The Swine Health Blackbelt Podcast

The Swine Health Blackbelt Podcast is built for professionals who think about pig health in operational terms. It is concise, technical, and closely tied to production decisions. Dr. Clayton Johnson anchors the format with focused questions and a steady emphasis on what the research means in barns, nurseries, sow systems, and disease preparedness work. The show does not wander far from application. A conversation about nursery pig stress becomes a discussion of weaning, transportation, cold weather, barn readiness, water pressure, ventilation, and the way small stressors can stack into larger performance problems. A segment on manure pumping turns into a field epidemiology conversation about PRRS outbreak risk and distance from application sites. Feed research gets similar treatment. Phytonutrients are discussed through antiviral feed mitigant work, animal performance, semen production, and the move from discovery research into practical research. Air quality is handled with measurable detail, including ammonia concentrations, nitrogen management, growth, performance, and nursery pig health. The disease conversations range widely but stay grounded. Recent episodes cover Lawsonia intracellularis, the pig microbiome, ileitis, feed efficiency, systemic toxoplasmosis, lesions, PCRs, IHCs, and diagnostic investigation. Preparedness also has a strong presence. New World Screwworm is framed as a reminder of disease pressure outside the borders, while Puerto Rico is discussed as a strategic U.S. territory with small swine sites and foreign animal disease planning needs. The guest list gives the show its shape. Researchers, field epidemiology specialists, swine veterinarians, technical directors, and pathology trainees bring specific projects rather than broad opinion. Johnson’s questions keep the tone practical: what was studied, what changed, what producers should watch, and where veterinarians or production people should start. The result is dense but approachable for its intended audience. It assumes familiarity with swine production, yet it explains enough context to make each study usable. For listeners managing pig comfort, herd health, diagnostics, biosecurity, or nutrition, the value is in the translation from research finding to decision point. The show’s strength is not breadth for a general audience. Its strength is compression: a narrow swine health question, a qualified guest, and a clear line back to the barn.