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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:
Surviving the Tough Times
Posted in: Economics, Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Production by admin on July 10, 2017 | No Comments
This lecture offers a variety of methods for reducing cost of operation and increasing revenue.
A feed budget: Provides a foundation of expected performance. Actual measures of
performance can be measured and compared with the expectations. If there is a shortfall in performance, corrective action can be taken.
Seasonal diets: When seasons change, nutrient specifics should be reexamined, as hot weather diets are typically quite different from cold weather diets.
Split-sex feeding: Is not frequently practiced due to the practical challenge of delivering different diets. The savings are worth the effort. Barrows grow 8-10% faster than gilts. Gilts require diets 7-10% higher amino acid levels over barrows. Previous research at PSC shows that split sex and phase feeding combined increases net income by about $4.50 per pig.
Reformulating diets during volatile times in the market: Much of the benefit of phase feeding will be lost however if diets are not regularly reformulated to reflect current ingredient markets.
Hitting the core: A simple method developed at the Centre involves weighing all pigs at the first shipping day. All pigs in the correct weight are shipped that day, but by knowing the typical ADG, you can project forward one week and mark those pigs with a distinct colour that will be ready next week, and different from the colour markings on the pigs to be shipped this week. There are herds that have improved their ability to market only 70% in the core and increase this to 90%+ using this method.
Wet/dry feeders: Address the water wastage concern by incorporating a nipple drinker in the feed bowl as the only source of water, reducing water use by 30%, and slurry volume by 20-40%.
Evaluation of Site and Age of Weaning on Piglet Growth Performance and Post-Weaning Behaviour and on Sow Productivity -Monograph
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on July 7, 2017 | No Comments
Site segregated early weaning resulted in a consistent increase in 56-day body weight in all three experiments. Much of the increase can be attributed to enhanced feed intake, especially in the first few weeks after weaning. Later in the nursery, the benefit seemed to accrue from improved feed efficiency.
The very low weaning weight used in this study resulted in reduced sow productivity in the subsequent parity, raising questions regarding the practicality of weaning at 12 days under commercial practice. However, somewhat later weaning (> 15 days), which is more common in commercial practice anyway, might be a reasonable compromise .
Pigs weaned at 12 days of age are slower to develop normal levels of eating behaviour than those weaned at 21 days of age, but do so by 48 h after weaning. During the subsequent 5-6 weeks, early weaned pigs spend more time eating, drinking, nosing other pigs and chewing on objects. The differences in these oral activities appear to be greatest 2-4 weeks after weaning. In particular, nosing of other pigs is markedly greater in those weaned at 12 days of age, and reaches its peak 2-3 weeks after weaning.
The fact that the higher levels of nosing and chewing persist into the grow/finish period for early weaned pigs substantiates concerns that the early rearing environment may have a lasting effect on animal behaviour. However no definitive effect of these behaviours on productivity were found. Advances in SSEW technology and management, such as the inclusion of plasma protein in the diets, have not eliminated the behaviour related concerns related to early weaning.
Further studies are planned to look into the mechanisms which may be responsible for the difference in growth rate off- vs. on-site. Specifically, the next phase of research in this area, in collaboration with the Animal Biotechnology Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, will look at the role of the immune system, and endocrine system in off- vs on-site piglets weaned at 12 days of age. Answers to these questions may allow us to achieve similar performance in conventional all-in all-out nurseries located close to the farrow-finish enterprise without the added cost of going to multi-site production facilities.
IMPACT OF MODERN REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES ON PRODUCTIVITY IN PIGS: A REVIEW
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The potential exists to improve different sow reproduction traits, such as age at puberty, oestrous symptoms, ability to become pregnant, litter size, piglet survival and weight, milk production, maternal behaviour and ability to show oestrus after weaning. In practice, however, considerable problems are associated with genetic selection for most of these traits as they have low heritability values. The speed at which genetic improvements can be achieved by traditional methods is slow. Many of the new reproductive technologies offer possibilities for improving the rate of genetic progress. These include in vitro embryo production (IVEP), non-surgical embryo transfer (ET), sperm sexing technology (SST), and molecular biology techniques (QTL and MAS). The real impact on genetic progress will come from combining new reproductive techniques with powerful molecular techniques. The former will allow a rapid turnover of generations, whereas the latter can provide selection, which does not need phenotypic information when the selection decisions are made.
IMPACT OF MODERN REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES ON PRODUCTIVITY IN PIGS- A REVIEW
Antibiotic Stewardship
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on July 6, 2017 | No Comments
This presentation discusses antibiotic stewardship in the face of consumer demands and antimicrobial resistance.
Hog Hedging Decision Tree
Posted in: Economics, Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on | No Comments
“• The goal is to develop a standard operating procedure for risk management, just like every other aspect of the farm.
• Properly executed risk management will reduce volatility and may also increase average margins. (depending on targets)
• With a systematic approach, the futures market can be your friend, not your enemy.
• Eliminate emotion from hedging decisions.
• By doing nothing, you are continuously speculating on lean hogs.”
Best Practice for Farrowing Management
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This presentation outlines suggestions for improving pigs weaned per sow per year.
Bio-Security Changing
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Elements of a Biosecurity Program
- Terminal Protection
- Without livestock In the room or barn
- 1. Initial Insect Control
– Space spray
2. Organic Matter Removal
3. Water Une Cleaning and Disinfection
4. Detergent Application
– Spraying/ foaming
5. Washing and Rinsing
– High pressure water - 6. Disinfection
– Spraying/ foaming
7. Second OptionalDisinfection
– Misting/ fumigating
8. Second Insect Control
– Wallspray
9. Rodent Control
- Continuous Protection
- With livestock In the room, barn, or adjacent pens
Hog Shipping Evaluator
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This presentation outlines the hog shipping evaluator Farm Manager.
Social License
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Social license refers to the level of public trust granted to a corporate entity or industry sector by the community at large and its key consumer base. This presentation discusses how to maintain public trust through transparency with consumers in order to retain Social Licence.
Water: Getting the Deliveries Right
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This presentation outlines concerns regarding water wastage on farms and the different methods of delivering water to pigs on farm as well as different pressure and flow rates.