LA CIRCULATION

Posted in: French Articles by admin on January 1, 2007 | No Comments

La circulation associée à la production porcine a jusqu’à maintenant reçu peu d’attention comme un enjeu
environnemental. Les chapitres sur les bruits et les sols doivent être consultés pour obtenir des
informations complémentaires à la circulation.
La taille des unités de production a un effet sur le niveau de circulation associé avec les opérations.
rendant à l’abattoir, plus de lisier qui doit être amené aux champs pour l’épandage). Comme mentionné
par Lines et al. (1994), les bruits associés à cette circulation peut devenir une nuisance pour les voisins à
un moment donné (pour la production porcine, ça peut être à la fin de la période d’engraissement, lors des
épandages). Éviter ou limiter la circulation le soir et la nuit est un moyen de réduire les nuisances.
Comme discuté dans le chapitre sur les sols, la compaction produite par la circulation des équipements
lors de l’épandage des fumiers/lisiers doit être considérée comme un effet à long terme et peut être
mesurée par une diminution des rendements de culture et une dégradation des sols (Tessier et al., 1995).
De plus de lourdes charges qui vont aux fermes ou qui les quittent peuvent causer des dommages
importants aux routes d’accès et publiques si celles-ci ne sont pas bien conçues et construites pour
supporter de la circulation lourde.

“Confidence vs. Fear” – Key in Biofuels Debate

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The biofuels boom will pose an important challenge for livestock producers by driving up the cost of feed grains. But the long-term implications of this ethanol emphasis are far from certain and how livestock producers fare will depend heavily on the mindset they adopt. That was the perspective of Larry Martin, CEO of the George Morris Centre, and Brian Knudson, brand manager with Cargill, in a feed competitiveness session at the 2007 Banff Pork Seminar. Many important questions are unanswered, including whether ethanol production from corn and other feedgrains will be sustainable. Unknown breakthroughs could also shake-up the dynamics says Martin. He also states that byproducts from ethanol production have been touted as an alternative feed source, but that potential is limited. Also Martin says that many factors point to a sustained increase in biofuel production, including US government policies aimed at reducing reliance on foreign oil and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Cargill’s Brian Knudson says that the emergence of biofuels is a dramatic paradigm shift for agriculture. Biofuels will have a huge impact on pork category and mindset will be critical for producers to recognize and prosper in the new environment. Focusing on nutrients has helped Cargill teams make better and faster decisions by having a clearer understanding of value, says Knudson. “Tomorrow there will be a new value base and the opportunities once again will lie in recognizing that.”

The Changing Economics of U.S. Hog Production

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This report analyzes changes in the characteristics, production practices, and
production costs of U.S. hog operations over the past 15 years. The objective
is to emphasize economic relationships that have affected the size and
ownership structure of hog production and the impact of these changes on
industry productivity. It was found that while productivity gains can benefit consumers in terms of lower food
prices, structural changes that enable efficiency gains may also generate
environmental concerns. Increases in the scale of production resulting in
greater animal density may require operations to store manure in larger
lagoons/pits—creating concentrated levels of odor, ammonia emissions, and
the potential for larger manure spills. The concentration of hog manure
makes it more costly to use as fertilizer as more land is needed and transportation
costs to fields are greater. On the other hand, concentrating
manure sources in fewer locations potentially affects fewer people. Additionally,
greater concentration may make some manure treatment technologies
feasible (e.g., energy from biowaste, or processing into concentrated
fertilizer).

Expression of porcine circovirus 2 ORF2 gene requires codon optimized E. coli cells

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Expert judgement on enrichment materials for pigs validates preliminary RICHPIG model

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Environmental enrichment is important for animal welfare, as farm animals 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’’. This directive has been implemented in most EU member state’s legislation; however, a problem with the directive is that it is not clear. For example, it does not explain whether metal chains, ropes, rubber toys or hard plastic balls are sufficient materials to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities. In addition, the value of an enrichment material is most likely determined not only by the type of material, but also by other properties of the material such as the amount and frequency of material provision. A model, called RICHPIG, has been developed to calculate scores for the (relative) enrichment value of different materials from the point of view of the animals. In the model a number of benchmark treatments have been incorporated. These benchmarks do not only illustrate how the model works, they also provide a frame of reference for the assessment of new treatments. A preliminary version of RICHPIG was used to calculate scores (on a scale from 0, worst, to 10, best) for a set of enrichment materials and subsequently experts were asked to evaluate these materials and the model scores. This generated a first validation of the model, which can always be developed further as it has been constructed in a flexible format where information can be added when it becomes available. It serves as a statement regarding how internationally recognised experts assess enrichment materials in relation to proposed model scores, given the present state of science. The aim of this paper, therefore, was to examine expert opinion concerning enrichment materials for pigs and to determine how their scores relate to preliminary model scores. Using an e-mail questionnaire expert opinion was elicited in order to ‘validate’ the preliminary model. In total nine senior pig welfare experts assessed 64 enrichment materials ordered according to the preliminary model. Materials that generated the lowest scores included a mirror (attached to the wall), a concrete block, a rubber mat, straw at an absolute minimum, a mineral block, a heavy plastic ball, a chain, a rubber hose cross, a free toy (sow neck tether), a hanging car tire and a bucket (all median expert scores). Materials that generated the highest scores included whole straw with chopped beet roots, with maize silage or with additional feed, a bale of straw, long straw with fir branches and straw with forest bark and branches. Materials that the experts suggest as the minimum of what they consider acceptable enrichment included compost from a dispenser, straw pellets (loose or from a plastic dispenser) and straw in a metal basket. A high correlation was found between the preliminary model scores and the expert medians. This finding was confirmed in a workshop at an international conference, suggesting that there may be considerable scope for modelling to support ethical and political decision-making in the area of environmental enrichment for pigs.

