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Industry Partners
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:
New research says water temperature affects lactation sow performance
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2006 | No Comments
Water is an important nutrient for pork production. Of the different classes of swine, lactating sows require the largest amount of water per day to boost voluntary feed intake and support adequate milk production, which directly influence litter performance. A major goal in the farrowing barn is to increase feed intake so as to boost milk production, prevent excessive sow body weight loss and achieve prompt return to estrus after weaning. High temperatures in the farrowing barn may lead to heat stress in sows, which can reduce feed intake and milk yield, reduce litter performance, and increase weaning to estrus interval. Results of a recent Korean study suggest that feeding chilled water (~15°C) to lactating sows housed in a high temperature environment may improve sow and litter performance. However, the energy required to chill the water should be considered in assessing the suitability of this approach.
Export market key to real growth for Canada's pork industry
Posted in: Production by admin on | No Comments
The Canadian pork industry should get past debates over export dependency and focus
more on quality and efficiency to get the most out of that growing market, says a senior
market analyst.
“We still have trade ‘handwringers’ who worry we’re too reliant on the export market,
particularly the U.S.,” says Kevin Grier of the George Morris Centre, speaking at the
Banff Pork Seminar, a leading annual industry seminar. “It’s time to get over it. Exporting
is what we do.”
Canadian pork exports are now greater than domestic consumption, and all signals point
to exports as the source of future industry growth, says Grier. The domestic industry is
stable and valuable but exports are the source of growth and expansion. “Unless
Canadians double their appetite for pork, we need to focus on exports or the pork industry
would have to become about 50 percent smaller.”
Rather than a risk, Canada should consider its strong export foothold a major advantage
and leverage that into further growth opportunities, he says. The industry’s success over
the last 15 years has been based on quality, efficiency, productivity and entrepreneurship.
Those factors continue to represent the greatest opportunities to boost the profitability of
pork producers and their industry.
Disinfection of swine wastewater using chlorine, ultraviolet light and ozone
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
Veterinary antibiotics are widely used at concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs)
to prevent disease and promote growth of livestock. However, the majority of antibiotics
are excreted from animals in urine, feces, and manure. Consequently, the lagoons used to
store these wastes can act as reservoirs of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
There is currently no regulation or control of these systems to prevent the spread of these
bacteria and their genes for antibiotic resistance into other environments. This study was
conducted to determine the disinfection potential of chlorine, ultraviolet light and ozone
against swine lagoon bacteria. Results indicate that a chlorine dose of 30mg/L could
achieve a 2.2–3.4 log bacteria reduction in lagoon samples. However, increasing the dose of
chlorine did not significantly enhance the disinfection activity due to the presence of
chlorine-resistant bacteria. The chlorine resistant bacteria were identified to be closely
related to Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis. A significant percentage of lagoon
bacteria were not susceptible to the four selected antibiotics: chlortetracycline, lincomycin,
sulfamethazine and tetracycline (TET). However, the presence of both chlorine and TET
could inactivate all bacteria in one lagoon sample. The disinfection potential of UV
irradiation and ozone was also examined. Ultraviolet light was an effective bacterial
disinfectant, but was unlikely to be economically viable due to its high energy
requirements. At an ozone dose of 100 mg/L, the bacteria inactivation efficiency could
reach 3.33.9 log.
Gasification of High – Solid – Content Livestock Manure as an Energy Source
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
With increased fuel prices and Canada’s commitment to the Kyoto protocol, there has been a renewed interest in gasification, an old technology. Charison’s Turkey Hatchery, of Gunton, Manitoba, produces approximately 705 kg of litter per hour, and has an average electrical energy demand of 353 kW. A need was identified to create value from this waste that may be able to offset energy costs. A survey of gasification technologies in Manitoba showed that despite a large amount of activity, there is still no off-the-shelf solution available to generate electricity from biomass. Litter samples were collected from several barns and sent to the CANMET Energy Technology Centre in Ottawa, Ontario where bench scale gasification tests were done. These tests showed that the loose litter tended to plug up the system, and only a low quality gas was produced. Further testing was preformed by Innovation Technologies (Ireland) Ltd. of Ballycarry, Northern Ireland on similar litter sourced there. These tests determined that, due to the high ash and water content of the fuel and its loose configuration, it would best be gasified mixed with sawdust in pellet form. Should Charison’s install a gasifier on site for the purposes of generating electricity, issues with respect to clinkering and pelletisation would need to be addressed, likely though the development of a gasifier designed specifically for turkey litter. Given this analysis, it is recommended that further development of a gasifier at Charison’s be carried out in conjunction with an organisation that has expertise in gasification for the purposes of electricity generation, through the development of a functional on-site prototype.
ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK MODEL AS A DATA ANALYSIS TOOL IN PRECISION FARMING
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Greenhouse gas emissions from stored liquid swine manure in a cold climate
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Culturable Escherichia coli in Soil Mixed with Two Types of Manure
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QUALITATIVE STUDY OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN WASTEWATERS OF A SWINE SLAUGHTERHOUSE
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