Todd See
State ESP Early Career Award

The extension programs of Dr. M. Todd See have made a major impact on the North Carolina and U.S. swine industries. Dr. See is recognized internationally for his expertise in swine genetics and management as indicated by his list of invited presentations (54). He is a leader in helping the swine industry to implement genetic improvement programs from both a technological standpoint and at the commercial level in the context of the entire production system. He serves on the committee that designed the National Swine Registry's genetic evaluation system including data collection procedures, models, indexes and reports. Todd also authored the National Swine Improvement Federations (NSIF) most recent edition of "Uniform Guidelines for Swine Improvement Programs" which is the standard for genetic improvement programs. In addition over 85,000 head of breeding swine have been evaluated in the NC On-Farm Performance Testing Program under his direction. Todd also works to incorporate genetic information into educational exercises for students, serving on the official committees for the National Livestock Judging Contests in the Collegiate, Junior College and 4-H divisions.
Dr. See established the NCSU Swine Extension WWW site in 1995. To date it has received more than 155,000 visitors reviewing over one million documents and submitting over 800 requests for additional information. To enable distance education for pork producers and their employees Dr. See transformed a nationally developed curriculum into an Internet course that was pilot tested in cooperation with the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). A total of 117 participants enrolled from 23 states and 5 foreign countries. Eighty-one percent of the participants responded that the course provided them with an opportunity to improve job skills and 54% planned to make changes in production practices. Dr. See has provided leadership in the development on hands-on in-service training programs for field faculty and has worked closely with all types and sizes of NC Pork Producers. Todd has provided highly specialized educational programs for vertically integrated producers and assisted independent producer in developing cooperative buying and value added marketing opportunities. He worked with producers and allied organizations to develop a purchasing cooperative for small independent producers. The cooperative has purchased over 30 million dollars in inputs and provides members an average savings of 10 to 15 percent. This group is currently developing a value-added pork market. Dr. See has developed a production certification program for this group and has provided leadership in defining specialty pork products. Examples of specialized resources that Dr. See has delivered to more vertically integrated producers include a course, "Statistical analysis for swine production" and applied training and research programs on pork quality, sow body condition, and seasonal infertility.
In addition to his distance education efforts Todd has worked closely with NPPC to develop and deliver educational programs on both a national and regional basis. As a member of the Swine Educators Committee he worked on the development and execution of the first Swine Educators Conference, which has become an annual event. These national "train the trainers" events have had a significant impact in delivery of the latest information to producers across the U.S.. Todd coordinates with the NC Pork Council to provide NCCES field faculty the opportunity to participate in this in-service train program at no cost. Todd also chaired the Profitability '96 committee for NPPC to plan the first NPPC producer education program held outside the Midwest and he helped to develop the Professional Swine Manager Training Program.