Concentrations of Leptin in Serum of Gilts and Barrows Sired by Boars of Different Breeds and Adiposity

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This experiment was conducted to provide basic information on the effects of sire and gender on serum concentrations
of leptin in swine. Leptin secreted from adipocytes is hypothesized to be a metabolic link between heart disease and obesity in humans. It was concluded that circulating levels of leptin in swine are influenced by sire, and differences are likely due to genetically dictated differences in adiposity.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.jarvm.com/articles/Previous.htm

Performance and diarrhoea in piglets following weaning at seven weeks of age: Challenge with E. coli O 149 and effect of dietary factors

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The objective of this study was to determine the effect of four selected dietary factors on a potential reduction in severity of weaning diarrhoea in piglets, which were weaned at 7 weeks of age to simulate this condition in organic pig
production. The four factors were ad libitum versus feed restriction, control versus protein restriction at ad
libitum feeding, control versus inclusion of lupin as a protein source at ad libitum feeding, and control versus extra vitamin E at ad libitum feeding. It was concluded that the studied dietary factors could not alleviate a diarrhoea-like condition and at the same time maintain the growth rate. Furthermore, the results indicate that performance after weaning at 7 weeks of age can be improved if piglets achieve a daily feed intake of at least 200 g from the day of weaning.

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

A new manure management system

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A new—and economically practical—manure treatment system developed for North Carolina hog farmers is looking very positive. In the late 1990s, the forecast was not terribly good for North Carolina as they were facing some serious pollution problems: municipal wastes, agricultural run-off, swine manure in lagoons and sprayfields. In July 2000, the North Carolina Attorney General and Smithfield Foods, Inc, and its subsidiary companies, agreed to a legally binding pledge to develop and implement new technology that would protect both the environment and the economy. They came up with a system that actually recycles a lot of the water. The new technology allows hog waste to be flushed out of barns with copious amounts of water, but instead of going into a lagoon, the waste is collected in a tank. In this tank, the liquids and solids separate. Ideally, the solids will be converted to Class A biosolids or energy, but the final outcome of the solids has not been decided. A polymer floculant and sanitizing solution are then injected into the liquid, which then enters a settling tank. The polymer settles out the small solids still remaining in the liquid. Some settle at the bottom while others float at the top of the tank. The middle contains clear liquid, and the sanitizer helps kill any remaining  pathogens in the liquid. The settled and floating solids enter a leach field (similar to a home septic system). The clear water is divided into two streams. The first stream is reused to flush out hog barns. The second stream undergoes additional wastewater treatment with filters and aeration. It can then be diluted with fresh water and used as drinking
water for the hogs. Technologies such as this offer the promise of a healthy environment and a healthy farm economy for the hog industries future as this technology decreases water usage by 50-60%.

Turning brown into Green

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Construction is well underway on a new $9.5 million facility for
Premium Standard Farms that will turn hog manure into an
odorless organic fertilizer that’s perfect for the putting green.
As a hefty dose of nutrients in an easy-to-deliver slurry, pig
manure has a lot to recommend it. But with an aroma likely to put
a duffer off his swing, it’s never really found its place as the
fertilizer of choice on American golf courses. “We have the philosophy of trying to make something valuable
out of the manure,” says Dave Townsend, vice-president for
environmental affairs at Premium Standard Farms. “We want to
offset the cost of the technology required to process the manure,
but we also want to do something beneficial with it, rather than
just treating it as waste we’ve got to do something with.”
The result is a process, now under construction, that is both
complex in design and elegantly simple in operation. The system uses an approach developed by Crystal Peak Farms to
combine anaerobic digesters, a centrifuge dewatering system, an
ingenious freeze-thaw system to capture nutrients from the
effluent, and the dryer-fertilizer facility. The end result is a granulated product that “doesn’t have dust
and doesn’t have odor. It’s in nice, solid black granules. It handles
like a traditional fertilizer and has zero odor,” says Townsend. To ensure market acceptance, “we test-marketed the product on
golf courses in Hawaii, and I think it’s going to be very well
received,” McGinnis says. To bolster the appeal of the fertilizer,
McGinnis is also seeking organic certification for the product, and
working closely with distributor J R Simplot Co.

Employment Standards: Where Are We Heading?

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In most workplaces, employers are concerned with whether or not they are
meeting their minimum obligations under various pieces of legislation.
Employers have many obligations relating to employment standards,
occupational health and safety, human rights, workers compensation and so
on. For the purposes of this paper, we will look primarily at the obligations
imposed on employers in Alberta pursuant to the Employment Standards
Code, as well as the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and what it means
for those employers engaged in the farming industry in Alberta. Health and safety issues are important considerations in any business, including farm operations. Although farming may be exempted from the
Occupational Health and Safety Act, farm operations face the same issues. The importance to farms may be even greater because of the potential for
lawsuits. It is essential that due diligence is exercised to prevent and deal with
safety incidents on farms.
While most farming operations are exempt from certain portions of the Alberta
Employment Standards Code, it must be remembered that certain portions do
apply, namely payment of earnings, maternity and parental leave, and
termination provisions. Employers engaged in such activity should be mindful
to comply with such minimum standards.

