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Prairie Swine Centre is an affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan
Prairie Swine Centre is grateful for the assistance of the George Morris Centre in developing the economics portion of Pork Insight.
Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:
LES BRUITS
Posted in: French Articles by admin on January 1, 2007 | No Comments
Le bruit qui résulte des pratiques agricoles ne crée pas autant de nuisance que d’autres activités comme
les bruits reliés à la circulation aérienne, ferrovière ou routière (Lines and al., 1994). Cependant, lorsque
la taille des unités de production augmente, plus de circulation est associée aux opérations, ceci inclut
plus de tranport d’aliments sous la forme de moulée ou de grains et suppléments, et plus de sorties
d’extrants de la ferme (plus de porcs se rendent 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
peuvent 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.
De plus, lorsque la taille du cheptel augmente, plus de bruits générés par les animaux, les systèmes de
ventilation et d’alimentation viennent des bâtiments. Différents types de systèmes de ventilation comme
les ventilateurs d’extraction d’air montés sur des cheminées ou l’utilisation de la ventilation naturelle
peuvent réduire le niveau sonore généré par la ventilation. Cependant, le choix d’un site permettant de
réduire l’impact des odeurs, fournira généralement une protection contre les bruits venant des bâtiments
ou des activités reliées à la gestion des fumiers/lisiers (brassage, pompage et reprise à la structure
d’entreposage).
Comme présenté par Peng et Lines (1995), plusieurs facteurs sont interreliés à la propagation du bruit, ils
incluent la distance, l’absorption de l’air, les conditions météorologiques et la couverture au sol. De ces
facteurs, seule la couverture au sol peut être contrôlée par les agriculteurs. Des méthodes ou modèles
seraient des outils importants pour mieux comprendre le bruit, sa propagation et les différents facteurs qui
ont un impact sur celui-ci. Par exemple, la couverture au sol, la rugosité et les barrières ou clôtures ont
toutes des effets sur la turbulence de l’air et le mouvement du bruit au-dessus des terres agricoles. Plus de
travail est nécesaire pour mieux comprendre les effets de ces éléments.
Length of productive life of crossbred sows is affected by farm management, leg conformation, sow’s own prolificacy, sow’s origin parity and genetics
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The purpose of current study was to determine if the parity of the litter in which a female was born and the number of pigs within that same litter are associated with future length of productive life (LPL). An additional objective
of the study was to examine the associations of leg conformation, age at first farrowing, litter size at first farrowing, and age and backfat thickness at 100 kg on LPL in the Finnish crossbred (Landrace X Large White or Large
White X Landrace) population. The results indicate that farm X year interaction very clearly affects LPL. Thus, farm conditions and management are the first factors producers should examine if LPL problems exist within a pork operation. The results further indicated that gilts farrowing at an earlier age tended to remain in the herd for a greater amount of time when compared with gilts which farrowed their first litter at an older age. Additionally, first parity litter size was significantly associated with LPL. Lastly, sufficient genetic variation for LPL was observed such that it should be possible to improve LPL through traditional selection methodology in an efficient breeding programme.
The effect of gilts’ age on inactivity in a behavioural test
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By screening for maternal qualities before puberty, it would be possible to detect and exclude gilts with a potentially high occurrence of risky behaviour with respect to early piglet mortality, and solely use potentially good mothers for reproduction. Thodberg et al. (1999) showed, that gilts’ reactivity in different stressful test situations at 4–4.5 months of age could predict maternal quality to some extent. In order to perform such a test under practical conditions it would be more efficient, though, if gilts of a wide age span could be subjected to the test. However, a non-detected change in reactivity with age entails the risk of selecting ‘‘suboptimal’’ gilts for reproduction. If gilts are to be tested at different ages, consistency of the behaviour trait used for selecting potentially good from potentially poor mothers has to be demonstrated. The present study aimed at investigating whether gilts’ reactivity in an arena test changes with age. The present study investigated whether gilts’ reactivity in an arena test, developed for selecting prepubertal gilts for reproduction, changed with age. One hundred and twenty gilts were used in the study of which 60 were tested at 3 months of age and re-tested at 4.5 months of age and 60 were tested only at 4.5 months of age. During the 3 min arena test the duration of inactivity was recorded by direct observation. The results from the present study showed that gilts were less inactive, when exposed to the arena test at 4.5 months compared to 3 months. This change in inactivity was due to an effect of age and not to an adaptation to the test situation since no difference was found between the gilts in the group re-tested at 4.5 months and the gilts in the control group, which had never been exposed to the arena test before. The measure of inactivity shows some consistency across time. Thus if a selection of prepubertal gilts is to be made, based on the arena test, the results of the present study show that the selection should be carried out within gilts tested at the same age.
