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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:
In Search of a Magic Bullet! Strategies for Dealing with Fusarium-Contaminated Grains in the Swine Industry
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2003 | No Comments
Fusarium (FHB) species naturally excrete a mycotoxin called DON that is very toxic to swine, causing vomiting and feed refusal. There is an estimated 7.5% reduction in feed
Intake for every 1 ppm DON found in the feed. Manitoba in particular seems to have trouble with FHB, so the University of Manitoba is conducting research to address the problem. This research was aimed at determining what the maximum amount of DON that can be fed is, if there are any decontamination strategies, or if there are any feed additives that could be used.
Research found that 2-ppm of DON in the diet resulted in a 7.6% reduction of feed intake, but were not seriously affected production-wise. The presence of up to 4 ppm DON in the diet had no adverse effects on swine over the entire grower-finisher period. These results work against the CFIA theory that pigs are unable to tolerate even low levels of DON. Similar experiments performed on piglets yielded the same results.
Physical treatment via heat is ineffective at decontaminating infected grain. Pearling, however, appeared to show promise in removing the layer of grain contaminated with DON. A chemical treatment known as ammoniation proved to be ineffective as well. Washing with water and sodium carbonate proved to be 70 to 90% effective, but the producer will incur a cost of drying the grains after. This of course is not a problem if the mill is equipped for wet milling. Biological processes such as bacterial treatment show promise, but more research is needed. The only alternative at this time is dietary compensation to counter the effects of DON. At this time, no magic bullet exists to fight off FHB and DON.
Can Subtherapeutic Levels of Antibiotics be Eliminated from Swine Diets?
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Using antibiotics to enhance growth in food animals is bringing concerns that antibiotic resistant bacteria, which could affect human health, will emerge. Due to public concern, the industry must look for alternatives. Antibiotics are used to prevent infections in the intestine, which in turn will lead to better utilization of nutrients for growth. Spray-dried plasma (SDP) is being added to the diets of post-weaning piglets to dramatically increase feed intake and growth. SDP is thought to provide immunological protection to the pig, which may prevent immune system activation and allow nutrients to be diverted towards growth. In conclusion, SDP appears to be an acceptable form of replacement for antibiotic growth promoters.
Do Antibiotics Reduce Production Risk for U.S. Pork Producers?
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Mini-livestock breeding with indigenous species in the tropics
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Economic and Structural Relationships in U.S. Hog Production
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Initial Crop Growth in Soil Collected from a Closed Animal Waste Lagoon
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In the 21st century, remediation of the soil beneath animal waste lagoons will become an important issue, as they are closed due to environmental regulations or to abandonment. The possibility of growing crops in the soil, which has high concentrations of ammonium-N, has not been studied. The objective of this experiment was to determine if crop species would germinate and grow in lagoon soil. Soil was gathered from a lagoon that had received wastes from swine (Sus scrofa) and beef (Bos taurus) since 1968. Eight crops were grown in greenhouse pots containing the lagoon soil: winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L. ‘Weskan’); field corn (Zea mays L., Cargill’s hybrid 7997); ‘Plainsman’ winter rapeseed [Brassica napus L. spp. oleifera (Metzg.) Sinsk. f. biennis]; soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ‘KS 4694’); forage sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench ‘Norkan’]; sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. ‘Hysun 354’); and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–two cultivars: ‘2137’ and ‘Turkey.’ Plants were grown for 35 days in lagoon soil or an agricultural soil (Haynie very fine sandy loam; coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Mollic Udifluvent) obtained from a field near the closed lagoon. Ammonium-N (average value of 692 mg/kg) was about 70-85 times greater than the average value of 8-10 mg/kg NH4-N in Kansan soils. The lagoon soil was nonsodic and had a salinity ranking of “medium” with an electrical conductivity averaging 2.29 dS/m. The high ammonium-N concentration in the lagoon soil was not inhibitory to emergence and growth. The eight crops grew taller in the lagoon soil than in the agricultural soil. Except for ‘2137’ wheat, dry weight was higher in the lagoon soil than in the agricultural soil. The results showed that the lagoon soil is not detrimental to early growth of eight crops.
Managing Feedlot Manure to Protect Water Quality and Human Health
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Management Practices to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Swine Production Systems
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Total greenhouse gas emissions from swine production systems in Canada are equal to about 3% of the total agricultural emissions (which is equal to 0.006% of the total world greenhouse gas emissions!). Today there are a number of technological and management options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with manure management within those systems. However, it is important that greenhouse gas mitigation in pork production systems be addressed from an integrated aspect that that involves other agronomic, economic, environmental, health and safety, social and technical considerations. In addition to greenhouse gas emission reduction, another important issue that will need to be addressed in the short term is the adaptation of Canadian pork production systems to climate change in terms of availability of feed materials and water and on the design and management of production facilities.