SEARCH

2012-2013 PSC Annual Report Now On-Line

Posted in: Press Releases by admin on July 18, 2013 | No Comments

The 2012-2013 Prairie Swine Centre Annual Report is now available for producer to download at http://prairieswine.com/rsc/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/PSC-Annual-Report-2012-2013.pdf

This year’s Annual Report consists of 14 articles examining new management and technologies that help enhance the bottom line of pork producers.

14 key areas of swine barn design and management have been identified through producer survey as areas that could benefit from standardization and optimization efforts. Page 14
A commercial scale bio-trickling air treatment unit was effective in reducing the levels of ammonia, dust, and odour from growing and finishing rooms by 77%, 92%, and 75% respectively. Page 16
Design of a air filtration system developed to filter incoming air in transportation trailers, to protect high value animals from airbourne transmissible diseases Page 20
Initial results indicate finishing pigs can be selected for reduced stress response Page 22
Results indicate the transfer of analgesic (Metacam), to sow’s milk was not effective too provide pain relief for piglets Page 25
Preliminary data suggest that preventative hoof trimming, using a Zinpro FeetFirst chute, reduces the occurance and severity of lameness in gestation Page 28
Sows spent significantly more time in areas with rubber flooring than concrete flooring regardless of age of sow Page 32
Slow, low stress handling and keeping hogs cool during loading and transport continue to be the most practical recommendation for reducing transport deaths Page 35
Body weight at nursery exit was greater in piglets offered creep feed for one week prior to weaning, less than 40% of piglets consumed creep Page 38
Pigs fed a DON contaminated diet plus spray-dried blood plasma performed as well as pigs consuming non-contaminated diet Page 41
Weanling pigs fed diets containing different n-6:n-3 fatty acid ratios responded differently to an LPS induced immune challenge Page 44
Pigs separated into slow, average or fast potential growth rates, by determining their growth rates in the nursery has comparable growth rates and feed intake Page 45

Prairie Swine Centre Spring Meeting Presentations

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre, Press Releases by admin on May 8, 2013 | No Comments

Throughout the month of April, Prairie Swine Centre hosted a series of producer meetings throughout Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario. The purpose of the meetings was to bring the latest information from the Centre to industry, and provide pork producers an opportunity to speak with the Researchers regarding the research program at PSC along with other ideas, challenges and solutions producers may have.

Prairie Swine Centre would like to thank Elanco Animal Health for their continued sponsorship of the spring producer meeting series.

For more information on individual presentations, please follow the links below.

Nutrition of the Newly Weaned Pig – Denise Beaulieu, Laura Eastwood (Prairie Swine Centre)

Considerations for Conversions, What Does the Science Say? – Jennifer Brown, Yolande Seddon (Prairie Swine Centre)

Inclusion of Dietary Co-Products Impact on Performance and Bottom Line – Ruurd Zijlstra (University of Alberta)

Research Focused on Success for Group Housing of Sows – Laurie Connor (University of Manitoba)

Enhancing Profitability Through Swine Innovation? – Ken Engele (Prairie Swine Centre, on behalf of Swine Innovation Porc)

2012 Research Results

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre, Press Releases by admin on December 19, 2012 | No Comments

NUTRITION

Field peas can be incorporated into grow-finish diets, up to 60%, without affecting performance or diet palatability. The usage of peas in swine diets should be based on economics and availability. At current price relationships (Fall 2012) incorporating peas into grow-finish diets would save up to $2.00/hog.

Pigs segregated at nursery exit based on their growth rate from birth (fast, medium or slow growing) will have similar growth and nutrient (protein, lipid, ash) deposition rates during the growing (30 to 60 kg BW) and finishing (90 to 120 kg BW) periods.

There was no interaction between feeding level, energy concentration in the diet and phenotype (pigs selected for differing potential growth rates) for growth or nutrient deposition rates for pigs growing or finishing pigs. The utilization of different feeding programs for pigs segregated into projected growth potential groups in the nursery is not advised.

Dietary net energy (NE) estimated using 1) equations developed in Europe (French or Dutch) based on digestible nutrients, 2) indirect calorimetry, or 3) retained energy (carcass slaughter technique) showed good agreement between indirect calorimetry and the equations, while the NE based on retained energy was typically lower. Diet formulation must use ingredient values derived from one system.

In growing pigs, grams of nitrogen (protein) retained per caloric intake was higher when the energy was derived primarily from starch rather than fat. Nutritionists should consider incorporating starch as a nutrient in their diet formulation matrixes.

