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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:
Interactions between weaning age, weaning weight, sex, enzyme, supplementation on growth performance of pigs
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2002 | No Comments
Ultimate Recycling: Ash from Combustion of Swine Manure Used as a Mineral Source for Pigs
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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
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Soil Sampling: Why is it Important?
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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
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Innovative Design for Manure Storage Facilities
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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).
Dealing with Variability in the Finishing Barn
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J.F. Patience, H.W. Gonyou and R.T. Zijlstra
Variation is becoming an increasingly important topic of discussion in the pork industry. Differences in growth impact the time that is required to empty a pen, or a room, or a barn and still meet the needs of the packing industry for uniform carcasses. Pork producers look with envy at the broiler industry, which empties its barns in a single day, while we take 3 to 5 weeks to accomplish the same end. In the broader scheme of things, variability is both a curse and a blessing to our industry. That being the case, management of variability becomes an essential key to success in pork production.
Because variation is the foundation of genetic selection, the industrya
Effects of large group size on productivity of grower-finisher pigs
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A study was conducted to compare production performance of grower-finisher pigs formed into larger groups (108 pigs/pen) to conventional small group size (18 pigs/pen) and to see if this trend in the pig industry is beneficial to producers. Results from the study showed that pigs in the smaller groups had a higher growth rate during the first two weeks. Feed efficiency, ADFI, mortality and morbidity, and body weight variation were also taken into account when finalizing results. Although pigs housed in the large groups had a slight reduction in ADG, their performance was generally not inferior to the smaller group size.