The College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences partnered with the South Dakota Pork Producers Council to bring a live virtual farm tour of the SDSU Swine Education and Research facility to the public through Facebook live.
This live tour offered an educational opportunity for students and families of all ages and demographics to see firsthand what goes on inside a pig barn. This, however, was not the first live tour of the barn.
Beginning in 2017, SDSU began working with Operation Main Street, the National Pork Board Speakers Bureau, to bring virtual farm tours to audiences of all kinds across the country. Since then, more than 60 tours have been given in 24 states.
From the beginning, 10 undergraduate and graduate students have served as the virtual tour guides. Five students currently serve as active guides. Logan Tesch, an animal science and agricultural business major from Henderson, Minnesota, led the live Facebook tour. Also a Minnesota Pork Ambassador, Tesch talked about animal care, technology used in the barn, what makes SDSU’s barn similar and different from other pig barns and the importance of sustainability. From there, the Facebook audience asked questions regarding pig farming that were answered live.
