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Dr Jonathan Van Dissel, affectionately known as Jono, is a Victorian swine veterinarian originally from a small cattle and sheep property based in Kapunda, South Australia. He started his studies in Animal Science in 2011 at The University of Adelaide, completing his honours project in swine, before starting his veterinary studies in 2016. He spent time in mixed practice for six-months before realising he wanted to grow a career in the Australian swine industry.

Jono is now based in Bendigo, Victoria, working out of our head office and travelling around regional Victoria and South Australia as one of our swine consultants. He has a keen interest in subclinical disease and how it affects production management and farm economics.

“I knew I wanted to be a long-term member of the swine industry,” Jono said.

“I love the business, the species, the work and the people.”

During his career, Jono has had the opportunity to present research on Japanese Encephalitis Virus (an Australian case) at the International Pig Vets Symposium (IPVS) 2022 in Rio de Janeiro. He has also been co-author on three published swine scientific articles.

In the future, Jono is interested in completing his Master of Business (MBA) and his Memberships in Swine Medicine.

However, above all, Jono loves the opportunity to be on farm and says, “I rank on-farm awareness and experience.”

“I would rather take an opportunity to see different production styles, flows and farms, than focus on purely academics.”

When asked about what he likes to do in his spare time, he says “I am a weird mix of jock, nerd and hillbilly.”

He enjoys playing Rugby Union, having played over 200 senior games for his home club in SA. He also loves online gaming and plays World of Warcraft, League of Legends and Dungeons and Dragons. When he gets a spare weekend, he likes to go clay pigeon shooting, hunting and camping.