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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:
Pigs in Transit – Handling and Transportation Guide
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2004 | No Comments
Manitoba pork producers use many different ways to get their hogs to market – highway trailers, pickup or grain trucks, and fifth wheel trailers – even converted school buses. Regardless of the vehicle, all producers have one thing in common – a concern for the welfare of pigs in transit. Fortunately, along with this heightened awareness about animal care, pork producers also have the knowledge and technology to ensure pigs are handled and transported responsibly. Heat, cold, fear, bumpy roads, stops and starts, prodding and rough handling – these are just some of the things that can cause stress and exhaustion in livestock during handling and transportation. And that stress can severely reduce meat quality and price. Stress and exhaustion increase muscle temperature and deplete the supply of glycogen, the energy stored in muscle tissue that produces moist, pink, high quality pork. When animals are stressed before slaughter, glycogen levels drop. The result is Pale, Soft, and Exudative (PSE) pork, a product that doesn’t appeal to consumers. Extreme exhaustion during transit can result in Dark, Firm, Dry (DFD) meat, which has even lower consumer appeal and shorter shelf life. All pigs experience stress to some extent during loading and unloading. But stress can be minimized through calm, patient handling and an understanding of pig behaviour. By understanding the animals’ basic natural instincts during handling, farmers will be able to incorporate stress-reducing features into their buildings, transport vehicles and handling techniques. Pig hides are tender so protrusions or sharp edges along the path from the pen to the killing floor can inflict injury and create undue stress. Fright is another potential source of stress. Many things can spook pigs during the loading and unloading process including air blowing in their faces, dangling chains, loose ramps and boards, slippery floors, extremes of bright lights and darkness and loud noises. Good stockmanship can reduce pigs’ fear levels and improve production. Pigs naturally resent handlers getting into their personal space. Handlers should learn to think like a pig and use a pig’s natural “flight zone – the animal’s instinctive escape route – to help herd them. If a handler enters this circular zone, the pig will step away to maintain the circle’s size. Humane handling of livestock is a top industry priority. Many firms within the pork industry have established their own pig handling standards, many of which are even higher than those spelled out in federal and provincial legislation. Leading trucking firms, insurance companies, assembly yards, hog farms and abattoirs insist their employees and customers follow codes of ethics and practices. Some provide their staff with training courses in proper and responsible livestock treatment. The Animal Care Act is the basic law for all animal handling and care activities in Manitoba. Codes of practice are meaningless if they are considered just words on paper. The real code of conduct is our recognition of our responsibility as livestock producers for our animals’ health, comfort and well-being. If at any time you believe that animals are not being properly handled, please report this incident in confidence by calling the Animal Care Line at 204-945-8000.
Simulating Ammonia Emissions from Slurry Pits
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
By modelling the production and transmission of ammonia in a swine building, we will be better equipped to investigate methods to reduce ammonia concentration inside the buildings. Ammonia emission from slurry was measured and compared to two sets of model calculations to determine which model is more suitable for use in an overall room model. Both models simulated the fluctuation in emissions relatively well, but neither model sufficiently predicted the concentration levels. Slurry pH was deemed the most significant input parameter in the model calculations.
Implications
The ammonia emission from the slurry pit is a major contributor to the ammonia concentration in a pig-housing unit and the ammonia emission to the environment. By validating model equations to simulate ammonia emission from slurry, we are better able to simulate the overall ammonia emission from a pig building.
Greenhouse Gases and Odor Control
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The Green House Gas Mitigation Program for Canadian Agriculture combines best management practices with demonstrations and communication programs aimed at introducing developing technologies to the industry. Prairie Swine Center and the Pork Industry Interpretive Center will be one of the sites in Canada that will be demonstrating these new technologies. The approach includes a three-year program to demonstrate the following technologies; 1) synthetic covers for earthen manure storages (EMS), 2) reduction of GHGs through diet manipulation, 3) installation and monitoring of shelter belt influence on air quality, and 4) making the findings available via a combination of on-site demonstrations, written and electronic communication with pork producers and other visitors to the Interpretive Center.
Synthetic covers reduce the opportunity for odours and other gases to escape from the EMSs, which will halt the decreasing value of the manure as the gases escape. It also eliminates rainwater from entering the EMS, reducing hauling and injection costs. The oversupply of nutrients in pig diets is also a source of emissions and with diet manipulation, these nutrients and their associated costs can be reduced. Shelterbelts will provide long-term carbon sequestration on the site and will provide barriers to wind movement, which can impact energy usage and odour dispersion. Projects such as this one will allow pork producers easy access to determine the technologies that show promise and will allow them to gain valuable information on the cost and challenges of operating these best management practices.
The Impact of Nutrition on Reducing the Impact of the Swine Industry on the Environment
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The increasing demands of the pork industry is resulting in a higher level of nutrition needed. Often, nutrients are overfed which results in more contaminants such as nitrogen and phosphorus excreted in urine and feces. Nitrogen in particular is important because it emits ammonia and acidifies the environment. Reducing dietary protein content will reduce urinary nitrogen and total nitrogen excretion in grower pigs. Use of fiber sources high in fermentable carbohydrates can shift nitrogen excretion from urine to feces, thereby reducing chances of ammonia emission.
Fine particle size reduces total nitrogen excretion, however, it increases urinary nitrogen excretion. Diets with phytase (an enzyme to make phosphorus usable) results in 4% less total nitrogen excretion than diets without. Using phytase can result in more accuracy in determining phosphorus requirements, which will lower the amount of excess phosphorus that gets excreted in the feces, and lower the cost of production (because phosphorus supplementation is the third most expensive dietary component).
SEEPAGE EVALUATION OF OLDER SWINE LAGOONS IN NORTH CAROLINA
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Amounts, Forms, and Solubility of Phosphorus in Soils Receiving Manure
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