Swine industry loses respected leader

Aug 23, 2016

PigCHAMP reflects on Dr. Kees de Lang’s contributions to the industry

Schae Greenzweig
PigCHAMP

Dr. Kees de Lange, a prestigious member of the swine industry, passed away on Monday, August 1st in Guelph, Ontario.  Dr. de Lange received many honors for his work, which focused largely on swine nutrition. He received a degree in Animal Science from the Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands, and a Swine Nutrition Ph.D. from the University of Alberta. Most recently, Dr. de Lange was a professor and mentor to more than 50 students at the University of Guelph in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science.

Dr. Kees de Lange

University of Guelph

His work in nutrition earned him the honor of being published in more than 150 book chapters and peer reviewed papers. Dr. de Lange received awards from the Canadian Society of Animal Science and the American Society of Animal Science. He had research partnerships with eight different universities in Canada and the United States. Feed ingredient evaluation systems, liquid feeding, pig genotype characterization and environmental effect on growing pigs, and mathematical modeling for grow-finishing pigs are just a few of the topics Dr. de Lange covered in his extensive research.

PigCHAMP was honored to be chosen to collaborate with Dr. de Lange on some of most recent research focusing on precision feeding of sows.

“It was a real honor that Dr. de Lange chose to work with us on one of his most recent research projects”, said Bob Brcka, GM of PigCHAMP software in Ames, Iowa.  “His vision of using electronic feeding systems to precisely feed sows based on NRC requirements could provide substantial new value to many producers.  We intend to follow the path he laid out to help realize the potential value he saw in this work.”  

We hope we can continue to pursue the path that he established to realize the potential value and vision he outlined for this important area of research.