Dr. Trey Kellner on Swine Nutrition, Pork Industry Challenges, and Leadership
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.
If you’d rather not chase these conversations on social media, I’ll send them your way.