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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:
System Level Economic Analysis of Swine Diet Modifications
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2005 | No Comments
Influence of regrouping strategy on performance, behaviour and carcass parameters in pigs
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One thousand two hundred pigs were weaned at 4 weeks of age and mixed to form groups of ten animals that were balanced
for gender. The results show that there are benefits in forming uniform weight groups at 10 weeks of age because it reduced within-group variability in weight at slaughter. However, regrouping at the start of the finishing period has negative welfare implications in terms of leading to increased aggression.
Australian Pigmeat Industry: Productivity Commission Inquiry Report
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After experiencing three years of favourable returns, pig producers in Australia (and
major competing countries) faced difficult economic circumstances between mid-
2002 and the end of 2003. World prices fell and, in some countries (including
Australia), feed costs were high. These trends were exacerbated in Australia by an
appreciating dollar relative to the currencies of major competing countries.
Competition on the domestic market from imported pigmeat has been strong and
imports have been steadily rising since quarantine liberalisation in the mid-1990s.
Exports also grew strongly after 1997-98, but declined in 2003-04.
Pig prices have been recovering in recent months, and feed prices have returned to
the range experienced before the 2002-03 drought. Nevertheless, the industry is
concerned about the economic sustainability of many domestic producers and
processors and their longer run competitiveness.
The Productivity Commission has been asked to examine the current situation of,
and outlook for, the Australian pigmeat industry. It has also been asked to consider
whether any government and/or industry measures (including regional measures)
are necessary to enhance the competitiveness of the industry. In undertaking the
inquiry, the Commission is required to take into account:
• the structure and regional distribution of the industry
• key factors influencing the profitability of the industry, and the extent to which
these factors are short or long term influences
• trends and factors influencing demand and supply, including imports and exports
• the competitiveness of the industry, including competitiveness relative to
international competitors, and efforts by the domestic industry to enhance
competitiveness
• the impact and effectiveness of existing and recent government and industry
programs.
The focus of this inquiry differs from the inquiry undertaken by the Commission in
1998 where possible safeguard actions in regard to pigmeat imports into Australia
were examined (PC 1998). In that inquiry, the Commission responded to a request
from the Australian Government to assess whether safeguard action was warranted
against pigmeat imports in accordance with World Trade Organization (WTO)
rules. The terms of reference for this inquiry, however, do not request the
Commission to determine whether safeguard (or provisional safeguard) measures
are warranted.
Gilt Development & Management: Nutrition and Management of the Modern Gilt
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The objectives for good gilt management and nutrition should be to optimize reproductive productivity and longevity. Gilts should be from large litters, not be splay legged, and have at least 6 functional teats on each side. In the nursery, feed intake should be stimulated by way of gruel feed (often and little) or pellets. The diet should be palatable, highly digestible and should be a little bit higher quality than for the other pigs. Do not crowd and run it as all-in-all-out. Use quality floor to avoid leg injuries. In the finisher phase, gilts should be fed gilt diets high in amino acids, calcium, and available phosphorus. There is no correlation between rate of growth and age at puberty, but excessive nutrients is not economically efficient. Strict selection criteria should be followed. Leg structure is very important because poor legs can lead to sows with poor movement and early culling. It is a waste to have a perfectly good reproductive sow that cannot walk. Body weight should be equally distributed on 8 toes. Gilts that take short steps and walk on their toes should not be selected. Each foot should have 2 even sized toes for balance. Large bones are desirable, but should have a normal structure to them. Gilts should be 135 kg with 16 mm of back fat at the time of first breeding. Stress, relocation, and mixing should be avoided to avoid a reduction in feed intake. 10 to 12 hours of light per day at 270 to 500 lux intensity should be provided. Non-genetic factors such as feed intake, lean tissue growth rate, nutrition, stocking density, and air quality have the largest effect on the onset of puberty. By far the most effective factor is good boar stimulation. This can reduce age to puberty by 3 to 4 weeks. Boar must be at least 10 months old and have nose-to-nose contact with the gilts for 20 minutes per day. The boar should not be overworked. Breeding on the second estrus can give an additional 0.83 pigs and is important to prevent premature culling. Gilts should be “flushed†(fed ad lib) for 2 weeks prior to first breeding to increase ovulation rate.
Methionine Requirement and Commercial Methionine Sources in Growing Pigs
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Methionine is a limiting amino acid in commercial swine diets and commonly supplemented as dry DL-methionine or as liquid DL-methionine. New research has been published in poultry and swine as to what the nutritional effectiveness of liquid MHA-FA relative to DL-Met is, and the reasons for this difference. DL-methionine is the feed industry standard for methionine additions. In comparison, liquid methionine is not utilized as well by the animals. This is especially evident when applying the sensitive and precise nitrogen balance technique to compare the 2 methionine sources in an animal experiment. Swine producers should only consider using liquid MHA-FA if the price does not exceed about 66% of the DL-Met price in order to maximize profitability.
Monitoring and Maintaining Sow Condition
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The conditions under which sows were maintained in the wild allowed them to gain large amounts of weight in gestation in preparation for the upcoming lactation. During lactation sows nursed their litters for 6 or 7 weeks and the accumulated weight was used for production of milk. Sows used to produce about one litter per year with about 4 to 8 pigs. Sows today have been selected more intensely for certain traits which have made them different in regards to mature body size, reduced appetite potential, higher milk yield, higher lean to fat ratio, higher litter size and growth rates, and more vulnerable to nutritional and environmental factors. Humans have brought about shorter lactation length, earlier breeding, and increased use of AI. These all greatly reduce the margin of error in terms of feeding and management of the modern sow. Feeding strategies in gestation for the sow must not be considered in isolation from those in lactation. An essential part of any strategy to optimize sow reproductive performance is to control weight and back fat gain during gestation and weight and back fat loss in lactation. Large changes in weight and backfat in gestation and lactation over several parities will inevitably lead to an increased culling rate. Excessive weight gain results in heavier sows, which are likely to be too big for stalls and crates. Adaptation of a gestation feeding program based on an estimate of sow weight and a measurement of back fat will reduce the percentage of fat sows and reduce variation in sow weight and back fat levels at farrowing, which should help to reduce sow weight loss in lactation and improve sow reproductive efficiency.
Molecular epidemiology of African swine fever in East Africa
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African swine fever (ASF) a lethal, viral hemorrhagic disease of
domestic pigs, first reported from East Africa in 1921, is still widespread in this
region. In order to assess field heterogeneity at the regional level, nucleotide
sequences corresponding to the C-terminal end of the p72 gene were determined
for 77 ASF viruses of diverse temporal and species origin occurring in eight
East African countries. The number of sites completely conserved across all East
African sequences characterized in this study was 84.2% and 86.8% on nucleotide
and amino acid level, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of a homologous 404 bp
region revealed the presence of thirteen East African genotypes, of which eight
appear to be country specific. An East African, pig-associated, homogeneous
virus lineage linked to outbreaks in Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi over a 23
year period was demonstrated. In addition, genotype I (ESACWA) viruses were
identified in East African sylvatic hosts for the first time which is significant as this
genotype was previously thought to be restricted to theWest African region where
it occurs only in domestic pigs. The presence of discrete epidemiological cycles
in East Africa and recovery of multiple genotypes affirms the epidemiological
complexity of ASF in this region.
Effect of growth and compositional traits on first parity and lifetime reproductive performance in U.S. Landrace sows
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The objective of the study was to determine the effects of growth and compositional traits on first parity and lifetime
reproductive performance of purebred Landrace females. It was found that the group with the largest back fat averaged a greater maximum number of parities ( P b0.05) when compared to the other five backfat groups.