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SDSU accepts Farm Credit Services of America gift for swine faculty position

Farm Credit Services of America has given $1.5 million to support an endowed swine production faculty position at South Dakota State University. The endowment is the first in the nation for a swine production position, said John Killefer, South Dakota Corn Endowed Dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences.

“I think that’s an example of the importance of the swine industry to the state of South Dakota and this region,” Killefer told Brownfield Ag News, “and obviously the importance that Farm Credit Services of America has placed on the swine industry.”

The gift, announced this month at the annual South Dakota Pork Congress in Sioux Falls, will help support South Dakota’s growing pork industry. It will provide an opportunity for young people to return to the family farm, said Killefer.

“They might already have a swine operation or they might start to establish a swine operation on the family farm,” said Killefer, “and so it’s a tremendous opportunity for our students to grow a new industry and be part of that growing and dynamic industry here in the state.”

South Dakota has seen recent growth in both sow and finishing pig numbers, now ranking eighth in the nation for number of finishing pigs.

AUDIO: John Killefer

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