Early bidders inspect live and silent auction items

Photo courtesy of Tracy Ann Raef

When the hammer dropped on the final bid during the 2009 AASV Foundation Auction, the sales from the live and silent auction totaled $67,561. Not a bad night for auctioneer Dr Tom Burkgren who didn’t have to cajole members too much into opening their wallets for a good cause.

“Although we did not achieve our huge “XL” goal of $80,000, we had an excellent auction considering these tough economic times,” said Dr Warren Wilson, chair of the AASV Foundation. “I am very proud of the foundation committee and all the hard work they did on contacting people and encouraging industrial partners, practices, and individuals to donate. And I’m especially thankful to the bidders whose generosity made the auction a success.”

An eclectic mix of football tickets, Swarovski binoculars, pork gift items, AASV commemorative items, and other can’t-do-without items, such as the Beretta 12-gauge shotgun, drove traffic during the silent auction. A total of 67 items were available, with winning bids totaling $17,261.

As the live auction bidding began, ring men John and Jess Waddell, Dave Madsen, Butch Baker, Rod Johnson, David Reeves, Daryl Olsen, and Darrell Neuberger kept the bids coming, including telephone bids from members who were not able to be at the evening’s event. The large-ticket items were the Kodiak Island Fishing Trip and the John Deere Gator, bringing in $8000 each. The 13 items sold brought in $50,300 for the foundation. Special items of the evening included a pig from Dr Alex Hogg’s personal collection and a quilt made by Mary Ann Curran.

Besides the bidders and those who donated items for this worthy cause, special thanks goes to Lee Schulteis, Tina Smith, and the Iowa State veterinary students who set up the silent auction, and Pat Banwart, Tracy Ann Raef, Karen Richardson, and Judi Bell who helped pack and finalize sales.

Plans are already underway for the 2010 auction in Omaha.

The AASV Foundation is grateful to everyone who participated in the 2009 live and silent fundraising auctions. Each bid makes a difference! We are pleased to recognize and thank the following successful bidders who purchased one or more items at the auction:

AASV Foundation announces Hogg Scholarship recipient

Dr Phil Gauger receiving the Alex Hogg Scholarship plaque from Mary Lou Hogg

Photo courtesy of Tracy Ann Raef

Dr Phil Gauger, Ames, Iowa, was named the 2009 recipient of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians Foundation Hogg Scholarship. The scholarship was presented during the association’s annual meeting in Dallas, Texas.

Established in 2008, the scholarship is named for Dr Alex Hogg, who was a leader in swine medicine and pursued a master’s degree in veterinary pathology after 20 years in a mixed-animal practice. The scholarship, in the amount of $10,000, is awarded annually to an AASV member who has been accepted into a qualified graduate program to further his or her education after years as a swine practitioner.

“Dr Gauger is very deserving of the Hogg Scholarship,” said Dr Patrick Halbur, professor and chair of the Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine at Iowa State University. “He reminds me of Dr Hogg in his passion for swine-production medicine, his curiosity to know more, and his tireless efforts to disseminate all that he knows to benefit his colleagues in the pork industry and veterinary profession.”

Dr Gauger is a clinician in the Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine at Iowa State University. He is pursuing a PhD in veterinary microbiology at Iowa State. Dr Gauger received his DVM degree (1994) and MS (2008) from Iowa State University.

Previously, Dr Gauger was veterinary medical officer at the USDA’s National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa. He was a co-owner of a mixed-animal practice in Marcus, Iowa, from 1994 to 2006.

Dr Gauger has been a member of the AASV since he was a veterinary student in 1990. His other professional memberships include the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association. Since 2004, he has been an Iowa 4-H Foundation Trustee.

He has authored several articles on swine influenza, porcine circovirus, and other respiratory diseases of swine.

PRRSV biosecurity protocols published

Preventing the spread of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) within and between pig populations is a critical component of a farm’s disease control program. To aid in controlling the spread of this agent, researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Swine Disease Eradication Center (SDEC) compiled the Biosecurity Protocols for the Prevention of Spread of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus. Development of this manual was funded in part through a grant from the AASV Foundation.

The manual provides a summary of data from experiments conducted at the SDEC. These studies were specifically designed to identify the routes of PRRSV transmission and to develop biosecurity protocols to reduce this risk. The overall objectives of the research project are to assess the efficacy of three levels of biosecurity (high, medium, low) on reducing the risk of PRRSV introductions to naive pig populations, to evaluate the role of season and animal flow on the local spread of PRRSV, to estimate the frequency and significance of known routes of PRRSV transmission, and to compile a bilingual PRRSV biosecurity manual summarizing routes, intervention, and monitoring protocols for use on commercial farms.

All protocols have been and continue to be validated as part of the ongoing research project at the SDEC production-region model farm. Researchers at the SDEC continue to practice these protocols and are confident that the application of these procedures will help minimize PRRSV spread.

The authors, Andrea Pitkin, Satoshi Otake, and Scott Dee, hope that swine veterinarians can utilize this information to help their clients develop effective biosecurity programs for sustainable PRRS control. The manual will be published in English and Spanish and is available online at https://www.aasv.org/aasv/PRRSV_BiosecurityManual.pdf.