Antibiotic-Resistant Enterococci and Fecal Indicators in Surface Water and Groundwater Impacted by a Concentrated Swine Feeding Operation

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

Using Electricity to Kill Odour in Hog Manure

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Researching how to reduce odours from hog operations
is important in building good community relationships
between producers and their neighbours. Nigel J. Bunce, Professor of Chemistry, Research Associate
Dorin Bejan and Lisa Rabson, who will shortly start her M. Sc.
in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Guelph,
have previously shown that flowing an electric current
through liquid hog manure, using a process known as electrolysis,
can kill bacteria effectively on a small scale.
Even though there are challenges, using electrolysis is
advantageous to chemical treatment of manure because
it requires less complicated equipment and can be accomplished
at ordinary temperature and pressure. Additionally,
Bunce says, “reducing odour with electricity costs less than
using chemicals.” The team is planning further studies involving more
field treatments at a scale of 1,500 litres, which will
identify the lower limit of applied current needed and
the optimum treatment period
required to reduce bacterial populations
and odour in manure on
a large scale.

Production vs. Profit: Balancing Revenues and Costs

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments

Response of growing and finishing pigs to high and low crude protein diets

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments

Availability of crystalline amino acids has allowed reduction in the crude protein (CP) content of swine diets. Low CP diets supplemented with essential amino acids can decrease nitrogen excretion in the manure and is often more cost effective than using an additional amount of the particular protein source. Two experiments were conducted to study the performance of growing and finishing pigs fed high and low CP (4% lower) diets supplemented with crystalline amino acids. These experiment confirmed that performance could be maintained when either high or low crude protein diets are fed if amino acids are balanced and the diets are formulated to be similar in net energy.

Does Marketing Heavier Weights Pay

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Changes in agricultural policy throughout North America have seen a significant shift in the production and consumption of traditional feed grains. In particular the development of the ethanol industry will create significant challenges for the feeding sectors, especially in years when grain supplies may be limiting. Within the past 12 months pork producers within western Canada have experienced an increase in feed prices of between $10 – $16 per hog marketed.

Historically low feed grain prices through the previous two years have resulted in a higher finished hog weight, simply put, because pork producers generated a higher net income due to the low cost per kg gain. In addition, packers within western Canada have also taken this lead, through grid and loin premium enhancements that encouraged pork producers to increase market hog weight. Rising feed costs and fluctuating market hog prices are generating tight profit margins. Does marketing hogs at heavier weights continue to generate the greatest profit potential?

SOCIOLOGIE

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Les contraintes sociales comme décrites par Thu (1996) se réfèrent aux relations, interactions et valeurs
entre les personnes, la famille, le voisinage, la communauté et un groupe et celles-ci influencent le
comportement, les perceptions, les croyances, la qualité de vie et l’adaptation à des conditions
économiques. Les interactions entre les gens et leur environnement sont au coeur de ces contraintes
sociales.
Comme rapporté dans les comptes rendus de « Understanding the Impacts of Large-scale Swine
Production », organisé par Donham et Thu (1995), l’expansion de la production porcine est bien
documentée. Jusqu’à maintenant la plupart de l’attention a été portée sur les aspects technologiques de la
production et peu d’information existe sur les dimensions sociales de ces changements. Une attention
insuffisante a été consacrée à la compréhension de la manière dont les résidents et les communautés
rurales réagissent à ces importants changements technologiques qui surviennent avec l’industrialisation de
la production porcine (Thu, 1996). Par conséquent, plusieurs questions formulées par des producteurs,
des leaders communautaires et des groupes de développement communautaire sur les impacts potentiels
de l’expansion des porcheries de grande taille restent sans réponse.
Dans une tentative de mieux comprendre les contraintes sociales dont fait face la production porcine (tant
du point de vue des opposants que du point de vue des défenseurs), des entrevues personnelles et de
groupe ont été utilisées pour fournir des données qualitatives sur leurs raisons et leurs arguments. Ces
entrevues aident à comprendre « la réalité et l’objectivité » des plaintes des communautés (Donham et
Thu, 1996), et souvent comment la communication entre des groupes opposés est mauvaise.
L’honnêteté, le respect et la réciprocité sont les bases pour des relations humaines, sociales et de bon
voisinage harmonieuses. Dans certains cas, les changements survenus dans l’industrie porcine ont violé
ces valeurs. Inclus dans la liste des violations sont les exemples suivants: une construction qui débute
sans que les voisins ne soient informés comme si aucun inconvénient ne découlerait de cette nouvelle
installation; les craintes des voisins à propos des odeurs considérées comme n’étant qu’émotionnelles,
subjectives, ne relevant que des perceptions et invalides et, comme n’ayant aucune base scientifique; le
manque de solidarité car les voisins ne travaillent pas ensemble pour trouver des solutions; et finalement
les aspects économiques et politiques du projet qui prennent une place prédominante dans les relations
entre voisins avec bien peu d’emphase les aspects sociaux (Thu, 1996).
Les odeurs sont perçues comme la principale contrainte de l’industrie porcine, cependant Thu (1996)
présente plusieurs autres aspects qui ont été soulevés lors des entrevues avec des résidents représentant
différents milieux en Caroline du Nord et en Iowa. Ceci suggère que la résolution des problèmes
d’odeurs ne solutionnerait pas tous les problèmes auquels font face les producteurs de porcs. Thu
(1996:63) a listé ces craintes comme étant: la peur de contamination des cours d’eau publics et des puits,
une diminution des valeurs immobiliaires, la disparition des fermes porcines familiales, des pertes
d’emplois, une perte de contrôle au niveau de la communauté, une perte de valeurs communautaires
comme le voisinage, une absence de prises de décision officielles en plus de problèmes plus spécifiques
reliés aux odeurs qui incluent les empêchements des activités sociales et familiales habituelles et le
développement d’une foule de symptômes au niveau de la santé.
Par exemple, des individus se sentiront lésés par les activités agricoles lorsqu’ils ne peuvent plus profiter
des activités de plein air dans leur cour autant qu’ils n’aimeraient et ce à cause des nuisances (odeurs ou
poussières), que des odeurs fortes envahissent leur maison sur de longues périodes, que les eaux de
surface et souterraines se dégradent ou qu’ils sentent une menace pour leur santé (Tessier, 1998).

