21 February 2022

2 minute read

By: Márcio Gonçalves

An important aspect of pig production is being environmentally aware of the decisions you make so that pork production can continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Sustainability is a topic that we are constantly learning about and improving. In today’s talk with Dr. Erin Cortus, she discusses what sustainability means today, and how we as a community can continue to produce pork while minimizing the effect we could have on the environment.

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What you will learn:

1. The definition of sustainability

2. Communication between researchers and producers

3. Common questions from pig producers

4. Next steps in improving sustainability

5. Recommended calculators

6. Carbon capture

7. Measuring air quality

9. Worldwide sustainability metrics

10. What producers can do

Meet the guest: Erin Cortus joined the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Minnesota in August 2017. Her position as Assistant Professor and Extension Engineer is to provide engineering expertise in the area of sustainable animal agriculture systems. Erin was born and raised in Saskatchewan, Canada. She earned her Bachelor of Agricultural and Bioresource Engineering degree and PhD at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Cortus also has eight years of experience in a similar Research and Extension role at South Dakota State University. Her past and ongoing projects include measuring the air quality impacts of different manure management practices in swine, poultry, dairy and beef cattle barns, and the impacts of providing additional microenvironmental controls for grow-finish pigs and cattle. The broad mission of Dr. Cortus’ program is to work with producers and communities to continually understand and improve the quality and productivity of livestock environments.