Responses to Delayed Estrus after Weaning in Sows Using Oral Progestagen Treatment
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Altrenogest is an orally active progesterone-like compound that can be used to effectively synchronize estrus in cyclic gilts. In sows, progestagen treatment can aid in maximizing farrowing crate utilization by reducing the variation in services per week, increasing the number of pigs weaned per week, reducing variation in weekly weaned pig output and increasing overall breeding herd productivity. A negative energy balance in primiparous sows at weaning is often associated with extended weaning-to-estrus intervals and the syndrome known as the ‘second parity dip’ in sow fertility. Feeding progestagen to weaned sows essentially extends the weaning-to-service interval and allows the sows additional time to recover after weaning. This has been shown to improve the percentage of sows in estrus within 7 days of withdrawal, increase ovulation rate and/or embryo survival, and litter size (Kemp et al., 2006. University of Alberta/University of Minnesota Leman Pre-Conference Reproduction Workshop). The duration of progestagen treatment after weaning needed to produce optimal sow productivity is still unclear. Periods of 3 to 5 days after weaning are traditionally used in batch-farrowing systems (Martinat-Botté et al. 1995. Journees de la recherche porcine en France 27:51-56). However, changing physiology of the weaned sow (Kemp et al., 2006) suggests that longer periods of progestagen treatment may produce results more analogous to the response to ‘skip-a-heat’ breeding. In this experiment groups of multiparous sows (n = 749) weaned in two consecutive three-week periods in June and July were organized into two breeding weeks using the following strategies: M0 (n = 250): Wean weeks 3 and 6 (no progestagen treatment); M7 (n = 250): Wean weeks 2 and 4 (progestagen treatment for two days before and five days after weaning.); and M14 (n = 249): Wean weeks 1 and 3 (progestagen for two days before and 12 days after weaning). The results suggest that feeding progestagen was effective in delaying and synchronizing the return to estrus in weaned sows, and the duration of the treatment affected subsequent sow productivity. Sows treated with progestagen for 12 days after weaning produced the highest percentage of sows bred within 10 days of progestagen withdrawal and pregnant at day 50 of gestation. Also, feeding progestagen resulted in an increase in the number of fetuses at day 50 of gestation similar to that seen in previous ‘skip-a-heat’ studies. These results suggest that a longer progestagen treatment period than the five days typically used in batch-farrowing systems, would be likely to produce the same benefits to sow productivity as seen in response to ‘skip-a-heat’ breeding.
“Protecting Animals, Food, and People”
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The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for discussing the future direction of
animal health and welfare, food safety, and veterinary public health programs and
services within the Province of Manitoba. It will propose a long-term vision that will
guide the Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) over the next decade. It will also
propose a mission statement that will contain four strategic themes that will be
addressed in the short to medium term. These themes will form the basis for creating
three-year directional plans with measurable outcomes.
PMWS Quebec Situation: Examples and Efforts to Control
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PMWS has hit the Quebec swine industry hard since 2004. Dr. Camille Moore did a study of the mortality of growing pigs for the first 8 months of 2005 in comparison to 2004. After he completed this study he created a large list of intervention strategies that producers can follow to attempt to control PMWS, in which most of them failed. In order to attempt to control this disease, Drs. MC Germain and Alain Ricard studied vaccinations. Circovac from France is to be given to sows before farrowing and partially depends on colostrums intake of the piglets. Circovac has resulted in variable reduction in mortality in the grow/finish period, but has shown a general improvement. Vaccines against PCV2 are now available as well.