We previously reported that feeding creep (supplemental feed in farrowing) was not advantageous. However, we have now shown that only 40 % of piglets offered creep in the farrowing room consume it. Creep feed intake does improve growth weaning weight; we need to find methods to improve the proportion of pigs who consume it. Developing management strategies that improve the number of pigs consumng creep feed (>90%) would result in a net benefit of $.50/pig.

Consumption of creep feed in the farrowing room did correlate with increased consumption of phase 1 diet during the first 24 hours post-weaning. We need to look at solutions which combine behaviour and nutrition to mitigate the post-weaning growth lag.

Adding 8 % spray dried animal plasma to nursery diets containing mycotoxin contaminated wheat (2 ppm deoxynivalenol in final diets) mitigated the negative effects of the mycotoxin. Nutritionists should consider the addition of SDAP to diets for growing pigs if contamination is suspected.

Adding a clay to nursery diets containing mycotoxin contaminated wheat (2 ppm deoxynivalenol in final diets) did not mitigate the effect of the mycotoxin.

Based on all reproductive data for an entire set of omega-6:omega-3 ratio trials, a plant based ratio of 5:1 is optimal. When the ratio was dropped to 1:1 negative effects were observed (reduced piglet performance, reduced sow feed intake in lactation, increased reliance on body fat to provide nutrients in milk). Benefit to the producer would be $.60/pig.

When including omega-3’s (ie. from flaxseed or fish oil) into sow diets, it is important for producers to account for the ratio relative to omega-6 as opposed to formulating rations based on an absolute amount of omega-3.

ENGINEERING

A benchmark survey revealed that groundwater well is the main source of water for many pig barns, at an average usage of 965 gallons per pig produced. Many barns do not keep track of their actual water utility cost; for those few which did, the estimated average water cost was $0.36/pig.

Relative to conventional nipple drinkers, the use of a drinking trough with side panel and constant water level saved significant amount of water (8.175 L/day-pig vs. 6.7 L/day-pig) due to reduced water wastage (3.77 L/day-pig vs. 1.27 L/day-pig), without adversely affecting pig performance.

High pressure washing using a conventional nozzle led to lesser time and water consumption during the cleaning process. High pressure washing in fully slatted concrete flooring can be done without soaking the room.

Compared to current conventional practices, the combination of using a drinking trough with side panel and constant water level for animal drinking and pre-soaking and high pressure washing with conventional nozzle for cleaning can potentially save up to $9.24/pig due to reduced overall water use and accumulated manure slurry.

The use of radiant heater can improve the overall barn energy efficiency as it consumed lesser total energy (both natural gas and electricity) compared to a forced-convection heater system. This type of system will imprive operating costs by approximately $2.00/pig.

The use of radiant heater or forced-convection heater did not significantly influence pig performance (ADG, ADFI, feed efficiency and mortality rate) and indoor air quality. The benefits from the use of radiant heaters can be maximized and its economic feasibility can be improved if such type of heater is used in areas in the barn with high heating requirement and with longer periods of heating demand throughout the year.

Sprinkling canola oil in swine facilities is effective in reducing airbourne dust levels. System would cost approximately $2.70/pig.

In order to develop effective measures in reducing worker exposure, applied measures must reduce the potential of contaminant sources or associated activities to generate emissions, thereby lowering both airborne contaminant levels as well as exposure of the workers to these emissions.

ETHOLOGY

Over 95% of gestating sows in walk-in/lock-in stall housing made use of the free space, over half of them spent less than 5% of their time outside of stalls. Larger, older sows used the free space significantly more than did younger sows, suggesting that younger, subordinate sows may be reluctant to exit stalls due to aggression.

Use of free space in walk-in/lock-in systems is an important factor, as increased activity is thought to improve bone strength, sow longevity and productivity by reducing birthing intervals and crushing of piglets in lactation. Factors found to increase use of the free space include: training of gilts on entry to facilitate their exit from stalls, improving the quality of the free space by including solid floor areas and solid partitions as sows prefer these areas for resting (e.g as found in ‘T’ pens), addition of rubber mats to the free area floors to increase sow comfort, and segregating sows by age and size into low and high parity groups.

A subjective study of loading facilities identified positive and negative factors that influence pigs’ behaviour at loading. Facility design features that promote ease of loading include use of loading rooms near the loadout, wide alleys, separate manways, adequate lighting, even flooring with good traction, low slopes on ramps (<20°), and covered trailer docks.

