Shamus Brown joined Iowa Select Farms in 2013 as one of six veterinarians on staff. He has since assumed additional responsibilities, overseeing diagnostic testing—both in-house and with Iowa State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory—as well as the beginning of the production system: the gene transfer centers, multiplication system and nursery grow-outs.
Shamus grew up in Graettinger, in northwest Iowa, on his family’s diversified row crop and livestock operation, which included 500 farrow-to-finish sows, 25 cows, and a few thousand acres of crops. His dad is involved in the livestock building industry. Shamus “really found a passion for agriculture” as an undergraduate at ISU, and went on to pilot a dual-degree program, earning a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine alongside a Master of Business Administration from ISU in 2013.
At Iowa Select, Shamus spends most of his time in southwest Iowa, where he does routine health checks on sow farms. In addition, his efforts to ensure healthy gilts are being placed into gilt development unit—and eventually sow farms—are critical to the overall success of nearly 780 sow, nursery and finishing teams in the downstream flow. Shamus plays a key role, too, in facilitating customer farm tours and leading critical discussions on animal well-being and care, antibiotic usage, animal health and sow housing with retail and foodservice customers worldwide.
Shamus serves on the Iowa Pork Producers Association Research Committee and volunteers at the Iowa Pork Tent during the Iowa State Fair. He is an FFA volunteer and state convention judge, and a member of the FFA Alumni Association for Indianola and Iowa. He is active in the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, representing Iowa at the national Youth Farmer Discussion Meet; involved with the Iowa Farm Bureau and Warren County Farm Bureau; a member of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians; an alumni and house property manager of ISU’s chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho, an agriculture fraternity; and a mentor for students looking to become veterinarians or pursue careers in the swine industry. He is on the council at Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Indianola, and mentors those in the confirmation program there.
Shamus and his wife, Casey, live in Indianola. Casey is an agriculture instructor at Indianola High School.