Diversity and evolution of a newly emerged North American Type 1 porcine arterivirus: analysis of isolates collected between 1999 and 2004
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European-like Type 1 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) isolates, known
as North American (NA) Type 1 PRRSV, appeared in United States (U.S.) swine herds in 1999. Their
diversity and evolution were studied over a fiveyear period by constructing phylogenetic trees using
nsp2 and ORF5 sequences of 20 NAType 1 isolates, including the only known isolate from Hawaii. All
but two of the isolates possessed the same 51-nt deletion in nsp2, suggesting a clonal origin. Parsimony and distance analysis showed that viruses could be placed into two distinct sub-clades, which were similar for both nsp2 and ORF5. An incongruity between the two trees identified one isolate, 04-41, as the product of recombination. Recombination analysis using SimPlot identified a break point located downstream of the nsp2=3 junction. Results from this study suggest that NAType 1 PRRSVin the U.S. is a well-established and rapidly evolving group. However, the forces driving genetic diversity and separation are complex and remain to be elucidated.
Team tracks antibiotic resistance from swine farms to groundwater
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In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois report that some genes found in hog waste lagoons are transferred from one bacterial species to another. The researchers found that this migration across species and into new environments sometimes dilutes – and sometimes amplifies – genes conferring antibiotic resistance. Tetracycline is widely used in swine production. It is injected into the animals to treat or prevent disease and is often used as an additive in hog feed to boost the animals’ growth. Its near-continuous use in some hog farms promotes the evolution of tetracycline-resistant strains in the animals’ digestive tracts and manure. The migration of antibiotic resistance from animal feeding operations into groundwater has broad implications for human and ecological health. There are roughly 238,000 animal feeding operations in the U.S., which collectively generate about 500 million tons of manure per year. Groundwater comprises about 40 percent of the public water supply and more than 97 percent of the drinking water used in rural areas. Federal law mandates that animal facilities develop nutrient management plans to protect surface water and groundwater from fecal contamination. During the study, researchers extracted bacterial DNA from lagoons and groundwater wells at two study sites over a period of three years. They screened these samples for seven different tetracycline resistance genes. They found fluctuating levels of every one of the seven genes for which they screened in the lagoons. They also found that these genes were migrating from the lagoons to some of the groundwater wells. It should be noted that many genes that confer antibiotic resistance occur naturally in the environment. Tetracycline is itself a bacterial product, employed by Streptomyces bacteria long before humans discovered its usefulness. In order to determine the origin of the tetracycline resistance genes found in the groundwater, the researchers conducted a genetic analysis of one gene family, tet(W), in samples from the lagoons and from groundwater wells below (downgradient of) and above (upgradient to) the lagoons. They found that the variants of tet(W) genes in the upgradient, environmental control wells were distinct from those of the lagoons, while the wells downgradient of the lagoons contained genes consistent with both the background levels and those in the lagoons. The resistance genes were present at much higher levels in the lagoon than in the contaminated wells. Most were diluted as they moved away from the lagoons in the groundwater. There was one notable exception. A gene known as tet(C) was found at higher levels in some of the groundwater wells at Site A than in the lagoon. Its heightened presence was not consistent with background levels, indicating that something in the environment was amplifying this one gene, which had originated in the lagoon. Perhaps the gene had migrated to a new organism, Yannarell suggests, to find a host that was more suited to conditions in the groundwater. “What we are seeing is that the genes can travel a lot further than the bacteria,” Dr. Mackie says. “It’s a matter of getting the DNA into the right organism. It’s a relay race.”
