The effect of feeding crude glycerol on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in weaned pigs

Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2009 | No Comments

Increased utilization of biofuel coproducts, such as crude glycerol, will allow livestock producers to source alternative feedstuffs and mitigate high grain prices. Crude glycerol may play an important role in meeting the dietary energy needs of pigs as biodiesel production expands. The present study indicates that crude glycerol can be included up to 8% in replacement for wheat in diets for weaned pigs, without reducing growth and feed efficiency.

Just What We Didn't Need

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Adding insult to injury, the outbreak of HlNl Influenza A virus has left the U.S. pork industry reeling from yet another exaggerated media frenzy. The good news about the bad news is that the staffs at the National Pork
Producers Council (NPPC) and the National Pork Board reacted quickly and effectively the minute news of swine-tagged flu symptoms hit the airwaves, newspaper and website headlines around the globe. While we are being grateful, we
would do well to glance over our shoulders and try to imagine another, even more serious scenario — one in
which we were facing the discovery of a foreign animal disease, such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), within
our borders rather than dealing with a novel influenza virus. In that context, perhaps the past few weeks provided a dress rehearsal for something much, much bigger.

Advanced swine manure treatment and utilization in Braz

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The aim of this paper is to present some recent advances in
swine manure management research and practices in Brazil, and
assessing their technical and economic performances. It was found that because of environmental concerns for the disposal of large
amounts of swine manure generated under animal confinement,
Brazilian swine producers have several technological challenges.
These challenges depend on several factors, like soil/plant support
capacity, land availability, and producers investment capacity for
adoption of advanced manure treatment technologies. The development
of new advanced manure treatment technologies that
can solve several environmental problems linked to manure disposal,
are compatible with the new reality of Brazilian’s industrial
swine production, which has emerged as a major competitor in the
international market. With the adoption of advanced technologies
like enhancement of solid–liquid separation using flocculants and
treatment processes (SMTS), economical considerations need to
be done, particularly in Brazil and other developing countries that
do not have government subsidies like the Europe Union or United
States.

Feed intake in the multiparous lactating sow: Its relationship with reactivity during gestation and tryptophan status

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This experiment deteremined whether the feed intake during lactation was related to the reactivity of the sow during gestation and plasma Trp and cortisol concentrations. This test allowed the selection of 12 reactive (R) and 8 nonreactive (NR) sows for the study. It was found that the NR sows were less reactive to human contact, had shorter farrowing duration, and a shorter birth interval than R sows. Feed intake was also greater for NR sows throughout the whole lactation period. Plasma cortisol concentration was maximal on the day after farrowing and returned to normal within 4 days postpartum. A low reactivity during gestation was associated with behaviour of the sow that was favourable to piglet survival during farrowing, increase feed intake and decreased plasma Trp concentration during week one of lactation.

For more information the full article can be found at http://jas.fass.org/

Transport Quality Assurance

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Powerpoint Presentation, presented at the 2009 Livestock Transport Conference. Includes critical issues, certification benefits, and what is next.

Raw potato starch in weaned pig diets and its influence on postweaning scours and the molecular microbial ecology of the digestive tract

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This study evaluated to effect of raw potato starch (RPS) on growth performance, postweaning diarrhea, and gastrointestinal microbial populations in weaned piglets. It is concluded that 7% of RPS can be used to prevent postweaning diarrhea in weaned piglets and there was no effect on growth performance.

For more information the full article can be found at http://jas.fass.org/

Respiratory Eqipment Fact Sheet

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Facts and different types of equipment, as well as the proper fitting.

Role of selection and inbreeding on the incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma in Sinclair swine

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This paper reports the quantitative analysis of the historical database of a herd of Sinclair swine affected by cutaneous malignant melanoma. The herd was under partial and non-systematic selection for melanoma susceptibility (animals having at least one tumour during the first 6 weeks of life). It was found that there was no evidence of dominance in the individual inbreeding coefficients but the number of live-born pigs was lower in litters from parents susceptible to the disease (p < 0.01).

For more information the full article can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1439-0388/issues

Control charts applied to simulated sow herd datasets

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This paper presents an approach for computer-based farm analysis, to support the decision-making of the farmer. The
aim was to develop a method enabling the farm manager to quickly detect with statistical certainty emerging process
changes in swine production. To gain more insight into the optimal design of the CUSUM as well as the EWMA
(exponentially weighted moving average) chart in agriculture production processes without any side-effects, a simulation study was performed. It was found that both the EWMA and CUSUM charts enabled a clear graphical presentation of the results. The classification performance was comparable. The presentation of the EWMA chart may be easier to understand, because actual values are assigned in contrast to CUSUM, which works with deviations. An advantage of CUSUM is the possibility to differentiate between calculating the positive and negative deviations. Modern computer technology enables the implementation of control charts in online production monitoring. Further, analysis of the relevant (out-of-control) deviations should examine the underlying causes to improve farm performance.

Going Organic

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Faced with time-consuming drives to apply its manure and new
phosphorus
management regulations, the Grenier family hog operation
recently turned to technology company Envirogain and its system
of converting manure into organic fertilizer.
In the Canadian province of Quebec, which has a major hog
industry, the manure problem has become so severe that a
moratorium has been placed on the expansion of pig farms. In
regions which have been found to have too much phosphorus in
the soil because of manure application, pork producers have been
forced to find other areas—often more than 50 kilometres from
their breeding sites—to spread pig manure. While the challenge to meet these requirements is great, help is
coming thanks to a new hog manure treatment system that is
being developed, marketed and operated by Envirogain, a
technology firm in Saint Romuald, on the south shore of Quebec
City. After five years of research on an experimental site, the firm
is marketing a technology that will allow hog operations to
continue production, and not have to be concerned about looking
for new land to spread manure.