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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:
A Simple Statistical Approach for Assessing Inter-laboratory Comparison Tests for Classical Swine Fever Diagnosis
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2006 | No Comments
The aim of this study was to compare on an objective basis the results obtained during five classical swine fever (CSF) ring tests conducted in Germany between 1999 and 2003. A novel and simple statistical approach used in behavioural sciences was used. For each ring test, the regional laboratories received a panel of five lyophilized pig sera. The panel contained CSF virus positive and negative samples. The final task of the laboratory was to ascertain if a serum sample was positive for CSF or not. Some sera were very easy to diagnose as CSF positive while some sera had border line values and proved to be challenging. Depending on the degree of difficulty the sera
were divided into five categories. The evaluation of the ring test results was performed using a scoring system based on a score from )3 to +3 which takes into consideration the degree of difficulty to produce a correct diagnosis. To compare the results between different laboratories and/or between different ring tests more easily the total score of one laboratory was expressed in percentage. The final analysis of the data showed that the CSF diagnostic quality improved continuously.
New research says water temperature affects lactation sow performance
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Water is an important nutrient for pork production. Of the different classes of swine, lactating sows require the largest amount of water per day to boost voluntary feed intake and support adequate milk production, which directly influence litter performance. A major goal in the farrowing barn is to increase feed intake so as to boost milk production, prevent excessive sow body weight loss and achieve prompt return to estrus after weaning. High temperatures in the farrowing barn may lead to heat stress in sows, which can reduce feed intake and milk yield, reduce litter performance, and increase weaning to estrus interval. Results of a recent Korean study suggest that feeding chilled water (~15°C) to lactating sows housed in a high temperature environment may improve sow and litter performance. However, the energy required to chill the water should be considered in assessing the suitability of this approach.
Export market key to real growth for Canada's pork industry
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The Canadian pork industry should get past debates over export dependency and focus
more on quality and efficiency to get the most out of that growing market, says a senior
market analyst.
“We still have trade ‘handwringers’ who worry we’re too reliant on the export market,
particularly the U.S.,” says Kevin Grier of the George Morris Centre, speaking at the
Banff Pork Seminar, a leading annual industry seminar. “It’s time to get over it. Exporting
is what we do.”
Canadian pork exports are now greater than domestic consumption, and all signals point
to exports as the source of future industry growth, says Grier. The domestic industry is
stable and valuable but exports are the source of growth and expansion. “Unless
Canadians double their appetite for pork, we need to focus on exports or the pork industry
would have to become about 50 percent smaller.”
Rather than a risk, Canada should consider its strong export foothold a major advantage
and leverage that into further growth opportunities, he says. The industry’s success over
the last 15 years has been based on quality, efficiency, productivity and entrepreneurship.
Those factors continue to represent the greatest opportunities to boost the profitability of
pork producers and their industry.
A SECTORAL MODEL FOR ANALYZING ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN PIG FARMING
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2005 | No Comments
Lessons from the International Scene
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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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