Quarterly Hogs and Pigs 2009

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

U.S. inventory of all hogs and pigs on June 1, 2009 was 66.1 million head. This was down 2 percent from June 1, 2008 but up 1 percent from March 1, 2009. Breeding inventory, at 5.97 million head, was down 3 percent from last year and down slightly from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 60.1 million head, was down 2 percent from last year
but up 1 percent from last quarter. The March-May 2009 pig crop, at 28.5 million head, was down slightly from 2008 but up 2 percent from 2007. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.97 million head, down 3 percent from 2008 and down 2 percent from 2007. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 50 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was a record high 9.61 for the March-May 2009 period, compared to 9.38 last year. Pigs saved per litter by size of operation ranged from 7.40 for operations with 1-99 hogs and pigs to 9.70 for operations with more than 5,000 hogs and pigs.

Normal profiles for deciduous dental eruption in domestic piglets: Effect of sow, litter, and piglet characteristics

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The purpose of this study was to examine dental development in commercial swine and identify maternal, litter, and piglet factors. Sequence of tooth eruption and reversals in eruption order (i.e., polymorphisms) were also examined. this is the first study to examine deciduous tooth eruption and the key factors influencing eruption times in domestic large breed commercial pigs. The study found that considerable variation in eruption times exists among individuals and litters. As well, substantial differences in the timing of molar eruption were found between the current study and earlier studies, indicating the need for current knowledge regarding the developmental physiology of our domestic animals. Further research investigating the relationship between tooth eruption and feeding behavior in the young pig is needed to provide a more comprehensive picture of feeding ability and feeding potential. As well, additional research is needed to determine how dental integrity and dental health influence feeding ability and overall health in the herd.

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

Reducing Transport Losses

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Drawing on the collective studies noted, ISU researchers and a commercial pork integrator teamed up to take a
closer look at the factors associated with fatigued, injured and dead pigs during transport to a processing facility.
Factors contributing to transport losses, such as pig density in trailers (pig weight/transport square feet), sort
from the barn, season, temperature, management and others, were studied. It was found that there are many ways to reduce transport losses. 1) Periodically check the transport losses from your hog operation and/or sites 2) Be sure your truck drivers are certified under the Transport Quality Assurance to ensure they understand and follow the guidelines. 3) Calculate the usable square footage of the transport trailer and develop a loading plan for the number
of pigs being transported. 3) Check ventilation in the trailer to ensure it is appropriate for current weather conditions. 4) Develop written standard operating procedures and checklists for loading and transporting pigs.

Effect of feeding reduced crude protein and phosphorus diets on weaning-finishing pig growth performance, carcass characteristics, and bone characteristics

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This study determined the effects of feeding a corn- and soybean mealbased diet (control) or a low nutrient excretion (LNE) diet, formulated with reduced dietary CP and additional synthetic AA, low phytic acid corn, and phytase,
on pig growth performance during the grower (BW = 32 to 77 kg) and finisher (BW = 78 to 126 kg) periods and on carcass and bone characteristics at slaughter. It was concluded that feeding LNE diets resulted in the maintenance of overall growth performance, bone variables, and carcass characteristics. However, further refinements are still required in the nursery and grower phases of pig production to optimize LNE diet use by the swine industry.

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

Providing Skills Certification and Support for Canada’s Livestock Transport Sector

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Powerpoint presentation, presented at the 2009 Livestock Transportation Conference

Increased sow nutrition during midgestation affects muscle fiber development and meat quality, with no consequences on growth performance

