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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:
Lessons from the International Scene
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2005 | No Comments
Improvements in nutrition, genetics, and management have had a major impact on the pig industry in the past few decades. World pig meat production has increased by over 30% in the past 15 years. Pig surveys must be done every 6 months in Europe, which includes sows, gilts, and prospective gilts. Germany, France, Denmark, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, and Poland are the major contributors to Europe’s pig production. France is declining however due to rural tourists, and Italy is still importing. Poland is showing potential for expansion. Spain is showing a large increase in annual individual pork consumption and there is a large attempt to increase carcass quality through genetics. The Iberian pig is being raised under free-range conditions and fattened for the cured product industry. Spain still has the advantage of low production costs and area to expand. Customers must be satisfied with ensuring food safety and quality, minimizing environmental impact from production, and ensuring animal welfare. Programs such as the IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) are aimed at minimizing air and water/soil contamination. In order to improve animal welfare Europe is implementing new strategies for weaning age, tail docking, and general animal management.
Using Net Energy for Diet Formulation: Potential for the Canadian Pig Industry
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Feed is the greatest single cost in pig production. Energy accounts for the largest proportion of the cost. The amount of energy that can be derived from diet differs between protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Common systems to describe dietary energy are gross energy (released by burning a sample of feed in excess oxygen; useless for pig production), digestible energy (gross energy of feed minus the gross energy of feces), metabolizable energy (digestible energy minus energy excreted in urine and as combustible gases such as methane), and net energy (metabolizable energy minus the heat produced during digestion, metabolism, and excretion). Current net energy systems are based on the digestible nutrient content in feedstuffs and mixed diets. Net energy systems have the advantage that they express useable energy rather than potential energy and include the efficiency with which nutrients can be utilized. The net energy system provides a more realistic estimate of dietary energy. This will allow a better estimate of the effects of diet on performance. The lower energy value for protein and fibre, and the greater value for starch and fat in the net energy system affect diet formulation. Greater use of cheap feedstuffs and limited use of expensive protein-rich feedstuffs would lead to reduced feed costs and lower protein contents, thus reducing nitrogen excretion and the environmental impact of pig production. The different valuation of feeds will favour domestic crops such as peas. Together, a switch to the net energy system will improve the economics of both Canadian pig and crop production. Therefore, a shift to net energy will help the prairie provinces regain traditional feeding advantage relative to major competitors.
Effect of a hyper-vitamin supplementation on quantitative and qualitative production of boars’ semen
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On the basis of previous results, it has been hypothesized that the actual recommendations for vitamin supplementation were not sufficient to maximize the reproductive performances of boars with regards to semen production and quality, in particular when increasing the semen collection frequency. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an important feed supplement of vitamins (both lipid soluble and water-soluble) on the quality and quantity of semen, in an insemination centre. This study was also meant to evaluate the efficiency of this vitamin supplement for maintaining semen quality when the collection frequency is increased (3 times per week, versus 3 times every two weeks). The results showed that the vitamin feed supplement did affect the vitamin concentration of the plasma, seminal fluid and sperm, but the increased collection frequency only slightly affected these parameters. The vitamin supplement affected the hormonal profile of the boar during breeding, but without any marked repercussion on the semen production or quality of the ejaculate. The increased semen collection frequency decreased the semen production per ejaculate, but increased the cumulative semen production by 20%, without affecting the semen quality. As well, the semen quality was little affected by a daily collection during 14 days: the spermatozoids’ motility was reduced but their morphology remained unchanged. The numerous correlations observed between hormonal, seminal and/or plasmatic profiles and between the morphological criteria and semen production deserve further research to explore their efficacy as predictors of semen production. With that regard, testicular volume seems a promising production predictor.
Comparison of yellow dent and NutriDense corn hybrids in swine diets
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The effect of pellet diameter on the performance of young pigs
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The effect of pellet diameter on the liveweight gain, feed intake and feeding behaviour of young pigs was examined. It was found from the results of this trial that pellet size does not affect piglet performance but in some cases can
increase trough directed behaviour. Furthermore, young pigs appear to be very adaptable with respect to this form of diet
presentation and to changes in presentation occurring between the pre- and postweaning phases.
Consultant: Look at ‘Manure as an Opportunity’
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Three companies, Bio-Terre Systems Inc., Home Farms Technologies Inc. and Clear-Green Environmental Inc. have different technology and business models but are all attempting to process potential waste into commercially useable by-products. Methane and biogas used to provide electrical energy on a commercial scale, solids that can be composted or used as fuel and thermal energy are typical by products. Each company is developing different approaches to finding commercial solutions. There is no approach that has a clear advantage. The cost of energy, the increasing public pressure for real solutions to environmental issues, and significantly larger-scale livestock operations and processing facilities put integrated solutions in a new light. However, there are issues to be dealt with and business models to develop before these units will be commonplace. Right now the most potential for use is in large processing units such as slaughterhouses. It is hoped that innovation will drive these opportunities and that politicians and industry leaders will begin to deliver the message of these businesses.
Rangelands at equilibrium and non-equilibrium: recent developments in the debate
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Odour & Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Hog Operations
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Hog production facilities have increased in size over the years, and along with this increase have come complaints due to odour. Odour associated with hog operations are from three main sources: a) building exhaust, b) manure storage, and c) land application of manure. As more and more producers are adopting manure injection, odour from land application is becoming less of a concern in Manitoba. But our understating of odour emissions from buildings and manure storage is still elusive. In particular, the relative contributions to odour from barns and the manure storage are not well known. This project aimed to quantify these relative odour contributions by comparing odour emissions and dispersion between two similar hog operations with different manure storage systems. A common practice of reducing the impact of livestock odour on the neighbouring communities is to maintain appropriate separation (setback) distance between the facility and the neighbouring communities. The downwind odour impact depends on many factors, including odour emission, weather conditions, topography, and odour sensitivity and tolerance of the neighbors. The methods for estimating setback distances are either empirical (experience plus measurements) or dispersion-based. This project evaluated commonly used setback and dispersion models for Manitoba conditions. It is estimated that agricultural operations contribute approximately 10% of the total anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada, with about 40% of that originating from livestock production. However, little is known about the relative contributions to GHG emissions from barns and manure storage in different production systems. This project addressed the issue of greenhouse gas emission from hog operations with open and covered manure storage.