A-FAN adds videos on animal care, sow housing

The Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska (A-FAN) posted two more videos on its website and YouTube Channel today.

One video focuses on sow housing and the second another on beef cattle. Together they bring the total number of videos produced by the organization to more than a dozen.

“Many people have questions about why farmers do certain things when raising livestock. These new videos and the others we’ve produced let everyone hear directly from the farmers themselves and see what they are talking about,” said Roger Berry, A-FAN Field Director. (Find A-FAN on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/AFANpage.)

One of the new videos features Dorchester, Neb., beef producer Joel Weber who explains the importance of providing good care for cattle. He notes that well cared for cattle perform better and produce better beef. Weber is a fourth generation farmer.



The second video features Terry O’Neel, a hog farmer from Friend, Neb. O’Neel explains why he houses sows individually and how that individual care benefits the animals, maintains herd health and ultimately provides better pork.



Berry said A-FAN's video library offers insight into livestock operations and explains the importance of livestock production to Nebraska's economy.

“We hope these videos help answer some questions but also encourage a positive dialogue between farmers and those looking to learn more about what it takes to raise livestock and produce the high-quality products available today,” he said. “With modern communication tools it is easy to ask a farmer directly about livestock and food production. What consumers will learn is that today’s livestock producers share their values and strive to produce safe, wholesome food.”

Berry said there are farmers online writing blogs, maintaining Facebook pages and responding to questions via Twitter.

“People used to be able to ask their relatives about livestock production,” he said. “While that may not be the case anymore, people can instead use these communication tools to reach out and ask a farmer, ‘Why do you do that?’”