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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.
Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:
Martin Rice on what you need to know about pork export markets and trade agreements -Banff 2016
Posted in: Economics, Pork Insight Articles by admin on May 3, 2017 | No Comments
No other pork-producing nation in the world has the kind of dependence on exports that Canada does. Over two thirds of Canadian pork production is exported, excluding live pigs, and almost
half of all production is going to non-U.S. markets. Canada is currently the third largest exporter of chilled pork in the world. As well, pork consumption in Canada has declined during this period. This is an enormous exposure to risk on the export side of things.
“The reason trade matters for the pork industry becomes clear when you take a look at all of the cuts and products that come from one carcass,” says Rice. There are products such as offal or variety meats that may go for pet food in Canada. But in China or Japan, these are highly sought after and are priced accordingly. “There is an enormous contribution to the cutout value of the carcass, to be able to sell these variety meats to markets that value them,” says Rice. This is why trade agreements are so important for the Canadian pork industry.
There are a number of trade agreements Canada has currently signed or is pursuing. The most important of these are the WTO, the Canada-EU agreement and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Regarding the TPP Rice says “we are quite confident that within five years of implementation, we will see additional exports to Japan in excess of $300 million per year.” However the Canadian market must be cautious about relying on these trades as estimates from the Japanese ministry show the population declining from the approximately 127 million people today, to around 80 million people in the next 40 years. This will impact demand for export products significantly.
The Canadian Pork Council also want producers’ input on what value they see in some of these practices and programs. Is it worth it to producers to focus on the export markets?
Martin Rice on what you need to know about pork export markets and trade agreements -Banff 2016
Maple Leaf’s McCain sees clear path for future of Canadian hog industry -Banff 2016
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Michael McCain, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, kicked off the 2016 Banff Pork Seminar with a strong message for the industry. “I am very confident about our future as a sustainable, profitable industry, but this will require embracing the social and environmental factors I am discussing here today.” Those three areas of focus and opportunity going forward are health and nutrition, animal welfare and environmental sustainability.
McCain notes that the industry must work hard on getting balanced information to the public to insure that consumers are receiving accurate information and to prevent red meat being vilified as gluten has been in the last few years. Transparency of management practices and continued reduction of antibiotic use are key players in improving public opinion.
Most retail and food service organizations identify animal welfare as their number one concern in meeting societal expectations and within this, conversion from gestation crates to loose housing is their top priority – one in which McCain feels Canadian producers are lagging behind.
“Blaming activists or reverting to a defensive posture will not solve this challenge. This is not a fleeting issue and defending the status quo is not a viable option,” says McCain. “As an industry we need to rally together to advance higher standards and higher expectations of each other.”
From the environmental standpoint Maple Leaf has committed as a company to reduce their environmental footprint by 50 per cent by 2025 – and McCain noted that many of the efficiencies they are making have also had a positive impact on the bottom line of the organization.
Looking forward McCain sees both challenges and opportunities ahead for the Canadian pork industry.
Maple Leaf’s McCain sees clear path for future of Canadian hog industry -Banff 2016
The Use of SprayDried Animal Plasma to Mitigate Negative Effects of Deoxynivalenol (DON) in Late Nursery Pigs (2012)
Posted in: Nutrition, Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre by admin on May 2, 2017 | No Comments
Grain infected with Fusarium fungi is a widespread problem in Western Canada. A common mycotoxin is deoxynivalenol or DON, low levels of DON in the diet reduce feed intake and Agriculture Canada recommends swine diets not contain more than 1 ppm DON.
This study was to determine if adding sprayed-dried animal plasma (SDAP) and/or activated clays (binder) to DON contaminated diets would mitigate the effect of DON during the nursery phase of production.
Inclusion of SDAP improved ADFI and alleviated the negative effects of DON. In this experiment, SDAP was more effective than the clay binder at alleviating the negative effects of DON. Thus it can be concluded that SDAP animal plasma should be added to nursery diets if DON contamination is determined or suspected
Weaning Management – Advances in Pork Production (2012)
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Procedures need to be implemented before weaned pigs arrive include setting ventilation controls to allow for the room to dry after washing and disinfection. The room should also be warmed before pigs arrive and supplemental heat sources should be in place and functioning. Mat feeding for the first 3 days in the nursery is encouraged in order to significantly decrease percentage of pig removals.
All waterers should be functioning and adjusted to the proper height which is at shoulder height for the smaller pigs in the pen.
If all of the proper preparatory procedures are performed, the pigs can be left to rest for approximately 36 hours after weaning to allow them to acclimate. Pigs should be observed to ensure that they have found the water source and are beginning to develop feeding behavior.
The identification of candidate pigs for teaching feeding behavior is a high priority during the first few days after weaning.
Adherence to three key concepts when formulating diets for weaned pig are economics, maximized energy intake and high digestibility.
The study goes on to discuss the importance of dietary Lysine and concludes that the basic concepts and management practices for feeding older-weaned pigs are not different than those for younger weaning ages.
Pain management and Enrichment for Pigs – Jennifer Brown 2017
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Summary:
Powerpoint outlining new guidelines that came into place as of July 2016 regarding pain managment and enrichment
PAIN MANAGEMENT
As of July 1st 2016: Castration performed at any age must be done with analgesics to help control post-procedure pain, while castration performed after 10 days of age must be done with anesthetic and analgesic to control pain.
