SEARCH
Industry Partners
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:
Estimating Lean Growth Rate In Grower Pigs Using Packer Plant Data
Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on January 1, 2000 | No Comments
The industry is increasingly using information on lean tissue gain to determine nutrient requirements of grower-finisher pigs. Therefore, a working knowledge of how to determine lean growth rates for a particular herd is essential when using any type of modeling or factorial approach, including NRC (1998), to determine nutrient requirements for growing-finishing pigs. There are many different ways to determine lean tissue gain, including the use of packing plant data obtained from the final carcass to the use of realtime ultrasound. This article will give a review of a method using packing plant carcass data that can be used on any farm.
The determined lean tissue gain over the grower-finisher period can then be used in any model, including NRC (1998), to determine the nutrient requirements for that particular herd. To determine lean tissue gain over the grow/finish period, the initial lean subtracted from the final lean gives an estimate of lean tissue gain during the grower-finisher period. To get the average daily lean growth rate, divide the lean tissue gain by the number of days in the grower-finisher period. This value is then entered into the model to determine the nutrient requirements for that herd (or pig). More specifically, assuming that the lean content in a 25 kg pig is constant at 35% of live body weight gives the initial lean for the pig. Information from the packing plant provides the information needed to determine lean in the pig at slaughter. Taking the dressed weight and multiplying it by the % yield (obtained from the grading certificate from the packing plant) will give the lean in the carcass. However, 8 kg must be subtracted from the carcass lean to account for the weight of the head, feet, tail, kidneys and leaf fat. An example calculation using Prairie Swine Centre Inc. data is provided in Table 1.
Specifically for the NRC (1998) model, the lean growth rate together with the diet DE content of feed intake information are entered to determine nutrient requirements. Therefore, it is important to measure the feed intake of the same pigs that provide the lean growth data. Be aware of some factors to consider when using this method to determine nutrient requirements. First, this approach cannot estimate a nutrient requirement higher than the level fed to the pigs whose performance was measured. For example, the approach estimates the amount of lysine needed to reach the measured level of performance. If the requirement estimate is near the amount fed, it is possible that lysine intake is limiting performance, and that the pig is capable of growing more rapidly with more lysine. In that case, it is important to repeat the measurements with a higher dietary lysine level. Requirement estimates made previously may no longer be appropriate after significant changes in genetics, health, stocking density, temperature or other factors. Close monitoring of performance and nutrients supplied in the diet will maximize productivity of that herd.
Two-airspace building design for reducing odour and gas emissions from grower-finisher barns
Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments
Odour and gas emissions from swine operations have been known to be a nuisance to nearby residents. Since most pig barns in Canada have outside manure storage, there are two sources of odour and gas emissions. The possibility of keeping the manure inside the building would reduce the odour and gas emission sources to one. The objective of this study was to develop a two airspace building concept where pigs dung in an enclosed dunging area (EDA) above the slats which could result in an improvement of barn air quality as odours and gases would be contained in the EDA. Air removed from the EDA would be treated with a biofilter to reduce the overall emissions from a swine operation. Four types of openings for the EDA openings were investigated as well as the use of biofiltration for odour removal, pig behaviour and ventilation system. The use of an EDA with a full curtain opening was successful in reducing odour and ammonia concentrations by 20-40% respectively. Further steps to complete this project include full data analysis of the pig behaviour and odour and gas measurements based on the results obtained at the PSCI.
Effect of Group Size of 10, 20 and 80 Growing Pigs on Productivity – Poster
Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments
Gestating Sows: All Group Housing is Not the Same, But Neither are All Stalls
Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments
Body condition is the main factor affecting productivity and longevity of sows. A common management practise for controlling body condition is to control nutrient intake by use of penning in stalls. However, stalls violate one criterion concerning high animal welfare, that is, freedom of movement. An alternative to stall housing is group housing.
Often we hear statements concerning a
Earthen manure storage monitoring: PSC Elstow research farm Inc.
Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments
An increase in environmental awareness has come with the expansion of the hog industry in Saskatchewan. More stringent standards have been set for earthen manure storages such as a minimum of 600mm repacked clay soils and geotextile liners. However, these improved liners have done little to alleviate public concerns. In answer to this concern, a program was initiated to monitor solute migration through the liners of different hog manure storages throughout Saskatchewan. Currently, the system has been installed in three newly constructed sites and two established sites.
Positive Human Health Effect of Wearing a Respirator in a Hog Barn
Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments
Nutrition Research Program
Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments
The nutrition program at Prairie Swine Centre is focused on practical approaches to meet three primary objectives; improving net income for pork producers, optimizing the use of locally available feed ingredients and in enhancing the sustainability of the pork industry. In order to improve net income for producers, feeding programs must be matched to meet overall farm objectives. Overfeeding wastes money and underfeeding impairs performance of the animals. For the past few years, research at the Prairie Swine Centre has focused on defining requirements for essential amino acids. Using a factorial approach, results from this research can be easily applied and suited to specific pork farms. A more recent focus of research has been on uniformity. Although there has been lots of discussion on uniformity, there is little knowledge of factors affecting uniformity and whether or not decisions made by producers can have any impact.
The use of local ingredients is not currently optimized by the pork industry. The main issue concerning these ingredients is variability of nutrient content. The focus of research has been on DE because with least cost ration formulation, the greatest pressure is on available energy. The objective of ingredient research is to identify chemical or physical properties related to changes in nutrient content, which can then be used to predict actual nutrient content.
To ensure that our pork industry remains environmentally sustainable, pork production must evolve with environment issues in mind. Research continues to seek to reduce nutrient excretion in slurry, reduce gas emissions into the air and minimize total water usage. One possibility of reducing total nitrogen excretions is in feeding fermentable carbohydrates, as this causes as much nitrogen as possible to be excreted in faeces rather than urine. The nutrition research program continues to focus on practical approaches for meeting the primary objectives.
Influence of hog manure application on water quality and soil productivity
Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments
Hog manure has been known to be a valuable source of nutrients but little has been documented about the environmental impacts of organic fertilizers on ecosystems of semi-arid to sub-humid ecosystems. This study addresses manure management on croplands as well, the environmental and health concerns with the use of hog manure as a fertilizer. The objectives were to measure the presence and potential pollutants in soils, runoff waters and shallow ground water as well as to provide recommendations to prevent the accumulation of environmental or health related pollutants. The entire experiment is to take six years. Parameters measured are dissolved solids, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, carbon, heavy metals and coliform bacteria. The project was started in 1998 and is underway. The baseline soil and water data at the Perdue site was collected during the fall of 1998 and fall 1999, and the first manure application was October 1999. Post application data has been taking place and preliminary results are expected to be evaluated in spring 2001. Baseline data has been collected at the Elstow site and the first manure application is expected to take place in the fall of 2001.