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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:
Selective impairment of drug-metabolizing enzymes in pig liver during subchronic dietary exposure to aflatoxin B1
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2007 | No Comments
Time to take a look at alternative feed ingredients for your pigs?
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The rising cost of corn and its declining availability has resulted in increased retail pork prices and pork production costs over the past year. And further increases are expected, according to a new study conducted by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
The study assesses the potential size of the U.S. biofuels sector and estimates the subsequent impact on crop markets, the livestock and poultry sectors, exports, as well as wholesale and retail food prices.
The researchers estimate that, since last August, ethanol production has boosted pork production costs by 30 per cent – about $20 million a week – with similar increases in the dairy, beef, egg and poultry sectors. Those increases translate into higher U.S. retail food prices to the tune of $14 billion annually.
The CARD study suggests that this amount could reach $20 billion in a scenario where crude oil prices range from $65 to $70 per barrel and U.S. corn prices jump to $4.42 per bushel. The study also projects that, if U.S. ethanol production reaches the estimated 30 billion gallons by 2012, it would consume more than half of U.S. corn, wheat and other coarse grain production.
As the demand for grains for the bio-fuel industry increases, the cost of feed energy will continue to increase globally. It had been previously estimated that the cost of feed energy will increase by 10 per cent, while the cost of feed protein will likely decline by more than 20 per cent between 2006 and 2012. The assumption is that feed protein will become cheaper because of increased supplies of protein-rich co-products from the bio-fuel industry, such as distillers’ grains and distillers’ solubles. So, as heavy users of feed energy, pork producers will be looking for more cost-effective alternatives.
Researchers Hans Stein of the University of Illinois and Kees de Lange of the University of Guelph recently collaborated on a presentation at the London Swine Conference, which looked into some of these alternative ingredients and their nutritional value.
Feeding Fusarium-Contaminated Grain to Livestock
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Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) is a fungal disease of various grasses. It is found most often in wheat but can also affect barley, oats, rye and some forage grasses. Under certain environmental conditions, the fusarium mould may produce a mycotoxin called DON (deoxynivalenol). DON is a mild toxin compared to other toxins which canform in grains and forages. Reduced feed intake, and the accompanying decrease in performance, are the only symptoms of DON toxicity livestock producers will likely encounter.
This response to DON appears to occur through the central nervous system. DON belongs to a class of mycotoxins (tricothecenes) which are strong protein inhibitors. Inhibition of protein synthesis following exposure to DON causes the brain to increase its uptake of the amino acid tryptophan and, in turn, its synthesis of serotonin. Increased levels of serotonin are believed to be responsible for the anorexic effects of DON and other tricothecenes. Irritation of the gastrointestinal tract may also play a role in reducing feed intake.
Because DON functions as a protein inhibitor, it may also reduce the production of antibodies by the immune system and increase an animal’s susceptibility to disease.
Different livestock species respond differently to DON. In pigs, DON is efficiently absorbed, poorly metabolized, widely distributed through body tissues and excreted at a comparatively slower rate than in other farm species. This makes pigs quite susceptible to the effects of DON. With ruminants and poultry though, DON has been shown to be poorly absorbed, extensively metabolized, and rapidly cleared from tissues and fluids.
The effects of DON on different livestock species and the Agriculture Canada guidelines for DON intake are discussed below.
How do we Keep PRRS out of Ontario Herds?
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Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS) has had a huge
impact on pork producers in Ontario and around the world. This has
spurred researchers at the University of Guelph, led by Dr. Cate Dewey, to study
PRRS in Ontario in order to understand how it spreads, what strains are currently
here and why farms which were negative break with the disease. Their research project, sponsored by Ontario Pork, is taking a look backward
to see where the virus was in the past few years, as well as looking forward to try
and understand how it is changing and moving. Any positive blood tests taken
since September 2004 are of interest to the researchers.
Associations Between Feed and Water Antimicrobial Use in Farrow-to-Finish Swine Herds and Antimicrobial Resistance of Fecal Escherichia coli from Grow-Finish Pigs
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The objective of this project was to investigate the dose–response relationships between on-farm antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in E. coli from grow-finish pigs. It was found that although this study considered E. coli grow-finish pigs only, AMR was associated with antimicrobial use in all production phases. This indicates that antimicrobial use in pigs distant from market may have food safety repercussions. Five of the resistance outcomes were associated with exposure to unrelated drugs, suggesting co-selection. Although co-selection is familiar to scientists, producers and veterinarians need to understand this phenomenon before AMR can be addressed at the herd level.
BIORETENTION COLUMN STUDY: FECAL COLIFORM AND TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS REDUCTIONS
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Nitrogen balances at the crop and farm-gate scale in livestock farms in Italy
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Managing Nitrogen Contaminated Soils: Benefits of N2–Fixing Alfalfa
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