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

Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2009 | No Comments

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/

Building ‘Team North America’ for livestock transport

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Canada and the U.S. share the longest undefended border in the world. As evidenced at the recent Livestock Transport Conference in Calgary, AB., the livestock and transport industries in both countries also share a strong commitment to progress in improving the care of livestock hauled within and across their borders. Leading examples of this commitment are training and certification programs for livestock transport, developed and implemented in both countries through cross-sector cooperation. The next step in the evolution of this trend is to further streamline approaches, says Susan Church, Manager of Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC), a major organizer and sponsor of the conference. A core part of the program included updates on the livestock transport training programs, which included
presentations by Church on the CLT program and by Erik Risa of the National Pork Board on the TQA
program.

Feed preference in pigs: Effect of cereal sources at different inclusion rates

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The palatability of different cereals was studied in 2 two-way choice (preference) experiments using pigs of 56 d of age and 17 kg of BW. The diets containing extruded rice, extruded naked oats, or naked oats were preferred by pigs to the reference diet. However, the reference diet was preferred to the diets containing 150, 300, and 600 g·kg−1 of cooked long-grain rice, oats, or cooked oats, 300 and 600 g·kg−1 of extruded wheat, wheat, corn, sorghum, or unhulled short grain rice, and 600 g·kg−1 of thick rolled oats, extruded corn, rye, extruded barley, micronized naked oats, barley, cassava, or biscuit meal. Therefore, cereal type, inclusion rate, and diet form affect feed preference in pigs and using cereals with greater preference values may contribute to the formulation of more palatable feeds, which enhance feed intake of piglets at critical stages such as weaning time.

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

Concentrations of Leptin in Serum of Gilts and Barrows Sired by Boars of Different Breeds and Adiposity

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This experiment was conducted to provide basic information on the effects of sire and gender on serum concentrations
of leptin in swine. Leptin secreted from adipocytes is hypothesized to be a metabolic link between heart disease and obesity in humans. It was concluded that circulating levels of leptin in swine are influenced by sire, and differences are likely due to genetically dictated differences in adiposity.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.jarvm.com/articles/Previous.htm

Performance and diarrhoea in piglets following weaning at seven weeks of age: Challenge with E. coli O 149 and effect of dietary factors

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The objective of this study was to determine the effect of four selected dietary factors on a potential reduction in severity of weaning diarrhoea in piglets, which were weaned at 7 weeks of age to simulate this condition in organic pig
production. The four factors were ad libitum versus feed restriction, control versus protein restriction at ad
libitum feeding, control versus inclusion of lupin as a protein source at ad libitum feeding, and control versus extra vitamin E at ad libitum feeding. It was concluded that the studied dietary factors could not alleviate a diarrhoea-like condition and at the same time maintain the growth rate. Furthermore, the results indicate that performance after weaning at 7 weeks of age can be improved if piglets achieve a daily feed intake of at least 200 g from the day of weaning.

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

A new manure management system

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A new—and economically practical—manure treatment system developed for North Carolina hog farmers is looking very positive. In the late 1990s, the forecast was not terribly good for North Carolina as they were facing some serious pollution problems: municipal wastes, agricultural run-off, swine manure in lagoons and sprayfields. In July 2000, the North Carolina Attorney General and Smithfield Foods, Inc, and its subsidiary companies, agreed to a legally binding pledge to develop and implement new technology that would protect both the environment and the economy. They came up with a system that actually recycles a lot of the water. The new technology allows hog waste to be flushed out of barns with copious amounts of water, but instead of going into a lagoon, the waste is collected in a tank. In this tank, the liquids and solids separate. Ideally, the solids will be converted to Class A biosolids or energy, but the final outcome of the solids has not been decided. A polymer floculant and sanitizing solution are then injected into the liquid, which then enters a settling tank. The polymer settles out the small solids still remaining in the liquid. Some settle at the bottom while others float at the top of the tank. The middle contains clear liquid, and the sanitizer helps kill any remaining  pathogens in the liquid. The settled and floating solids enter a leach field (similar to a home septic system). The clear water is divided into two streams. The first stream is reused to flush out hog barns. The second stream undergoes additional wastewater treatment with filters and aeration. It can then be diluted with fresh water and used as drinking
water for the hogs. Technologies such as this offer the promise of a healthy environment and a healthy farm economy for the hog industries future as this technology decreases water usage by 50-60%.