Handling methods that reduce stress and promote ease of handling at loading include pen-walking or handling of pigs before loading (training), minimal prod use (less that 2x per pig), appropriate use of handling boards, moving group sizes appropriate to the facility design and handler’s skill, and familiarity with behavioural techniques (e.g. using body position to promote movement, providing ‘release’ once pigs are moving).

During transport, pigs stand more in winter than in summer. This is likely to reduce heat loss to the trailer floor. During long trips in winter, this can result in increased energy depletion and fatigue in pigs, as well as production of more meat showing dark, firm and dry (DFD) or red, soft and exudative (RSE) characteristics. Winter transport was also associated with increased metabolic rate (elevated heart rate and body temperature) and increased dehydration.

Transport of pigs during the summer results in a greater risk of death losses due to acute heat stress. The greatest number of losses occurs in the rear trailer compartments. The highest trailer temperatures, body temperatures and heart rates were found shortly after loading.

Implementation of measures to reduce heat stress are most important at loading. For example, truckers should leave the farm as soon as possible after loading and travel continuously for 1-2 hours tp cool pigs before stopping. Load manifests should be completed prior to loading, and loading near midday should be avoided. Loading density should be reduced in problem compartments, and the rear panels of the trailer should be fully perforated to allow maximum air flow.

The effects of long duration transport on pigs are greater in winter than summer, and vary significantly between compartments. Pigs transported 18 h in winter showed elevated body temperatures indicating an increased metabolic rate, and took longer to rest and drank more in lairage, indicating delayed recovery compared to pigs transported for 6 or 12 h.

Sprinkling of pigs on the truck immediately before departure from the farm, and before unloading at the abattoir was found to alleviate heat stress when applied at temperatures >23°C.

Reducing Costs Feeding Canola Meal

Posted in: Press Releases, Swine Innovation by admin on November 21, 2012 | No Comments

When feed exceeds 72% of pork production cost, it forces us to explore ways to reduce feed costs beyond desperation. Recent work funded through the Canola Cluster led by Eduardo Beltranena at Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development explored opportunities for reducing feed cost feeding conventional solvent-extracted canola meal at unusually high inclusions. “We went beyond producers’ comfort level” says Beltranena.

In the past, canola meal was fed at conservative levels due to palatability issues that reduced feed intake. Over the last 30 years plant breeders have bred canola varieties containing progressively lower levels of glucosinolates. Canola meal produced today typically tests 5 to 6 instead of 30 µmol/g before that was the threshold to call it ‘canola’ instead of ‘rapeseed’. “We have tested loads as low as 2” says Eduardo. “The bitter taste imparted by glucosinolates is no longer a palatability concern even at today’s high canola meal inclusion in pig and poultry diets”.

The other issue feeding canola meal to pigs is a relative high fibre content that limits its dietary energy value. “We now formulate diets on net energy instead of metabolizable or digestible energy basis. We better account now for the increase in heat production resulting from feeding increasing inclusion of high protein, high fibrous feedstuffs like canola meal, distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) or millrun. We blamed the ingredient instead of the energy system before for the drop in growth performance due to incremental inclusions. Now formulating diets on net energy basis results in more predictable growth”. We have proven so in 3 recent studies feeding high inclusions of solvent-extracted canola meal:

In the first study, we fed increasing inclusions of canola meal in substitution for soybean meal to weaned pigs. Feeding up to 20% canola meal did not affect daily feed disappearance, weight gain, and final trial pig weight. Weaned pigs showed a tendency for reduced feed efficiency due to increasing fibre content.

A second experiment involving 1,100 hogs examined increasing inclusion of canola meal (0 – 24%) in growout diets containing 15% DDGS. Hogs fed 24% canola meal reached market weight only 3 days later than controls, with no impact on carcass weight, dressing percent, backfat, loin depth, pork yield or index.

A third commercial-scale trial with 1,100 hogs pushed canola meal inclusion further to 30% with 20% DDGS. Feed disappearance and weigh gain were reduced by 81 g/day and 9 g/day for every 10% increase in canola meal inclusion. Number of days to market weight increased by 1, carcass weight was reduced by 0.46kg, dressing percent dropped 0.4 points, and loin depth was reduced by 0.5 mm for every 10% increase in canola meal inclusion. However, hogs consumed up to 50% local coproducts instead of imported soybean meal without major reductions on hog growth performance or carcass traits.

