GxE interactions for growth and carcass leanness: Re-ranking of boars in organic and conventional pig production

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles by admin on January 1, 2009 | No Comments

To devise an organic breeding strategy it is necessary to investigate genotype by environment (GxE) interactions in
conventional and organic production systems. Therefore this study investigated these GxE interactions for fattening pig traits in organic and conventional pig production environments. The results indicate weak GxE interactions
for both growth rate and carcass leanness in organic and conventional pig production environments. With regard to
these traits, an organic breeding index within a conventional breeding program is a better option than a separate organic breeding program. However, further research on GxE interactions for other traits prized in organic production is needed.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/livsci

Enriching breakfast sausages by feeding pigs with CLA supplemented diets

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Meeting consumer requirements for healthier meat products demands adoption of new strategies by the pork industry to improve the nutritional status of their products. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to examine the fatty
acid profile and oxidation level in cooked pork sausages, produced following dietary supplementation with Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA has been shown to have a variety of biological effects (Hur, Park, & Joo, 2007) and studies suggest that CLA health benefits may include anti-oxidation, anti-atherosclerosis, anticarcinogenic and improvements in immune-responses. A clear impact was observed in fatty acid levels with both treatments resulting in increased CLA levels in the product. All treatments met the recommended PUFA/SFA ratios above 0.4. The n-6/n-3 ratio was affected
only by the level of addition of the oil and while above the recommended n-6/n-3 ratio of less than 4 the ratio is lower than the average consumed ratio in Western diets.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03088146

Comparing the epidemiological and economic effects of control strategies against classical swine fever in Denmark

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The objective of this study was to explore the epidemiological and economic consequences of different control strategies against CSF under typical Danish conditions with respect to herd demographics and geography. Another objective was to investigate the effect of extra biosecurity measures on farms. Based on this simulation study, it is concluded that the strategy consisting of the minimum control measures required by the EU plus depopulation of contact herds is the most effective among the evaluated strategies with respect to limiting the size, duration and cost of the epidemic. However, regarding the number of culled animals, the vaccination-to-live strategies appear to be more effective. Epidemics become larger and last longer if the index case is a nucleus herd. This implies that biosecurity in nucleus herds is extremely important to avoid transmission of CSF to these herds. Simulations showed that the size and duration of a Danish CSF epidemic will be moderate in most cases. However, for some iterations, long-lasting and large epidemics were observed. Irrespective of the size and duration, an epidemic is expected to be very costly due to
export losses.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01675877

When Do Legislators Pass on Pork? The Role of Political Parties in Determining Legislator Effort

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Most explanations of large interjurisdictional variations in policy outcomes in democracies are institutional
(e.g., the electoral rules of the game), informational (what citizens know about the effects of politician actions on their welfare), and societal (e.g., the extent of social polarization). Our evidence underlines the importance of a generally neglected factor: variations in voter attachment to political parties. These results have implications for several lines of research and for policy. The evidence indicates that evaluations of constituency development funds in nascent democracies of Africa and East Asia should take into account their effect on the development of programmatic political parties. On the one hand, the results here suggest that they will have less of an impact when voters are attached to political parties.On the other hand, they raise the possibility—although one that requires much more
investigation—that CDFs could slow the emergence of programmatic political parties.

Advanced swine manure treatment and utilization in Brazil

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Animal production that has been central to public discussions in Brazil because of the large amount of waste generated by swine operations and its potential impact on air, soil, and water resources. The aim of this paper is to present some recent advances in swine manure management research and practices in Brazil, and assessing their technical and economic performances. It was found that because of environmental concerns for the disposal of large amounts of swine manure generated under animal confinement, Brazilian swine producers have several technological challenges.
These challenges depend on several factors, like soil/plant support capacity, land availability, and producers investment capacity for adoption of advanced manure treatment technologies. The development of new advanced manure treatment technologies that can solve several environmental problems linked to manure disposal,
are compatible with the new reality of Brazilian’s industrial swine production, which has emerged as a major competitor in the international market. With the adoption of advanced technologies like enhancement of solid–liquid separation using flocculants and treatment processes (SMTS), economical considerations need to be done, particularly in Brazil and other developing countries that do not have government subsidies like the Europe Union or United States.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09608524

Difference in severity of porcine circovirus type two-induced pathological lesions between Landrace and Pietrain pigs

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The objective of this study was to determine if a differenceexists in porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2)susceptibility between Landrace and Pietrain pigs under experimental conditions. The results indicate that a genetic difference exists between these two breeds of pigs in susceptibility to PCV2-associated lesions. 

