Effect of dietary fat type on meat quality and fatty acid composition of various tissues in growing–finishing swine

Posted in: Meat Quality by admin on January 1, 2007 | No Comments

Living High on the Hog: Factory Farms, Federal Policy, and the Structural Transformation of Swine Production

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Confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), sometimes called factory farms or industrial animal operations, are defined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as livestock operations that do not sustain their own crops or other animal feed and that house more than 1,000 “animal units”—equivalent to 2,500 swine of 55 pounds or more. Hog CAFOs in particular have been widely criticized in the environmental, public health, and toxics literature. Main concerns include nutrient runoff from manure, which leads to water and soil contamination; particulate matter air pollution; and overwhelming odor. This study finds that after the passage of the 1996 Farm Bill, the average market price of hog feed was 26% lower than what the feed cost to produce. This decline brought operating costs for CAFOs down by 15%. The savings to CAFOs between 1997 and 2005 averaged $947 million per year, a 535% increase over the 1986-1996 period. Also drawing on data provided in two academic studies that assess the cost of alternative manure-management strategies, we find that the use of alternative technologies and/or the acquisition of more land to reduce over-application of manure would raise CAFOs’ operating costs by 2.4%-10.7%, depending on the strategy employed.
We conclude that in an economic climate of full-cost feed and with more stringent environmental regulation, CAFOs would see their operating costs rise by between 17.4% and 25.7%. According to USDA estimates, this could virtually eliminate the apparent cost advantage CAFOs have had over mid-sized diversified hog producers. With these added costs, CAFOs may have difficulty out-competing mid-sized, diversified hog producers purely on cost. It may well be shown that CAFOs’ apparent economies of scale have been less the result of efficiency than they are the result of government policies that have favored large-scale industrial animal production.

Emerging Diseases of Africa and the Middle East

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Multifactorial testing of enrichment criteria: Pigs ‘demand’ hygiene and destructibility more than sound

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Environmental enrichment is important for the welfare of farm animals, which are often kept in barren environments (e.g. Young, 2003). In 2001 the European Commission adopted a directive (2001/93/EC) which states that: ‘‘Pigs must have permanent access to a sufficient quantity of material to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities, such as straw, hay, wood, sawdust, mushroom compost, peat or a mixture of such, which does not compromise the health of the animals.’’ The directive leaves considerable room for interpretation, as it is not clear what is proper investigation and manipulation. Furthermore, the value of enrichment material is most likely determined not only by the type of material as listed in the directive, but also by other material properties such as the amount and frequency of material provision, hygiene, destructibility and responsiveness. A semantic model, called RICHPIG, was constructed based on a systematic and formalized analysis of scientific information collected in a database (Bracke et al., 2007a,b). The relative importance of three assessment criteria (destructibility, hygiene and sound) were studied as treatments applied to groups of growing pigs in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorially designed experiment measuring a range of behavioural parameters. The objectives of the study were to examine how the treatments affect pig behaviour, how intensity-related measures relate to AMI, what this means for the relative importance of the three assessment criteria, and by implication to help further validate RICHPIG. These material properties were studied using a specially constructed object consisting of a piece of sisal rope, metal wire and three fixed chain links hanging in the pens. The object was considered to be not destructible (ND), hygienic (HY) and not making sound (NS). After a habituation period of 18 h treatments were applied in that the object was (or was not) made destructible with a partial cut in the rope (DE) and/or was soiled with excreta (not hygienic, NH) and/or was allowed to make a tinkling sound by releasing the chain links (SO). The three treatments were applied in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design on a commercial farm in seven replicates using seven different units containing eight pens per unit. At five moments in time, ranging from 18 h before until 1 h after treatment, a range of behaviours was recorded including the frequency-related parameter AMI (animal–material interactions) and four intensity related parameters. Repeated measures ANOVA’s showed significant effects of time and hygiene as well as interactions between time and hygiene, between time and destructibility and between destructibility and sound. Soiling (NH) significantly decreased, and destructibility (DE) significantly increased attractiveness, while sound (SO) was not significant. Only moderate correlations between AMI and the four, intensity related parameters were found, indicating that frequency-related parameters alone may not suffice to determine behavioural importance for animal welfare. This study showed that it is in principle possible to study material properties independent of material type and that it is in principle possible to measure behavioural intensities on a commercial farm. Furthermore, the finding that hygiene and destructibility were more important for pigs than tinkling sounds provided preliminary support for the RICHPIG model.

Nutrient Requirements of Prolific Sows

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The nutrient requirements of modern sows, and the availability of dietary nutrients for sows, are very poorly known in comparison to our knowledge of growing pigs. The number of published research papers in the last 40 years on growing pig nutrition is in the tens of thousands, however, there are only about 800 publications on sow nutrition listed in the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau database –less than 1% of all publications concerning pigs. If we still don’t know everything we need to about how to feed growing pigs – imagine what we don’t know about sows! The productivity of sows has increased dramatically in the last 20 years, however, the research, upon which current dietary recommendations are based, dates from the late 1970’s to the early 1990’s (ARC 1981, NRC 1998).
In addition, many of the nutrient recommendations for sows are unverified extrapolations from research in growing pigs. Our recent research shows that the current recommendations for both energy and amino acid intake in sows (NRC 1998) are incorrect by a significant margin. The economic benefit to producers of research to revise and update the energy and amino acid requirements of sows is estimated to be worth in excess of $4.50 per pig marketed (Grier et al 2006).