The use of ractopamine to enhance the environmental sustainability of pork production

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This experiment was conducted to determine if ractopamine HCl (RAC) can increase nutrient utilization and decrease water use in hog operations. This experiment combined growth (GEXP) and metabolism (MEXP) experiments using 9 dietary treatments (trt) arranged as a 3 x 3 factorial: 3 levels of RAC (0, 5 & 10 ppm) and 3 standardized ileal digestible LYS: DE ratios (1.75, 2.25 & 2.75 g/Mcal DE). In MEXP, higher levels of RAC and LYS improved ADG. RAC decreased water intake and urine output. LYS had no effect on water balance. Therefore, RAC may reduce the environmental footprint of pork production through improved nutrient utilization and reduced water requirements.

Porcine Circoviral Disease – from inception to successful control

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Although the classical gross and histopathological lesions associated with PMWS were described over a decade ago, the definitive diagnosis of PCVD in individual pigs is not always simple. In individual cases, the classical clinical signs (wasting, diarrhea, dyspnea, lymphomegaly, jaundice), histopathological lesions (granulomatous inflammation, lymphoid depletion) and PCV2 antigen associated with the lesions must be evident. However, the presence of simultaneous infections often makes diagnosis difficult. In these cases, diagnostic results may yield multiple viral or bacterial pathogens in addition to PCV2, and the significance of each must be ascertained.
Another complicating factor in the diagnosis of PCVD is that PCV2 may be present, albeit at low levels, in the tissues of sub-clinically infected but seemingly healthy pigs. Thus, antibody testing in serum is not an effective tool to determine if a farm or pig is affected by PCVD. It only shows that PCV2 is present in a herd or that a pig was exposed. However, quantifying the levels of PCV2 in tissues may be useful in ascertaining the significance of PCV2 infection. Good production practices might help to reduce the impact of PCVD and coinfections. Thus, the MADEC 20 principles were at least partially effective in controlling PMWS in many European herds prior to the use of PCV2 vaccine. However, the concensus view is that the use of PCV2 vaccines, led to the rapid decline in the number of PCVD herd epizootics in North America in 2007. To judge the efficacy of a vaccine in the field, reduction of mortality, reduced number of culls and improved performance are the most relevant parameters. Based on these the economical benefit of piglet vaccination can be estimated, and is reported to be as high as 9.85 USD in a non-complicated case of PCVD. Importantly, the piglet vaccines are efficacious in the presence of maternal antibodies, and when coinfections including PRRS59, and Mycoplasma hyorhinis exist. Moreover, there appears to be cross-protection between the two PCV2 genogroups. Thus, the North American and the global swine industries are very fortunate, in that effective PCV2 vaccines are now widely available, and enhance the profitability of pork production systems

Daily Routine Changes in Young Group-Housed Swine Infected With Salmonella

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Illness can result in compromised welfare and altered needs for the sick nonhuman
animal. This research was done to determine alterations in the daily routine
of groups of young pigs containing an infected individual. Twelve groups of
5 Landrace/Yorkshire weaned pigs (n D 60 pigs) were housed in separate biosecure
rooms. One animal was randomly selected from each group as the seeder
animal and given 10e7–10e8 colony forming units of Salmonella Typhimurium
orally on Day 0. Pens were videorecorded during daytime hours and 5-min scan
samples were used to assess behavior from Day 􀀀1 to Day C6 of the trial.
Observers were able to identify pigs by individual markings and were blind to
treatment. Mixed model analyses with repeated measures statements to account
for correlation were constructed.
The amount of time spent performing various activities, such as lying, standing,
and moving, did not differ between seeder animals and their penmates (p >
.05). There was a significant day effect, with lying decreasing and standing
increasing by day as the trial progressed (p < .0001). The amount of time spent
at the feeder was not significantly different between seeders and their penmates (p > .05); however, the amount of time at the feeder increased in all animals
by day until Day C5 of the trial (p < .0001).
In conclusion, in these small groups of young swine in a stable social
hierarchy, the amount of time spent performing various activities did not appear
to alter with a low dose of Salmonella. The welfare of these animals may not
be compromised during nonsevere Salmonella infection.

Effects of dietary supplementation with different forms of flax in late-gestation and lactation on fatty acid profiles in sows and their piglets

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The goals of the present study were 1) to establish detailed fatty acid profiles in the plasma of pregnant sows before and after dietary supplementation with flax and in carcasses and brains of neonatal piglets as well as in sow milk in early and late lactation, and 2) to demonstrate the differential effects of feeding flax as seed, meal, or oil on these fatty acid profiles. It was found that flax is an important agricultural product and could be used to alter the fatty acid profiles of sows and their piglets. Feeding flax as seed or oil to sows during the last third of gestation increases PUFA and n-3 fatty acids and decreases the n-6/n-3 ratio in milk and blood of sows and in carcasses of newborn piglets. Increased n-3 fatty acids and decreased n-6/n-3 ratio were also present in the brain of piglets from sows fed FS or FSO. Such a change in fatty acid profile was not present when flax was provided as meal, indicating that it is linked to the oil component of the diet.

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

Feed Alternatives Not A Quick Nutritional Fix

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Dietary energy levels must be monitored closely, even as the industry moves to increased use of alternative ingredients.