IMPACTS OF A MANURE COMPOSTING PROGRAM ON STREAM WATER QUALITY

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Composting of high moisture content swine manure with corncob in a pilot-scale aerated static bin system

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Sorption of Inorganic and Total Phosphorus from Dairy and Swine Slurries to Soil

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Solid and Liquid Cattle Manure Application in a Subarctic Soil: Bromegrass and Oat Production and Soil Properties

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Ball-bite water drinkers save producers money & promote environmental sustainability

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Hog producers searching for ways to reduce water consumption, greenhouse gases, and operating costs should look no further than a demonstration farm in southern Alberta. A recent study conducted on the farm involved the practical and economical replacement of standard water nipple drinkers with ball-bite nipple drinkers in a 3,000-head commercial grower barn operated by Dennis and Maggie McKerracher. Ball-bite nipple drinkers reduce water usage because the pig must have the whole valve in its mouth and then bite down to release water. In contrast, a pig can easily release water from a standard drinker by simply nudging the drinker, thereby wasting water and increasing manure volume. Over the course of the one-year trial, the ball-bite drinker sections of the barn used 35% less water than the standard drinker sections, as measured by the farm’s water monitoring system. Thus, it was evident that ball-bite drinkers saved water. The real question was how much money did they save? Research conducted by the George Morris Centre compared the demonstration farm’s net income with and without the installation of the technology. Financially, replacing standard drinkers with ball-bite drinkers proved to be an excellent return on investment. The initial cost for the purchase of ball-bite drinkers ($12.60 each) was higher than for standard drinkers ($6.90 each). However, the decline in water usage on the farm resulted in decreased manure volume (estimated to be 35% lower), decreased manure handling costs and reductions in electricity costs for pumping water, which more than offset the capital cost of the drinkers. The technology required no change in infrastructure or management techniques. Our research suggested that replacing the standard drinkers with ball-bite drinkers resulted in a payback period of approximately 3.5 months and an increase in annual net income of $1,584 on a $463 investment. The analysis was based on an operation with 500 pigs per cycle and one nipple drinker for every 15 pigs. In addition, there were significant non-financial benefits from the technology, such as reduced water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from fewer manure applications. There were also barn management benefits from knowledge of water consumption patterns, such as early disease and illness detection as well as identifying water leaks in the system. Overall, the strength of this technology lies in the fact that it is simple, environmentally friendly, and profitable.

Questions relatives aux eaux de surface

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Les eaux de surface – lacs, rivières, ruisseaux et autres milieux humides – couvrent près de 20 % du territoire provincial et sont un élément essentiel de notre identité et de notre patrimoine manitobains. La protection de ces ressources est importante pour tous.

Focus on the Future Conference 2006

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Pork Interpretive Gallery Announces Change of Operations

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Saskatoon, SK., September 22, 2006: Dr. John Patience, President of the Prairie Swine Centre, and Neil Ketilson, General Manager, Saskatchewan Pork Development Board (Sask Pork) wish to announce the transfer of management of the Pork Interpretive Gallery (P.I.G.) to Sask Pork.

As part of the development of the PSC Elstow Research Farm, a subsidiary of Prairie Swine Centre (PSC), the industry requested the barn provide a way for the general public to view modern pork production from a vantage point inside a barn. To this end a novel “gallery” approach was built into the barn design. John Patience sums up the industry reaction, “Throughout the two years of development and fundraising, and the most recent three years of operating the Pork Interpretive Gallery (P.I.G.), I have never been involved with a project which achieved and sustained so much grass roots support. Pork producers speak of this project with great pride and admiration, matched only by the enthusiastic comments we continually receive from people who have toured the facility.”

With financial and in-kind support from the pork industry, PSC has successfully operated the P.I.G. for the past three years. The gallery is a unique public communications vehicle and will now be an in-house project for Sask Pork. This will allow PSC to focus on its primary mandate of providing a Centre of Excellence in applied swine production research. “By transferring daily operating responsibilities for the P.I.G. to Sask Pork personnel there is a more appropriate link between organization mandate and the activities the organizations are involved with” notes Dr. Patience.

“The public’s perception of the pork industry is fundamental to the growth and development of the pork sector in this province” notes Neil Ketilson. “The Gallery complements Sask Pork’s communications and agri-education programs. To support the project, we have added a new staff member, Jessica Podhordeski, who joins the organization as Agri-Education Coordinator. Her role will include the management and promotion of the Pork Interpretive Gallery to schools, international visitors and the public.

The link between Prairie Swine Centre and the pork industry has always been important for both organizations and this change only further strengthens that relationship.

To book a tour call 1-866-PIG-TOUR (744-8687)., or visit www.porkinterpretivegallery.ca.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Located in PSC Elstow Research Farm, a 600-sow commercial farrow-to-finish barn, the redesigned attic space provides a professional, welcoming gallery with windows to view the pigs below. In addition, the facility uses a science-centre approach in providing guided tours, informative signage and interactive displays for visitors to learn the science and practice of modern pork production first hand in what has become known as a ‘living classroom’. To date the Pork Interpretive Gallery has hosted over 4,500 people, half of which are school-aged children and teachers. In addition to school groups the P.I.G. has hosted numerous international visitors, local government, pork producers and general public tours.

Prairie Swine Centre Inc., located near Saskatoon, is a non-profit research corporation affiliated with the University of Saskatchewan, and is recognized globally for its contributions to practical, applied science in pork production in the disciplines of Nutrition, Engineering and Animal Behaviour.

Saskatchewan Pork Development Board was established in April 1998, Sask Pork is a non-profit development board funded by a provincial hog check-off. The organization works on behalf of pork producers to ensure continued environmental, social and economic sustainability for the pork industry.