Turning brown into Green

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Construction is well underway on a new $9.5 million facility for
Premium Standard Farms that will turn hog manure into an
odorless organic fertilizer that’s perfect for the putting green.
As a hefty dose of nutrients in an easy-to-deliver slurry, pig
manure has a lot to recommend it. But with an aroma likely to put
a duffer off his swing, it’s never really found its place as the
fertilizer of choice on American golf courses. “We have the philosophy of trying to make something valuable
out of the manure,” says Dave Townsend, vice-president for
environmental affairs at Premium Standard Farms. “We want to
offset the cost of the technology required to process the manure,
but we also want to do something beneficial with it, rather than
just treating it as waste we’ve got to do something with.”
The result is a process, now under construction, that is both
complex in design and elegantly simple in operation. The system uses an approach developed by Crystal Peak Farms to
combine anaerobic digesters, a centrifuge dewatering system, an
ingenious freeze-thaw system to capture nutrients from the
effluent, and the dryer-fertilizer facility. The end result is a granulated product that “doesn’t have dust
and doesn’t have odor. It’s in nice, solid black granules. It handles
like a traditional fertilizer and has zero odor,” says Townsend. To ensure market acceptance, “we test-marketed the product on
golf courses in Hawaii, and I think it’s going to be very well
received,” McGinnis says. To bolster the appeal of the fertilizer,
McGinnis is also seeking organic certification for the product, and
working closely with distributor J R Simplot Co.

Biosecurity in Swine Production: Widespread concerns?

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Biosecurity can be defined as procedures, efforts and programmes established to reduce the risk of disease introduction into pig populations (Conner, 2001). Moreover, it can slow down the transmission of endemic pathogens (viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi) thus limiting the spread of disease at the herd, region or country level. Good herd biosecurity is therefore essential to protect herd health status but it is also important when implementing a program for control or eradication of diseases at a regional level.

Feed ingredients differing in fermentable fibre content affect nitrogen excretion and fermentation metabolites in weaned pigs

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An experiment was conducted with 64 weaned pigs (24 kg) to evaluate the
effect of different fibre sources on N excretion and the fermentation
metabolites produced in the gastrointestinal tract. The diets were balanced in
energy and amino acids with soy protein isolate, pea starch, sucrose and a
premix and supplemented with wheat bran, cellulose, peas, pea hulls, pea
inner fibre, sugar beet pulp, flaxseed meal (FSM) or corn DDGS, as fibre
sources. Fecal samples were collected for 3 consecutive days from d10 and
pigs were slaughtered on d16. Digesta from ileum and colon were collected
and analyzed for their short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and ammonia content.
When wheat bran was the reference ingredient, the total tract N digestibility
was lower with FSM and DDGS (72 and 74% respectively) and higher in pea
hulls (81%) and pea inner fibre (79%). This, in turn affected the amount of
faecal N excreted, the latter being higher with FSM and DDGS (280 and 262
g/kg N intake respectively). The pea- and pea hull-based diets had higher
SCFA at the ileum level, while no difference in SCFA concentration was observed among diets in the
colon. Higher ammonia concentration was also found in the colon of pigs fed
with peas, pea hulls, FSM and DDGS, which might adversely affect the pig’s
gut environment.

A Dose of the The New Reality

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As the week comes to a close, anyone who works in the pork industry likely feels a bit run down, and it has nothing to do with contracting an actual viral infection, but it has everything to do with H1N1 influenza and its unfolding story.
For an agricultural industry that has often been on the leading edge of new developments, technology and change, the pork industry can add another one to its portfolio. It has now been thrown into the limelight as a new media guinea pig. By that I mean, it’s the first industry, certainly agricultural or food industry, to face the influence and fallout from today’s new media and the public’s instant-messaging obsessions and short attention spans. The “old media” outlets are not immune to some finger-pointing as television, radio, newspapers quickly labeled the new influenza virus and
outbreak as “swine flu,” which then spread like wildfire. The 24/7-news-media cycle in which we all live with today requires cable news and others to constantly fill the air waves, and that means talking and talking and talking about everything and anything you can think of related to a particular topic. However, its the “new media” of bloggers, text messages and Twitter where the inaccuracies, rumor and misinformation flourished and trumped patience, clarity and facts. Anti-animal agriculture groups even took advantage of the situation and used the new media vehicles to
campaign deeper and harder against modern agriculture that they so lovely like to label “factory farms.”