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Pregnant sow nutrition has potential effects on the muscle fiber development of progeny in utero. A total of 199 Landrace × Large White sows from parities 0 to 6 and their offspring were used to evaluate the effects of increasing the feeding amount during midpregnancy on the muscle tissue, growth performance, and meat quality of the progeny. The experiment was divided into 2 study replicates, and in each replicate, sows were assigned to 1 of the 2 treatments:
1) sows in the control group (C sows) were fed 2.5 to 3.0 kg/d (feed: 12.1 MJ of ME/kg and 0.62% lysine)
throughout gestation; and 2) sows in the high group (H sows) received an extra feed allowance of 1.5 kg/d for gilts and 2.0 kg/d for multiparous sows above the C amount from d 45 to 85 of gestation (period of secondary muscle fiber formation). Sow backfat was recorded on d 40 and 85 of gestation. Sow performance (litter size and piglet BW) at farrowing and on d 18 of lactation was measured. At weaning, pigs were divided into 5 BW groups/treatment, and progeny growth performance was measured during the nursery (n = 958) and the growing-finishing (n = 636) periods. At slaughter, carcass and meat quality traits (lean content, main cut weight, pH, Minolta color, and drip loss) were recorded from the second lightest group at weaning (BW group 4; n = 90), and samples from the longissimus thoracis
muscle were taken to study muscle fiber characteristics (n = 70). The extra nutrition from d 45 to 85 of gestation did not lead to differences in litter size or piglet BW at farrowing and on d 18 of lactation. Pigs born to H mothers had fewer muscle fibers and fewer estimated primary and secondary fibers than did pigs born to C mothers (P < 0.05). However, postnatal growth performance was not consistently affected by the maternal treatment. The smaller number of muscle fibers found in the H group of pigs was associated with fewer type IIB fibers (P < 0.05) with greater cross-sectional areas
(P < 0.10), which might be related to the significantly greater meat pH at 24 h postmortem and the smaller L* (lightness) values recorded in the H group of pigs. Results from the present study confirm the existence of effects of maternal nutrition on fetal development, at least in terms of muscle tissue development and meatquality, although with no beneficial effects were found for the postnatal growth performance of the progeny.  

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

Quantitative analysis of foot-and-mouth disease virus RNA duration in tissues of experimentally infected pigs

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Quantitative analysis of the duration of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) RNA in tissues was carried out in pigs experimentally infected with FMDV O UKG 34/2001 and O SKR 1/2000. The results showed that the viral RNA was still detectable in cervical lymph nodes, mandibular lymph nodes and tonsils collected from both inoculated and contact pigs at 28 days post infection.

For more information the full article can be found at  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10900233

Modelling of a recording scheme for market-oriented smallholder pig producers in Northwest Vietnam

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The aim of the present study is to evaluate the current recording scheme for market-oriented smallholder pig producers.
Evaluation criteria are the annual genetic gain of breeding objective traits and the discounted profit. In a
subsequent study, alternative breeding scenarios will be evaluated and compared with the main recording scheme
evaluated in this study. Results will support the development of village breeding programmes that are planned to be
implemented in villages in Son La province, Northwest Vietnam, by deriving recommendations for alternative breeding
programmes.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/livsci

The effect of probiotic BioPlus 2B® on growth performance, dry matter and nitrogen digestibility and slurry noxious gas emission in growing pigs

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Recent concerns regarding antibiotic resistance and the use of probiotic agents in livestock has resulted in a demand for alternative strategies to improve animal production and health without the need for antibiotics. Several studies have been conducted to evaluate the effects of BioPlus 2B® supplement, which contains Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis spores, on pigs, and the results of these studies have shown improved sow and piglet performance. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to assess the effects of supplementation of the diets of growing pigs with BioPlus 2B®. Specifically, the effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and noxious gas emission from pig slurry were evaluated. The results of this study indicate that supplementation of the diets of grower pigs with BioPlus 2B® did not significantly improve the growth performance. However, there was an effective reduction in the slurry NH3
emission in response to treatment with BioPlus 2B®. The underlying mechanisms by which this reduction occurred should be further assessed by evaluating the community structure of intestinal and fecal bacteria, which may better explain the relationship between dietary BioPlus 2B® and native bacterial populations.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/livsci

Manure equipment innovators

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The Westaby manure application operation in Iowa has grown
along with the hog industry in the state, using application
equipment from the main-line manufacturers and doing some
innovating of its own with custom-designed injectors. The
equipment line-up at the Westaby operation includes Cat
Challenger tractors, triple-axle Mack trucks with flotation
tires, a GMC triple-axle truck with flotation tires, J-Star tanks
and custom built vacuum tanks. The equipment uses custom designed
injector toolbars designed by Jesse Westaby. Everything is measured in feet, and
operators know how far they have to
travel to achieve a certain application
rate. All the rigs are equipped with
Calc-An-Acre measuring systems, to
determine application rates. The average size of a customer haul for
Westaby is now 750,000 gallons. Kevin
Westaby points out, however, that they
still have good customers for whom
they haul 100,000 gallons.