SEARCH
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:
Fine Tuning the Breeding Program
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2002 | No Comments
The demands of particular pork products will likely result in specific genotypes, managed in specific production systems, becoming the norm in the industry. Some concerns include genetic lag (time from bringing in the genetics and getting them to the production level) and biosecurity issues. Fine-tuning is needed in order to get the breeding herd to maximize the desired gene. Three important issues in replacement gilts include good genes to deposit proper tissues for a good reproductive life, tissue mass required at breeding, and how to manage the variation in growth performance. With a sound heat detection program, gilts can begin cycling at an early age. Gilts that come into estrus later have a compromised reproductive life so should be culled. Keeping these gilts around will bring about costs of non-productive days and reduced breeding herd productivity. Hormones can also be used to reduce breeding herd variability and induce cycling (such as PG 600). They can also be used to treat non-cyclic gilts if the gilts happen to be absolutely needed. In order for breeding targets to be met, there needs to be a set number of cyclic gilts. A feeding program that includes an oral progesterone hormone can be used to bring a group of gilts into a synchronized heat. Body variation of gilts going into the farrowing rooms should be minimized and feeding should be adequate so that they do not deplete too much of their reserves and further compromise future reproduction. Molecular genetics is being investigated to see how much they can improve this area genetically. Management of the first parity sow must be given a high priority. During lactation, a sow cannot go back into estrus. During this time, the reproductive system reverts back to a fertile stage. The uterus returns to a non-pregnant state and the hormone levels in the brain and the pituitary return to normal. Suckling is the primary block of estrus during lactation (it suppresses an important hormone). Loss of body condition in first parities has very negative effects on future fertility. Feed intake needs to be maximized (in late lactation especially) in order to prevent the breakdown of body reserves (aim for less than 10% breakdown). Weaning to estrus interval is farm-specific (depending what genetics they run) and should be taken into account to reduce non-productive days. Treatment with products such as PG 600 can help to bring these sows back into synchronicity. The selection of AI boars is an area that can be improved which can increase the fertility of AI doses. The most fertile boars are required to reach lower sperm numbers and doses needed. Post-cervical insemination can drastically lower the required amount of sperm per dose, and knowing the time of ovulation in a sow can work together to lower the amount of sperm, doses, and increase the number of breedings per boar. The use of improved extenders and the ability to freeze semen will improve breeding efficiency by leaps and bounds.
Local and Global Impact of Disease Outbreaks
Posted in: Production by admin on | No Comments
Foot and mouth disease (FMD) and Classical Swine Fever (CSF) are highly contagious pig diseases and must be reported if an outbreak occurs. FMD affects cloven-hoofed animals and comes in large epidemics. Diagnosis is often difficult because the disease is unfamiliar to farmers and veterinarians if it has been unseen. In 1997, an outbreak in Taiwan led to the entire country being declared FMD infected. Four factors that contributed to the spread include delays before eradication, pig farm density, inability to shut down livestock markets, and lack of vaccinations. This led to loss of exports and cost of $379 million USD in the Taiwan pork market. Korea was able to contain the FMD outbreaks on cattle farms successfully through prompt control measures. It took a re-occurrence in the UK in 2001 about 1.5 years to eradicate. CSF is one of the most economically important diseases. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, and some members of the EU have been successful in eradicating the virus. This disease is a constant threat to wild boar, which makes wild boar a constant threat to domestic pigs. Countries that are CSF-positive control them via vaccination, but this still limits their export capabilities. Before vaccination can be done, depopulation, slaughter, movement restrictions, and other measures must be taken, especially in areas with a dense pig population. In late 1998 and 1999 a disease called the Nipah virus broke out in Malaysia. The symptoms of Nipah are respiratory and neurological syndromes. This disease can be spread to humans. It originated from fruit and insect-eating bats, which most likely carried a similar disease in Australia called the Hendra virus. The mode of transmission was the movement of pigs in a very active pig trade. The neurological aspect of the disease typically affected sows while the respiratory aspect affected growing pigs. All pigs in the area of an outbreak were culled. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is primarily spread by fecal-oral contact. Ensuring a clean water supply is the best preventative measure.
Ultimate Recycling: Ash from Combustion of Swine Manure Used as a Mineral Source for Pigs
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
Traditionally, pigs were fed household waste, while their manure was used as a fertilizer for crops. Although it may not have been realized at the time, this system
resulted in a continuous reuse of minerals such as phosphorus, and thus it prevented environmental problems with these minerals. In modern production practices, where feedstuffs are brought in from afar, this cycle is often broken. Minerals are allowed to accumulate somewhere in the swine production systema
Carvacrol and Thymol Reduce Swine Waste Odor and Pathogens: Stability of Oils
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
Soil Sampling: Why is it Important?
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
In order to apply manure correctly, proper soil sampling must be done first. Soil sampling once a year is the key component of a sustainable manure management plan. Different methods of soil sampling exist. When choosing a type, the following points are critical to consider. 1) Select a sampling procedure that will provide information to adjust or support manure application rates and practices, 2) Every field should be sampled every year, and 3) All fields should be sample for a 0-15cm, 15-60cm depth with separate composite samples for each analysis.
The most common method of sampling involves taking random samples throughout the field and once they are thoroughly mixed, a single sample is submitted to the lab. Some points to remember are: 1) avoid sampling in areas of variability, 2) on hilly land, use the mid-slope to get average results, and 3) composite samples should be taken from at least 15-20 sites/field.
Another method is site-specific. Once the variability of the field is understood, it is divided into relatively uniform plots, which are then managed individually. Benchmark sampling is the continued sampling at the same location. Within these same areas, 15-20 samples are randomly collected and analyzed. More than one benchmark area per field may be chosen if variable landscapes occur with the field as this method does not properly address field variability. Grid sampling breaks the fields into smaller grids. It reveals fertility patterns by taking 10-15 samples in each cell. As the intensity of sampling increases the more accurate the fertility patterns will be, but that can add to the cost.
Farming can be both high-yield and sustainable
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
Innovative Design for Manure Storage Facilities
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
Environmental concerns about the integrity of manure storage facilities have been raised in many regions across the country. Often concerns regarding potential leakage have motivated the public to resist the development of large-scale agricultural facilities. A recent survey performed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Quebec reported that of the 28 concrete tanks that have been inspected, 23 tanks show serious deterioration of the walls (i.e., vertical and horizontal cracks). Hog manure storage is a major constraint on confined animal production systems. Expanding levels of production, particularly in the hog industry, are making the problem more severe. In the past, liquid manure has commonly been stored in earth lagoons. Increasing environmental concerns related to ground seepage have led to the requirement that more impervious structures be designed and built. This has augmented the use of steel-reinforced concrete for hog-manure storage tanks above ground. The challenge of reinforced concrete is its long-term stability, which controls the so-called durability or service life of concrete structures. Due to the hostile service environment associated with manure storage, corrosion rates of the steel reinforcement are potentially high. These deterioration rates could lead to a significant mechanical weakening and finally to a relatively short service life of the tanks. To map out the various mechanisms through which the strength of conventional reinforced concrete currently used for manure storage tanks may be improved, thereby to increase the safe service life of the tanks, this research program, entitled the Innovative Design for Manure Storage Facilities Project, has been initiated by the Canadian Network of Centres of Excellence on Intelligent Sensing for Innovative Structure (ISIS Canada). This project was developed in collaboration with Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative (ARDI), the Manitoba Triple S Hog Manure Management Initiative and Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative (MLMMI).