A Guide to Application of Net Energy in Swine Feed Formulation
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Feeding pigs is the single most expensive aspect of pork production, accounting for as much as 70% of total costs. Surprisingly, at least 50% of these feed costs can be attributed to providing energy to the animal, thus making energy financially the most important nutrient. Many nutritionists have accepted and are formulating diets on the basis of standardized ileal digestible amino acids and the ideal protein concept. However, for energy, many North American nutritionists continue to formulate diets using digestible or metabolizable energy systems (DE or ME) as opposed to more advanced systems, such as net energy (NE). The purpose of this paper is to identify the benefits of using an NE system, and then to provide an outline for implementing NE into commercial production. The NE system was developed to provide more accurate estimates of the “true” energy in an ingredient (and subsequent diet) that is going to be available for a pig to use for maintenance and product formation (i.e. growth, gestation, lactation, etc.). The main difference between the NE system and the DE and ME systems is that the NE system considered the amount of heat lost during digestion and subsequent deposition of nutrients in protein and adipose tissue. A serious downfall of any energy system, including NE, is that most nutritionists have been and still are using the same energy values for their ingredients as they have been using for years. Of course, this may work for the NE as well, but it is certainly not the best management practice, because with every change in the crude nutrient (protein, fiber, fat, etc.) profile, there also is a change in the energy available from that ingredient. This paper focuses on providing a detailed guideline of how to proceed with implementing an NE system. As with any nutrient system, the ideal first step is to develop some sort of database that will help nutritionists better understand the ingredients and their roles in animal diets. A good place to start is by identifying the energy containing feed ingredients that would typically be used in the grow-finish diets. Grow-finish diets typically contain the least number of ingredients and these diets make up the bulk of the feed that a pig will consume over its lifetime. Furthermore, while the concepts of NE certainly apply to all phases of growth, it is conceivable that each phase of growth would require a different set of mathematical equations as the animal’s ability to extract nutrients, including energy, change as the animal grows. Once the energy containing feed ingredients have been identified, then the next step towards creating a NE database would be to collect each ingredient over a defined period of time. After analyzing the ingredients, the next step would be to incorporate the crude nutrient values into the NE equations so that a prediction of the NE content can be made. Next, the newly calculated NE values should be incorporated into the formulation software, and if not already present, add NE into each grow-finish diet matrix. Finally, once the nutritionist has become comfortable with the NE levels, then the nutritionist should make the switch. The implementation of a NE system is a major step forward from the use of the DE and ME systems. Combined with digestible amino acids and the ideal protein concept, a NE system will allow the nutritionist to formulate diets that provide the animal with the energy and amino acids that it needs for efficient and predictable growth and carcass performance. These systems promote better environmental stewardship for more sustainable pig production by improving nutrient utilization and efficiency. While NE may not be the final advancement to be made in energy evaluation systems (De Lange and Birkett, 2005), it is definitely a start in the right direction.
How Benchmark Database are Used as a Decision-Making Tool
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The use of benchmark results is not a new concept in swine production but has been minimally utilized in nursery and grow-finish pig production. Measuring nursery and growing pig performance is of paramount importance for a number of reasons. These include: identifying strengths, weaknesses and opportunities compared to defined targets; performing corrective diagnostics; assessing plans and progress, either technical or financial; assessing the value of a business proposal; and most importantly, to compare and benchmark. Benchmarking tools incorporating technical and financial metrics are also useful for validating the on-farm effect of new technologies and feeding strategies, including those derived from growth simulation models. This paper will highlight the power of benchmarking and describe experiences with a proprietary system, Compiporc. Closeout results for nursery and grow-finish pigs are entered into the Compiporc system according to the farm details. Wean-to-finish performances are not currently included, but will be part of future enhancements. Currently the Compiporc database contains closeout data since 2000, which includes over 8,000,000 nursery and grow-finish pigs. Various reports can be produced for nursery and grow-finish including: a general benchmark report, a technical and economical report per period, a nutrient management report and a slaughterhouse report. The use of benchmarking data to support decision-making processes has always and will continue to be of crucial importance in pork production. This paper illustrates a few examples of how it has been and could be used but there are endless other ways of mining the data to improve performance and profitability.