Benefit to the Producer

It is thus feasible feeding up to 20% solvent-extracted canola meal to weaned pigs and 30% with 20% wheat DDGS in commercial hog diets formulated on net energy and digestible amino acid basis. Canola and DDGS inclusion rates will fluctuate with commodity cost and should be routinely optimized by least cost formulation. Feeding these fibrous coproducts increases gut weight at evisceration. Producers thus need to market hogs 1 – 2kg heavier live weight to achieve target carcass weight.

Fine Tuning Your Operation When Times Are Tight

Posted in: Nutrition, Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Press Releases by admin on October 5, 2012 | No Comments

Any time is a good time to review management practices within your operation. In the current environment of high feed prices and tight margins producers are more aggressively seeking ways to reduce costs and increase revenue. Prairie Swine Centre’s research program focuses on ways to enhance the economic position of pork producers throughout Canada. The following list are some, easy-to-adopt ideas, that can be incorporated into your operation immediately. Many of these ideas may be already implemented in your operation – in that case it serves as a reminder as to the importance of each aspect.

Adding peas to the diets at 60% inclusion
1. Work at Prairie Swine Centre has shown a high inclusion (60%) of peas does not necessarily result in reduced feed intake. At current market conditions, every $10/mt reduction in finishing diets will save approximately $1.20 per market hog. A bi-weekly publication (Feed Pea Benchmark) produced by Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba Pulse Growers provides a quick summary on what the price of peas needs to be in order to price into diets.
Monitor Temperature
1. Elevated barn temperatures reduce feed intake and thus growth rate. For every 1°C above the pig’s thermoneutral zone, feed intake drops by 1-2% and growth rate drops by about 3%. Thus, for every °C above the pigs thermoneutral zone, net income is reduced by $0.50 to $0.75 per pig.
2. Reduced nocturnal temperature. Reducing the setpoint temperature by 6°C during hot weather, the barn becomes cooler at night, with somewhat shorter duration of high temperatures. The net result was an increase in growth rate of 2-5%, equal to 2 to 5 fewer days to market; this is valued at $0.50 to $1.00 per pig sold.
3. The past three winters PSC has been challenging our lower setpoint temperatures in all rooms by reducing setpoints1-2^oC lower than published values. The result is lower utility costs and no change in productivity (7% or more reduction in utility costs).
Properly adjusted water nipples and flow rates
1. By adjusting nipple drinker height, water wastage can be reduced by up to 20% for grower/finisher pigs. High flow rate can result in more water spillage from nipple drinkers.
2. Nipple drinkers should be adjusted to 5cm higher than the smallest pig in the pen. Having the drinker adjusted to a lower setting will result in additional 10% water wastage in grower and 20% in finisher.
3. Water wastage increased by 7% with a higher water flow rate of 1,000 ml/min compared to 500 ml/min.
Properly adjusted feeders

A 5% feed wastage at the present time costs the pork producer more than $2 per pig sold. It may be impossible to eliminate feed wastage, but research at Prairie Swine Centre has shown that with most commercial feeders, wastage of 3% or less is not an unreasonable expectation. Research has shown that having a feeder adjusted to achieve 40% pan coverage will have the optimal combination of reducing feed wastage and maximizing pig performance.

Energy levels in finishing diets
1. Under typical market conditions, high energy diets do not necessarily result in the highest return over feed cost. Feed efficiency is improved with higher energy diets, however additional diet costs far exceed the beneficial impact of feed efficiency. Cost savings range from $3-$5.00 per hog under current market conditions.
Review your ideal shipping core
1. This requires monitoring feed intake and growth as pigs approach market weight and comparing this to the changes in yield and index as market weights increase. In this way, determine the cost of adding an extra kilogram to the market weight, and compare that cost to the added income.
2. With a finishing diet costing $0.25 per kilogram, and a feed conversion at of 4.0:1, it costs $1.00 to add 1 kg to the live weight. Assuming a dressing percentage of 80% and an index of 109, the price of pigs must be at least $1.15 per ckg to break even on added market weight.
Power washing and sprinkling
1. Recent work at Prairie Swine Centre indicates soaking prior to pressure-washing a fully-slatted production room may not be necessary. Additional labour costs associated without sprinkling are offset by lower water (including well pumping) costs.
2. Conventional pressure washer nozzles have been shown to be the most efficient in terms of labour requirements and total water used. They have been shown to save up to $50 per hog marketed when compared to other nozzle types.
Check particle size
1. Once the diet has been formulated there are still opportunities to reduce costs by observing particle size stays within the 650-700 micron range to ensure optimum digestibility. Frequently, due to screen wear, improper screen size or hammer wear, the feeds milled on farm are significantly over the 700-micron threshold. For every 100 microns under 700 the feed conversion improves 1.2%. With feed costs today of $110 per finished hog, moving from say a 3.0 F/G to a 2.96 F/G (the effect of 1.2% improvement, or 100 micron reduction in feed particle size) is worth $1.30 per pig marketed.

