Pork Insight Articles

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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.

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DYNAMIC OPTIMIZATION OF PRODUCTION TO MARKET CONDITIONS

Posted in: Economics, Pork Insight Articles by admin on May 12, 2017 | No Comments

Pork producers have been used to constant evolution in rapidly changing markets in order to maximize profits. Least cost formulation is readily used to minimize feed costs for a defined set of performance expectations. Does feeding pigs the cheapest feed always provide the best financial returns? Will feeding diets that minimize feed efficiency return the cheapest feed cost or highest profit? In some situations, yes, but in many cases not. Market conditions that swine producers operate in will continue to constantly evolve. In order to be successful producers will have to be aware of theses changing market conditions and dynamically optimize their shipping and feeding strategy to maximize profitability, not only daily gain, feed conversion or looking at the lowest feed cost per ton. To perform this operation, strategic utilization of integrated simulation models, with the capacity to optimize, can play a significant role in choosing the best strategy for the moment.

ARE YOU CAMERA READY?

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Animal protection activists are to be expected to continue to actively criticize modern farming practices. The undercover camera approach appears to have become the weapon of choice to draw emotional attention to a cause. What has been documented in other social movements; is to make the issue stick in the mind of the average citizen emotionally laden visual images must be followed up with an appealing rational and do-able goal.

Over time, images and media constructs may accumulate and build a hostility foundation in preparation for the next moral panic opportunity. Producers and the industry should put energy into controlling what we can influence, consensus, hostility and disproportionality.

As an industry and as a farmer concern about where your food comes from and that production animals have a decent life is a justified and righteous prerogative of the consumer. Many livestock industries have a prepared position that articulates our agreement with responsible farming which is already partially covered by the Code of Practice and visible with the implementation of on farm welfare audits.

SOLVING HEALTH PROBLEMS WITH GENETICS

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on May 11, 2017 | No Comments

Canada has a high health status in relation to pig breeding and this is a competitive
advantage in terms of being a world leader in the supply of pig genetics across the globe. Although it is possible to maintain this status through strict biosecurity and isolation at the top of the production pyramid, it soon breaks down at the commercial level. Instead, a range of additional management measures are required including vaccination, and threesite and all-in-all-out production. When disease occurs then one of the most important impacts, in addition to the cost of treatment and mortality, is the cost of morbidity, or put another way the impact on growth. This is an aspect that is sometimes overlooked as people talk about disease resistance, and think of a bullet-proof animal, perhaps as a result of the success of vaccination, rather than differences in levels of susceptibility. Although there are some examples of genetic resistance to disease in pigs, in most cases this is not
achievable, instead we should focus on reducing the impact of disease when it occurs and how genetics can impact this component of health.

There are clear examples where it is possible to select for resistance to a pathogen, such as E. coli F18, which is responsible for edema disease, a significant problem in some regions. However, there are still very few examples where genetics has been used to help improve pig health. One reason for this is the complexity of the trait, in most cases animals are not resistant to a disease, instead they vary in their
susceptibility to the disease agents. Another reason is the difficulty in adding a specific disease trait into selection indices. In addition, although we now have the possibility of adding genetics to our toolbox for health it is still difficult to demonstrate the potential of the approach. The availability of new high throughput genomics tools provides the opportunity to change this situation.

TRADE STOPS HERE! HOW TRADE BARRIERS UNDERMINE CANADA’S INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS

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In 2014, Canada exported $3.7 billion in pork products to 100 countries around the world. Over 90 percent of Canada’s pork exports are going to just ten countries, including the U.S., Japan, Russia, China and Mexico. Exports are now driving the growth in Canada’s domestic pork production. The Canadian hog industry has significant opportunities abroad, particularly in the wake of the many new trade agreements Canada has or is negotiating with major pork markets including the EU and Japan. However, Canada’s pork industry must have a solid and strategic understanding of international trade; including the mechanics and benefits of international trade deals and the perils and disruptive impact of trade barriers imposed by our major trading partners, in order to maintain its competitiveness in international markets.

 

ELECTRONIC SOWFEEDING: SLAT-LEVEL CONSIDERATIONS

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Electronic sow feeding (ESF) is the only alternative to gestation stalls that provides true individual animal nutrition. For producers with high production expectations, it is likely the best choice. ESF also promises the opportunity to further automate sow management (eg spray marking of animals requiring vaccination or selection of animals needing to move to farrowing). ESF farms are pushing above 30 pigs weaned per sow per year and thus the technology itself, if properly managed, is not a barrier to outstanding production.