Guidelines For Estimating Weaner Pig (Nursery) Costs 5 – 23 kg Based on marketing 35,308 pigs

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The Ethanol Industry, Dried Distiller's Grains With Solubles (DDGS), And Their Impact On Pork Production

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In the USA corn supply is increasingly being fed to the ethanol industry, which could very well create a battle between the livestock industry and the ethanol industry. The increased production of ethanol results in increased corn price, increased corn acreage, decreased corn exports, and increased feed use of ethanol by-products (DDGS). DDGS is high in energy and can be a good partial substitute for corn in swine diets. The high digestibility of phosphorus works well with the fact that there is less heat damage to DDGS, which increases lysine digestibility. It is thought that DDGS may improve gut health, and sows fed DDGS weaned more pigs per litter and the pigs had a slightly improved growth rate. However, DDGS does have some limitations. Because of the high fibre content and low liquid content, manure output increases slightly. Because they are 10% corn oil, carcass quality decreases. Feeding DDGS could potentially reduce palatability, feed intake, and growth rate. Studies are currently being done on other ethanol by-product uses.

Starch and energy digestibility in weaned pigs fed extruded zero-tannin faba bean starch and wheat as an energy source

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Digestion of extruded
starch is poorly characterized. Two diets containing wheat or faba bean starch were extruded individually or combined
50:50 (wt/wt) and fed to weaned pigs. Ileal starch digestion tended to be higher (P<0.10) for the extruded wheat diet than the extruded faba bean diets, while total tract digestibility of starch and energy was higher (P<0.05) for the two extruded faba bean starch diets than the extruded wheat diet. Feed intake tended to be higher (P<0.10) for extruded faba bean starch diet, but final body weight was not affected by extruded starch source. The in vivo kinetics of starch and energy digestion differed between extruded wheat and faba bean starch diets.

Disinfection of Swine Barns

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A number of important criteria must be considered when selecting an appropriate and effective disinfectant. Disinfectants should: be free of strong and objectionable odours; not be corrosive; not remain strongly toxic after their application nor excessively irritating; be effective at ordinary temperatures when diluted with water, and readily mix with water; be packaged in such a form and concentration that they are easy to transport, mix and economical to use; and have a high fast-acting antimicrobial potency even in heavily contaminated areas. Some widely used disinfectants include formaldehyde, chlorine (bleach), quaternary ammonium compounds, phenolic disinfectants, hydrogen peroxide, virkon, alcohols, chlorhexidine, iodine, and iodophors. The application of some of these disinfectants may mean the careful calibration of high-pressure washer equipment in order to achieve the desired concentration. The following is a summary of the steps to properly clean and disinfect a premises:
1.All manure, litter, and unused feed should be removed.
2.All surfaces should be thoroughly cleaned with a high pressure (preferably steam) washer with a good detergent, including feeding utensils.
3.All surfaces should be sprayed with a liberal amount of appropriate disinfectant.
4.In some cases, it may be necessary to rinse the disinfectant off all surfaces.
5.If spraying cannot adequately disinfect the premises, consideration should be given to fumigation.
6.Allow the facility to dry and remain vacant for several days before restocking

Better Handling, Better Pork

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Major factors impacting behavioral and physiological responses of the pig during handling and transport include genetics, slaughter weight, environmental conditions (temperature and humidity), health status, marketing strategy, time off feed, pre-transport experiences, facility design, and the nature of the handling method. (Ritter et al., 2005). Even the “best” handling and transportation conditions will cause significant changes in the pigs’ physiology, their behavior and consequently negatively impact pig performance and the quality of the pork delivered to the consuming public. US Industry statistics report an average Dead on Arrival (DOA) at processing plants for 2004 of 0.23% of pigs marketed. This results in a total lost opportunity of $2.44 US per finisher head per year. However, these direct financial impacts represent only a small fraction of the true cost of marketing and pig transportation stress. There are many other lost efficiencies, increased costs and risks associated with pig transportation. Fatigued and dead pigs disrupt the standard animal flow resulting in reduced processing plant and transportation efficiencies. Therefore many processors are now not only charging the cost of a DOA animal back to the producer, but are also charging the cost for an animal received in a compromised state regardless of whether the animal is processed for consumption or rendered as a byproduct. These costs and losses in efficiencies are all secondary to the ethical obligations and moral responsibilities we have to the animals under our care and to the consumers trusting the pork industry to produce, transport and process our animals in a humane and compassionate manner. In all methods of production, the pig is subjected to many internal and external stressors throughout its life. It is only when the stress level exceeds the body’s capacity to cope that the pigs’ well-being is compromised. The inability to cope will result in loss of efficiency and long term harm with the ultimate extreme being death (Moberg and Mench, 2000). In order to provide a safe and efficient system to market pigs, it is of the utmost importance to have a thorough understanding of their composition and physical attributes. The animal handler’s primary objective is to minimize the animal’s level of fear and therefore their negative stress by maximizing positive interactions while encouraging the animal to move to the target location. This is accomplished by understanding the animal’s point of balance and how to manipulate the edge of the flight zone. The majority of pigs can be moved simply by understanding and utilizing the point of balance without ever having to employ a moving aid (Grandin, 2006). The goal of any handling and loading system should be to provide a continuous unidirectional flow of pigs from the pen to the trailer and trailer into the plant, with minimal amount of stress on the animal. Pigs load and transport best in a highly controlled, consistent environment that eliminates distractions and mimics the features of the home pen. This control should include all major and minor aspects of the animals’ environment, such as chute width, ramp slope, wall coloration, lighting, flooring material, airflow patterns, etc. To maintain a high level of success requires constant vigilance and evaluation of the system to identify areas for improvement. This requires a collaborative effort of the producer, the transport company and processing facility. At a minimum, the factors that should be continuously monitored (TQA, 2005) are average live weight, load time (on a per pig basis), death loss (in transit and at the plant), non-ambulatory pigs and an identified reason (lame, fatigued, etc). Additional information including loading personnel, driver, trailer identification, prod usage, slips/falls percentage and chute integrity can be useful for continually improving the loading system.