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What does the future of the U.S. pork industry really look like?

In this episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast, swine nutritionists Jim Smith and Dr. Trey Kellner from AMVC discuss the biggest challenges facing modern pork production—and surprisingly, very little of the conversation centers on actual pig diets.

Instead, this conversation explores the larger forces shaping the future of the swine industry, including:

• Swine nutrition and feed strategy
• Pork industry labor shortages
• Capital requirements for modern sow farms and finishing barns
• Agricultural leadership development
• Training the next generation of swine nutritionists
• Communication inside pork production systems
• Feed mill operations and execution
• Graduate education and soft skills in agriculture
• Mental health and pressure in agriculture
• The future of pork production in the United States

Dr. Kellner shares insight from working across multiple pork production systems, feed mills, ingredient programs, and business units while balancing formulation strategy, manufacturing logistics, labor challenges, economics, and team leadership.

Jim and Trey also discuss:

• Why capital access may become one of the defining issues in pork production
• How labor shortages are reshaping swine operations
• Why execution matters more than perfect feed formulations
• The growing importance of leadership and communication skills for animal science graduates
• How modern swine nutritionists must balance economics, logistics, people management, and production realities—not just amino acid levels

The conversation also takes a deeper turn into mentorship, pressure, work-life balance, and the emotional weight often carried by leaders in agriculture.

Whether you work in swine nutrition, pork production, feed manufacturing, animal agriculture, agribusiness, or agricultural leadership, this episode offers a thoughtful look at where the pork industry may be headed over the next 10 to 30 years.