Key areas of activity include:
· Producer services including delivery of the Canadian Quality Assurance (CQA®) On-Farm Food Safety Program, Animal Care Assessment (ACA), and the Trucker Quality Assurance (TQA®) animal transport program.
· Funding of swine research accounts for nearly 30% Sask Pork’s annual total budget. Projects funded include those that focus on animal and human health, environmental, manure management, production issues, and pork quality.
· Industry development and sustainable production
· Product promotion including consumer and retail programs
· Provincial and national on-farm and off-farm policy development
· Communications and community relations
· Agri-Education and management of Pork Interpretive Gallery (P.I.G.) at Elstow, Saskatchewan
· Partnership Programming including the annual, international Pork Industry Symposium coordinated jointly by Sask Pork and the Livestock Development Branch of Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food.

The Development of Belly Nosing, Belly Sucking and Tail Biting in Early Weaned Pigs

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Summary

Observations were made on the incidence of belly nosing, belly sucking, tail biting and other oral-nasal behaviours of pigs weaned at 14 days-of-age, at intervals up to the finishing stage. Belly nosing peaked approximately 2 weeks after weaning at 5% of the time, while belly sucking remained at less than 1% of the time throughout the animal’s life. Tail biting only occurred in the finishing phase and occurred at approximately 0.5% of the time. Although the peak incidence of belly nosing by a pig was correlated with belly sucking, tail biting was only weakly related with any of the other behaviours.

Introduction

Early weaning of piglets, at less than 3 weeks of age, was widely adopted by the industry in the late 90’s. Although the practice has some distinct advantages, it is also recognized that it results in some problems and management must be very good. One of the problems associated with early weaning is a higher incidence of behavioural vices, such as belly directed behaviour. Close observation of pigs performing belly directed behaviour indicates that it exists in two forms, belly nosing and belly sucking. The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence and frequency of belly nosing and belly sucking behaviour in early-weaned pigs and how these relate to other oral-nasal behaviour of pigs, including tail biting, in the grow-finish stage.

Experimental Procedures

We studied 242 piglets, from 24 litters weaned at 14 days-of-age and observed belly nosing, belly sucking, other nosing (to other parts of the body) other sucking, and biting behaviours at 18, 23, 28, 50, 63 and 91 days-of-age. We used instantaneous scan sampling (observations at 5-min intervals) to determine the amount of time spent in each behaviour, and continuous observations (for 4 hours on days 21 and 35) to determine the frequency and bout lengths of each behaviour. Pigs were individually identified with paint and ear tags prior to observations in the nursery and finishing pens, respectively.

Results and Discussion

Belly nosing was found to begin within 4 days of weaning, peak at 23-28 days of age, and gradually decrease with age thereafter (Table 1). At its peak, pigs spent an average of 5% of their time, or 70 min/day belly nosing. Belly sucking increased with age throughout the nursery and reached a peak in the grow-finish phase. Pigs in the finishing phase spent approximately 1% of their time belly sucking, or about 14 min/day. The length of belly nosing and sucking bouts increased with age, ranging from 17 to 27 sec/bout for belly nosing, and 23 to 58 sec/bout for belly sucking. Other nosing remained fairly consistent at 2-4% of the time at different ages, as did other biting at 1-2% of the time. Other sucking was low until late in the finishing phase when it reached 4% of the time. Tail biting, recognized as a damaging behaviour, did not appear until the grow-finish phase and only reached 0.5% of the time, or an average of 3-4 min/day.

Our previous research indicated that there is considerable variation among piglets in how much belly nosing they perform, with some exceeding 10% of their total time. In this study we determined by correlation analysis that piglets that performed the greatest amount of belly nosing during the peak of this behaviour at 28 days-of-age were more likely to belly nose and belly suck other pigs in grow-finish. In general, tail biting was only weakly correlated with nosing and sucking behaviours in the nursery.

Conclusions

Belly nosing and tail biting peak at two distinctly different stages in a pig’s life, early nursery and finishing, respectively. A poor association between the two vices indicates that they probably originate from two different motivational systems. Other oral behaviours, such as nosing, sucking and biting directed at different parts of the body are relatively stable throughout the pig’s life to 91 days-of-age. Different management tools will be needed to control belly nosing and tail biting, as their causative motivations appear to be specific and distinct from each other.

Acknowledgements

Strategic program funding was provided by Sask Pork, Alberta Pork, Manitoba Pork, and the Saskatchewan Agriculture Development Fund.

“Different management tools will be needed to control belly nosing and tail biting, as their causative motivations appear to be specific and distinct from each other.”

Les effets de 5 ppm de Ractopamine dans les rations des porcs sur la performance de croissance et la qualité de carcasse.

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Le Paylean (un produit d’Elanco) est un additif alimentaire qui contient un ingrédient actif appelé ractopamine. Cet ingrédient augmente la croissance des muscles et diminue le dépôt de gras. Cette étude vise à déterminer exactement à quel point le Paylean améliore la performance. Il a été observé que les porcs traités avec le Paylean avaient un gain moyen quotidien de 13% de plus que les porcs qui n’ont pas été traités avec le Paylean. Comme les porcs traités avec la ractopamine n’ont consommé plus de moulée que ceux qui n’ont pas été traité, il a été conclu que les porcs traités ont subi une augmentation de 13% de leur conversion de alimentaire. Par conséquent, les porcs traités ont nécessité 11,3 kg de moins de moulée pour atteindre le poids d’abattage que ceux sans le traitement. Une diminution des effets a commencé au 28e jour du traitement, et les deux sexes ont répondu de façon similaire.