“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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Effect of Farm Floor Type on the Behaviour of Heavy Pigs during Pre-slaughter Handling

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In pig production, the relationships between welfare and the housing system are assuming increasing importance. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, 2005) has recently collected the results of several studies on the effects that different kinds of floor and different space allowances have on the health, performance and behaviour of pigs into a scientific report. The aim of this study was to evaluate for heavy pigs, the possible relationships between the kind of floor and the physiological and behavioural responses during pre-slaughter handling. Seventy-five crossbreed Duroc x (Landrace x Large White) heavy pigs (average hot carcass weight 134.6 kg), mostly castrated males, were examined. All animals were supplied by one farm; 37 were reared in 3 boxes with a solid floor and 38 were reared in 3 boxes with a full slatted floor. The space allowances ranged from 0.97 m² to 1.15 m² for the former group and from 0.70 m² to 0.89 m² for the latter group. All subjects were delivered to the slaughterhouse in one consignment using a three-deck truck. All passageways had solid floors. At the end of the journey, which lasted 44 min, and after a rest of 9 min in the truck, the pigs were unloaded and kept in the resting pens, with solid floors, maintaining the division of the boxes from the farm. After 30 min of lairage the pigs were stunned by electronarcosis. The behavioural events were recorded at loading and unloading, in the upper deck of the truck and in the resting pens. During loading and unloading the number of reversals, balks, falls, slips, jumps, bites, evacuations and vocalizations were recorded for each group of pigs. From the observations made during the journey and during the lairage, the frequency of pigs standing, sitting and lying down were calculated. At the exsanguination, blood samples were collected for the determination of plasmatic content of cortisol, lactate and creatine kinase. The frequency of behavioural events and positions were evaluated by a ÷² test (Fisher exact test) while the plasma blood analysis data, previously normalized by a log transformation, were processed using ANOVA by the GLM procedure of SAS (1996). At loading, the pigs reared on the slatted floor were more difficult to drive along the passageway leading to the vehicle, as demonstrated by the reversals and balks, which reached a total of 77 % of the observed events. These difficulties could be due to a low tendency to move in the farm boxes, as is common for pigs reared on slatted floors (EFSA, 2005), and to the novelty of the kind of flooring encountered to reach the vehicle. Instead, the pigs reared on the solid floor did not show any difficulties in running quickly along the passageway. During transport, the pigs from the boxes with slatted floors lay down before the end of the journey while pigs reared on solid floors showed this behaviour only when the vehicle was stopped at the slaughterhouse and in the lairage pens. Overall, the different kind of floor encountered during pre-slaughter handling increased the psychological stress in the pigs reared on slatted floors, as suggested by the higher level of cortisol. Nevertheless, the condition experienced did not lead to physical stress, as demonstrated by the similar values of lactate and creatine kinase between the two groups of pigs.