SLAT LEVEL CONSIDERATIONS

  • Parity Segregation
  • Group Structure
    • Dynamic
    • Static
  • Time of Group Formation
    • Pre-Implantation
    • Post-Implantation
  • Design of Pens
    • Space allowance
    • Feeder capacity
    • Pen size
    • Pen shape
    • Pen dividers
    • Solid laying areas
    • Waterer placements

 

PRACTICAL LABOUR TIPS TO IMPROVE PIGLET SURVIVABILITY

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  1. Sanitation
    • Prepping a room
      • Remove all left-over feed.
      • Scrape down manure.
      • Wet down the entire penning and floors, degrease, and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
      • Then wash the entire room, including walls.
      • Once this is completed, do a final rinse, and when you are satisfied with the cleanliness, disinfect.
    • When is a room considered ready to load sows?
      • The next morning, once it is dry.
      • Never before maintenance is done, including water nipples, heat lamps, ventilation and inlets, and any damage that could cause discomfort to the sows and pigs.
      • All crates include a 12”x12” black rubber mat, set directly under the side heat lamp, which is set at 18”.
      • All crates include a back lamp that is turned on 3 days prior to due date, and shut off after processing, to discourage piglets from laying there. There is also a side lamp that remains on the entire time.
  2. Feeding Sows and Pre & Post Farrowing
    • Feeding the Sows
      • All sows come to the crates with their individual cards and their previous feed card.
      • All information regarding the sow is documented and is very valuable to the farrowing technician.
      • Information on the cards include early/late farrowings, savaging, history of stillborns, illness, quality of teats and underlines, good milker, good mom
  3. Standard Operating Procedures – Day One and onward
  4. The People behind the Pigs
PRACTICAL LABOUR TIPS TO IMPROVE PIGLET SURVIVABILITY

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The ultimate goal of a farrowing facility management system is to produce a high number of mature and healthy weaned piglets. The older and bigger the piglet is at weaning, the higher the gain, the better the feed efficiency and the lower the cost up to slaughter. Management around the farrowing process therefore has a great impact over the entire life of the pig.

MÉNARD APPROACH

  • Choose the good sows
    • Genetic choice has a major impact on total number born but also milking ability, mothering temperament and weight of piglets at birth.
    • Number of functional teats is highly important.
  • Keep your sows in good body condition and feed them well.
    • Body condition at farrowing has an important impact on milk production and feed intake.
  • Respect the natural gestation time for sows
  • Give the research to your people and let them improve their practices
  • Before farrowing
    • Remove feces behind the sows continuously before and during farrowing.
    • Put recycled paper mats and drying agent down.
    • Adjust heat lamps to a good height and turn them on.
  • At farrowing
    • no induction, do not use oxytocin, minimum sleevings, dry the
      piglets and no teeth clipping
  • Cross fostering
    • Leave the maximum number of piglets on their own mother
    • Push the lactation for each individual sow
  • Culling the right sows
    • Those weaning less than 9 piglets because of a bad udder or crushing.
    • Those with a long farrowing process
    • Those with bad legs
    • The cannibals
THE NEW CANADIAN CODE OF PRACTICE

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Codes of Practice are reviewed and updated periodically, with a new swine code being released in March of 2014 (NFACC, 2014). The new Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs includes a number of changes that impact production practices and housing for Canadian pigs. The most significant changes in the new code are related to sow housing, pain control at castration and tail docking, space allowances and enrichment. For all aspects of production, the code includes both ‘requirements’, where the expected standards or outcomes to be met are clearly stated, and ‘recommended practices’, which describe practices over and above the requirements which can be implemented on-farm to further improve animal production and wellbeing.

 

USING RECORDS AND DATA MINING TO TROUBLESHOOT PROBLEMS IN SOWBARNS

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Data management is a vital part of running a successful business. Accurate data
collections on-farm becomes especially critical. Collecting data from your farm to enable management and staff to identify areas to improvement, where they are exceling, and allows you to benchmark your production against industry. Identifying areas of concern ultimately allows a system to work more efficiently by accepting tighter production margins which help to keep costs as low as possible.

PRODUCTION AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF HIGH PRODUCING SOW FARMS

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Sow productivity and sow farm performance are the foundations of modern, integrated pork production. Most pork producers consider the production of weaned pigs to be a cost centre and rely on the growth phases (nursery-finishing or wean-to-finish) to fully realize the value of high-quality weaned pigs. Above-average sow productivity results in a lower average cost per weaned pig. Benchmark analysis of the largest pork producers in North America consistently shows that weaned pig cost ranks as one of the most important factors in overall profitability of pork production systems. Lower weaned pig cost correlates strongly with higher profitability. The Top 25% ranked on overall company profitability had consistently lower weaned pig costs. Keep in mind that weaned pig cost can change dramatically, and has in the past 3-4 years, mainly due to big changes in feed cost. Nevertheless, at any given time, it is sow productivity that drives variation in weaned pig cost structure across sow farms.

 
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