the year is always challenging, but he’s optimistic about what’s ahead.

“Pig prices are through the roof right now,” Annegers says. “Saving every pig and raising every pig that we can is important right now. Working with your teams to control what they can control helps. It’s time to be a big cheerleader.”

When PRRS Doesn’t Look Like PRRS

Randy Kuker, director of swine production for The Equity, had a strange incident occur in a barn recently.