Pig’s responses to repeated social regrouping and relocation during the growing-finishing period

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Producer–Researcher Interactions in On-Farm Research: A Case Study on Developing a Certified Organic Research Site

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FARMER AND PIG EXPOSURE TO AERIAL CONTAMINANTS IN A PIG CONFINEMENT BUILDING

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Impact of feeding fermentable proteins and carbohydrates on growth performance, gut health and gastrointestinal function of newly weaned pigs

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Feeding fermentable carbohydrates (FC) to weanling pigs may reduce the negative impact of
proteolytic fermentation on gastrointestinal health and function. A total of 144 newly weaned pigs [6.23 kg body weight
(BW); six pens per treatment; six pigs per pen) were used to determine the interactive effects of feeding additional
fermentable protein (FP) and FC on growth performance, gastrointestinal function and intestinal health. Dietary
treatments, based on a 2×2 factorial arrangement, were: (1) basal diet (control); (2) control +10% poultry meal (PM) as
FP source; (3) control +5% beet pulp (BP) as FC source; and (4) control +10% PM and 5% BP. Diets were formulated to
be similar in digestible energy (DE) and digestible amino acid contents. In general, no interactive effects of FC and FP were
observed (P>0.10). During the 3-wk post-weaning period, feeding FP reduced average daily gain (ADG) (242 vs. 269 g
d-1; PB0.05), while FC increased ADG (269 vs. 243 g d-1; PB0.05). Overall, feed intake did not differ between
treatments (P>0.10). On days 14 and 28 post-weaning, Clostridia spp. counts in colon contents, counts of white cells and
segmented neutrophils in blood were lowered (P<0.05) by feeding FC. Blood urea nitrogen was increased by feeding FP (9.5 vs. 6.5 mg dL-1; P<0.05), while ammonia concentration in colon contents was lowered by FC (154 vs. 193 mg mL-1) (P=0.06). Among biogenic amines, levels of tyramine (140 vs. 304 nmol g-1 DM) and spermidine (174 vs. 219 nmol g-1 DM) in colon contents were lowered (P<0.05) by FC. Acetic, proprionic and butyric acid contents in colon contents were increased by feeding FC, while valeric and caproic acid content decreased by feeding FP (P<0.05). Feeding FC and FP had no effect (P>0.10) on colon histology, pH, fecal consistency score and organ weights. Results suggest that FP and FC
have independent effects on newly weaned pigs, while effects appear partly related to changes in gut microbiota.

Attracting and Keeping Immigrant Labour

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With the ever-increasing demand on labour in Alberta due to the “hot” economy and fewer people wanting to join the primary agriculture sector, this has created challenges to staffing requirements, both at a skilled and unskilled level. The unemployment rate across Canada is at an all time low of 6.1% with Alberta being the lowest at 3.8%. Once the unemployment rate gets below 5% the demand out strips supply. The first part in recruiting foreign labour is obtaining an LMO (labour market opinions) from Service Canada. The employer sends the information about the job to Service Canada and they poll the market place to see if there is a need for the type of worker you want to hire, you are paying them fairly and equivalent to a Canadian and they meet the skill requirements. It is all assessed on the NOC (National Occupation code) matrix. Once the employer has met the requirements and has received positive confirmation this can then be sent to the applicant overseas. The applicant will then take/mail this with a job offer from the employer to the Canadian Embassy in their country to apply for a work permit. There are a few challenges with new workers from a different culture and not speaking much English and there is quite a bit of preparation that had to be done prior to arrival, such as accommodation, bedding, cooking utensils, bank account, social insurance number, health care insurance, mail, transportation, drivers license, etc. Further acclimation into the community and Canada is an on-going process. Depending on the language skill of the foreign workers you may need to setup for some ESL (English as Second Language) classes. Once they get the basic principles they seem to be able to grasp more of the daily language in the workplace. They may even start looking at staying for the long term. For the ones that would like to stay permanently, the employer can sponsor them through the Provincial Nomination Program. The employees are usually skilled livestock workers who want to start a life in Canada; some have a spouse and children at home that want to eventually come and live in Canada. The initial application does take some effort and time, but once you have an allocation it is relatively simple to identify candidates. Once this is approved the candidate must apply for nomination. Once they receive their nomination they then apply to Citizenship & Immigration Canada for Permanent Residency. Foreign workers are not a quick or “easy fix” for labour shortages, as they require a greater effort by management. Not only do they require the same on-farm management as Canadian employees but also they come with all the additional things noted above, which have additional costs associated with them. Labour challenges are not only going to continue for the foreseeable future but the cost associated with recruiting and retaining foreign workers is continuing to push up total labour cost on the farm. It is definitely a challenge to start with, but the effort put in is definitely been worthwhile. The foreign employees are worth their weight in gold. If it was not for them some companies would not be able to make it through the times of labour shortages.