Better Pork April 2020

Better Pork April 2020

Articles in the April 2020 Better Pork Include:

Beyond the Barn: The Pork Sector’s Beef With Protein Labelling, Gut Check: How to Improve Pig Health, Ontario Team Wins Innovation Award

• Impossible Foods’ created a new Impossible Pork product that is supposed to mimic real pork. The National Pork Producers Council is unhappy with this as a soybean-based products are not similar to pork. The term pork should be protected for meat products from pigs.
• The gut microbiome can can act as a defense mechanism for the immune system. Different microbial populations are more resistant to infections and could be increased in pigs to increase their robustness.
• South West Ontario Veterinary Services won the Innovative Pork Production award for creating a swine restraint device. The Hammock allows for improved well-being and safety for the handler and the animal.

The Quest for a ‘Made-in-Canada’ Price

• A premium pricing model is needed for the Canadian pork production marketplace. The quality of the product is not reflected in the price, so a new pricing system is being examined. Currently prices are based on a U.S. reference price which includes a conversion factor and the currency exchange. If the U.S. prices are impacted positively or negatively then Canada is affected as well. Prices should reflect market the Canadian market conditions.

Strep Zoo: A New Threat for the Swine Industry

• Strep zoo is a common bacteria in animals including swine, but now a new strain has developed that causes sudden pig death from the disease entering the blood stream. It is difficult to diagnose due to its large range of symptoms and often occurs during stressful situations like transportation. This disease can be treated with antibiotics.

Up Close: The Future’s Bright for this Farm Family

• Joe Dekroon started MJD Farms Ltd., a 1,000-sow farrow-to-finish operation with 4,800 piglets in a nursery barn. He also runs a cash crop operation with his family that helps feed the pigs.

Herd Health: How to Identify and Manage Ileitis

• Ileitis or proliferative enteritis can have significant effects on the economics of a swine operation due to decreased feed efficiency and growth rate as well as increased mortality. It is spread through consumption of contaminated fecal material, and remains infective in the environment for two weeks. Symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention are further discussed.

Swine Health Ontario: Remember Best Biosecurity Practices

• Biosecurity protocols that should be in place in swine barns include a controlled barn entry, transport biosecurity, gilt acclimation, controlled movement, deadstock protocols, pest and bug control, documentation and buy-in.

Swine Research: How to Enhance Pig Robustness

• Functional amino acids can help improve immune response When supplemented above requirements for growth. Feed efficiency and average daily gain were improved while intestinal colonization and bacterial shedding were reduced.

Nutrition: The Ripple Effects of Precision Feeding

• Nutrient requirement change throughout gestation, so providing a single diet will oversupply nutrients initially and undersupply them in late gestation. This can have consequences on post-natal growth and fetal development. Precision feeding led to heavier nursery pigs and faster growing pigs after weaning. Faster growing and heavier pigs were also found in the finisher phase due to precision feeding.

Pork News and Views: Walking Your Barn – Paying Attention to the Details!, Best Practice Sheets for the Barn, Identifying Active Salmonella Infections in Nursery Barns Using Serology and Bacterial Culture and Evaluating Risk Factors, Notes for the 2020 Swine Budget, Swine Budget – February 2020

• An important part of managing a swine barn is walking through it. It helps indicate the health of the animals, their welfare and performance along with information about barn equipment and facilities. Tips on how and what to observe during these walkthroughs are provided.
• Best practice sheets should be provided so that people who do not usually do the job have help to achieve the same standards as the regular staff. It should be a laminated paper posted with pictures of how it looks when it is properly done versus when its not with a list of steps for completing the task.
• Salmonella can be identified using bacteriological or serological techniques. Using both together is the best way for identification as the bacteriological method detects current infections better while the serological method captures the historical exposures. Of the Ontario nurseries tested, only 20% produced Salmonella-free pigs.
• Notes for the 2020 swine budget and the February 2020 swine budget are provided.

Moe’s Market Minute: Are We Poised for Another Record Year?

• Pork exports have increased in countries unaffected by African swine fever throughout the year. 2019 was a record year for the U.S. pork exports. Chinese pork exports are expected to keep rising.

Second Look: Consider How This Fable Still Rings True

• Significant advances have been made in swine scientific knowledge, but further research and utilization of this research is inhibited by the public and government mindsets.

Better Pork April 2020 (full journal)