Pain control is now required at castration and tail docking
Brown also outlines several options avoiding castration focusing on Improvest an immunocastration method approved in Canada that requires approval for slaughter by individual packers as they must monitor for boar taint.
The other option to avoid castration discussed is slaughtering males early before sexual maturation to avoid castration and boar taint.
ENRICHMENT
“Pigs must be provided with multiple forms of enrichment that aim to improve the welfare of the animals through the enhancement of their physical and social environments”
The purpose of enrichment is
Increase the number and range of normal behaviours
Prevent, or reduce the severity, of abnormal behaviours
Increase positive utilization of the environment (e.g. use of space)
Increase the ability to cope with behavioural and physiological challenges
While different enrichment’s are discussed Brown notes that pigs seemed to prefer the tray feeders over the enrichment’s as they could preform rooting behaviour.
Sex sorting sperm-Geoff Geddes 2016
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Sorting equipment is now in place at Fast Genetics and sows are being inseminated with sex-sorted sperm.
The final phase is the commercial stage, where it’s easy to imagine the benefits of a single-gendered offspring. “There’s always an economic difference between raising males and females, but producers could further capitalize on it depending on their packing plant relationships”
“Overall, it will allow us to create a better product and have faster genetic gain at the nucleus by skewing gender.”
Sex sorting sperm-Geoff Geddes 2016
Using canola meal as a major protein source for lactating sows -Deepak E. Velayudhan and Martin Nyachoti 2017
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The objective of this study was to determine the effects of higher dietary canola meal inclusion in lactation diets on reproductive performance of sows with diets formulated on the basis of net energy and standardized ileal digestible amino acid.
The results from the study showed no negative effects of higher dietary canola meal on lactation feed intake, sow body weight, backfat change and weaning to estrous interval. Sow milk composition was also unaffected by higher rates of canola meal inclusion. There was no negative effect of dietary canola meal inclusion on litter ADG.
Inclusion of up to 30 per cent canola meal in lactation diet can support satisfactory sow and suckling piglet performance when such diets are formulated on the basis of net energy and standardized ileal digestible amino acid systems without negative side effects.
Immune stimulation increases amino acid requirements in nursery pigs fed antibiotic-free starter diets- B.Jayaraman and C.M.Nyachoti 2017
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The Swine Nutrition Program at the University of Manitoba recently concluded a series of trials to determine the optimal SID Trp:Lys and SID Thr:Lys ratios for weaned pigs fed Antimicrobial growth promoters (AGP)-free starter diets and subjected to immunological challenge. Sanitation and Escherichia coli K88 (E. coli K88) models were used to challenge the weaned piglets.
The NRC (2012) recommends a diet with a SID Trp:Lys of 16 per cent and a SID Thr:Lys of 59 per cent, for pigs between seven and 25 kg, but this does not consider the health status of pigs. These values are derived from different studies in piglets fed diets containing AGP and so may have different values for pigs raised on a AGP-free diet.
This study concluded that weaned piglets raised under sub-optimal sanitary conditions and fed AGP-free diets need higher dietary threonine:lysine and tryptophan:lysine requirements than the NRC (2012) recommendations. Ensuring adequate amino acids in AGP-free starter diets will aid in maintaining good performance under unfavorable health conditions.
Feeding lower than typical nutrient dense diets based on barley or wheat grain to weaned pigs – X. Zhou, Eduardo Beltranena, Lifang Wang and Ruurd T.Zijlstra 2017
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Weaned pigs fed barley-based diets grew 41 (g/day) faster and converted feed into gain six per cent more efficiently than those fed wheat-based diets. Diet nutrient density had no effect on growth performance, but lower than typical nutrient density reduced feed cost and cost per kilogram of gain. Producers could therefore consider lower nutrient density and including more barley in nursery diets as long as pigs are able to maintain feed intake.
Formulating diets with low nutrient density reduced feed cost $42.74 and $45.63 per tonne of
wheat or barley-based diet, respectively, and slightly reduced feed cost per kg of body weight gain.
Researchers concluded that barley fiber likely has a prebiotic effect in the intestine favoring microbes that promote gut development and health.
Managing feeding to reduce feed wastage in lactation – Dr.Dan Columbus 2017
Posted in: Economics, Nutrition, Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Production by admin on May 1, 2017 | No Comments
Electronic feeding systems have multiple advantages over manual feed delivery including collection of feed intake data, controlled delivery of fresh feed, reduced feed wastage, and lower labour costs. However, these feed systems can be costly to install and maintain.
A simple feeding system was developed to reduce this cost consisting of a feed drop tube that extends to approximately one inch above the base of the feeder, which required the sow to manipulate the tube to release small quantities of feed.
A total of 45 sows and litters were randomly assigned to one of three feeding systems – manual feeding, a commercially available electronic sow feeder, or the modified system.
The type of feeding system used had no effect on sow body weight, body condition score, or back fat. Sow feed intake was significantly higher with manual feeding when compared to the other two feeding systems in the first two weeks of lactation, no difference was evident in the third week.
It was found that manual feeding of sows during lactation can result in higher feed usage with no corresponding increase in sow or litter productivity. At today’s feed prices, the reduction in feed intake associated with the electronic or modified feeding system would save producers an estimated $8.50 per lactation when compared to manual feeding. Therefore, the electronic and modified feeding systems should be considered to minimize feed wastage and maximize returns.
Managing feeding to reduce feed wastage in lactation – Dr.Dan Columbus 2017