For more information the full article can be found at http://jas.fass.org/

Retrospective serological study on hepatitis E infection in pigs from 1985 to 1997 in Spain

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The objective of the present work was to ascertain the date in which hepatitis E virus (HEV) was introduced in the Spanish pig population. For this, a serological retrospective study was carried out using archived sera. A total of 2871 serum samples gathered between 1985 and 1997 and collected in 208 farms of Spain were tested for anti-HEV IgG by an in-house ELISA. Of the 2871 sera analyzed by ELISA, 1390 were positive for anti-HEV antibodies (48.4%, 95% CI: 46.9–49.9%) and that corresponded to 204/208 farms (98%, 95% CI: 96.1– 99.9%) having at least one positive pig. Our results show that HEV was present and widespread in Spanish swine farms at least since 1985. Any significant changes in prevalence were detected from 1 year to another and therefore, HEV infection in swine should be considered endemic in SpainFor the full text please subscribe to the Journal of Veterinary Microbiology.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03781135

A review of environmental enrichment for pigs housed in intensive housing systems

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This paper critically reviews the literature concerning environmental enrichment for weaner, grower and finisher pigs housed in intensive (indoor) production systems. The thesis of the review is that successful enrichment should meet four criteria of success: (1) it should increase species-specific behaviour, (2) it should maintain or improve levels of health, (3) it should improve the economics of the production system, and (4) it should be practical to employ. They review the existing literature for three distinct classes of production systems; alternative enriched systems; straw-based systems, and barren systems enriched only with objects (‘point-source enrichment-objects’). Within each of
these systems, they consider the effects of environmental enrichment on behaviour; health and physiology; animal performance, carcass quality and meat quality.

They conclude that straw has the highest potential to meet the four successful enrichment criteria proposed. However, they concede that it is possible to design successful point-source enrichment-objects if the wealth of knowledge available on enrichment for pigs is exploited. They also identify several knowledge gaps, especially in the area of the neurobiological effects of enrichment, which should be the focus of future research to advance the welfare of intensively reared pigs.

For more information the full article can be found at http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/issues

Effect of dietary inclusion of benzoic acid on mineral balance in growing pigs

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The hypotheses of this study were that dietary benzoic acid increases mineral digestibility resulting in increased
mineral retention, and that these effects would be more profound with a higher level of inclusion of benzoic acid.
The objective was to investigate the effect of 10 or 20 g kg−1 inclusion of benzoic acid on balance, plasma concentration, and bone content (femur) of Ca, P, Mg, K, Na, and Cl. In addition, the effect of dietary inclusion of benzoic acid on the pH of urine and blood were determined. The study found that dietary inclusion of benzoic acid did in fact affect the pH in urine and plasma, the ATTD, retention, and plasma concentrations of Ca, P, K, Na, and Cl, and the concentrations of Ca, P, and Cl in the femur. It was concluded that dietary benzoic acid improved utilization of dietary Ca, P, and K, did not affect utilization of dietary Mg, and reduced utilization of dietary Na and Cl. These results indicate that the dietary inclusion of benzoic acid affects the utilization and metabolism of the macrominerals Ca, P, K, Mg, Na, and Cl differently, suggesting that several underlying mechanisms are involved.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/livsci

Quantification of factors affecting semen traits in artificial insemination boars from animal model analyses

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The objective of this study was to investigate individual fixed effects in an animal model for breeding value estimation for semen traits of pig sire breeds. It was found the semen volume was greatest from October to December and least in March and April. Sperm concentrations were greater in winter and early spring and least in late summer and early autumn. Semen increased until about 2 years of age and remained relatively constant thereafter. Motility decreased steadily with age, wheras the percentage of abnormal sperm increased over the entire productive lifetime of the boar. Both total sperm number and number of functional sperm rose as the interval between collections increased to 10 days. It is concluded that AI centers should place economically optimal emphasis on boars with favorable estimated breeding values for semen traits.

For more information the full article can be found at http://jas.fass.org/