While this is not an exhaustive list, it’s meant to take a quick look at your operation and potentially find a couple of hidden dollars, or perhaps re-enforce why we do certain things. If you are looking for more information there is a wide array of resources available at www.prairieswine.com – or if you have other ideas to save costs don’t hesitate to any one of the Research Scientists at Prairie Swine Centre.

Fall 2012 Western Hog Journal Now Available

Posted in: Press Releases by admin on October 3, 2012 | No Comments

The Western Hog Journal is the leading source of technical and business information for pig producers and the pork industry in Western Canada. Published five times per year, it has four regular issues and a “Banff Special Issue” which contains summaries of presentations given at the Banff. Pork Seminar, one of North America’s premier conferences.

WHJ focuses on providing practical information and advice aimed at improving the efficiency of pig producers, drawing on the expertise of researchers, advisers and veterinarians, with contributors from North America, Europe and Australia.

To view the latest Western Hog Journal click on the link below!

http://prairieswine.com/rsc/western-hog-journal/

Summer 2012 Western Hog Journal Now Available

Posted in: Press Releases by admin on July 12, 2012 | No Comments

To view the latest Western Hog Journal click on the link below!

http://prairieswine.com/rsc/western-hog-journal/

We do research!

Posted in: Press Releases by admin on June 6, 2012 | No Comments

At the Prairie Swine Centre we are experts in research, both public and private. Specializing in data collection, research protocol development and scientific reporting, we work in the areas of nutrition, ethology and engineering just to name a few. Please take a look at this powerpoint to get a feel for what we can do.

Prairie Swine Centre/Farm Leadership Council Feed Efficiency Webinars

Posted in: Press Releases by admin on April 23, 2012 | No Comments

With diets costing $50 to $60 per tonne more than budget all farms are looking for feed cost relief. Grain purchasing strategies are an essential part of controlling the total cost of production. With higher feed costs there has been a greater emphasis put on feed efficiency.

Prairie Swine Centre hosted a series of eight one-hour interactive webinars. Between March 5 and June 2012.

Focus on Feed Efficiency webinars are accessible with any internet connection and will include presentations from Research Scientists and pork producers who are making a difference in improving on-farm feed efficiency.

A variety of topics will be introduced to help producers use feed efficiency including the effect of feed processing, herd management effects on feed efficiency, amino acid nutrition, understanding dietary energy concentrations and new feed processing technologies.

Advantages of Attending the Webinars

In order to be competitive in the pork industry producers must know their cost of production. Feed costs represent approximately 60 to 70% of the total cost of production, and therefore represent the greatest opportunity to reduce costs.

During the course of this webinar series Research Scientists and pork producers will present information on improving feed efficiency in swine. By attending the live webinar events pork producers and industry personnel may not only ask the speaker specific questions but receive the answer right away, directly from the expert.

Schedule of Times and Speakers

March 5, 2012 – Dr. Candido Pomar of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada “The Future of Precision Livestock Farming” http://wflc.adobeconnect.com/pscmar5/

March 27, 2012 – Dr. Bob Goodband of Kansas State University “Feeding and Barn Management Factors that Influence Whole Herd Feed Efficiency” http://wflc.adobeconnect.com/pscmar27/

April 10, 2012 – Dr. Aaron Gains of The Maschhoffs “Herd Management Factors that Influence Whole Herd Feed Efficiency” http://wflc.adobeconnect.com/pscapr10/

April 24, 2012 – Dr. Tom Scott, University of Saskatchewan “New Processing Technology that May Influence Feed Efficiency” http://wflc.adobeconnect.com/pscapr24/

May 8, 2012 – Dr. Steve Dritz, Kansas State University “Health Effect on Feed Efficiency” http://wflc.adobeconnect.com/pscmay8/

May 23, 2012 – Dr. Rod Johnson, University of Illinois “Fueling the immune Response: What is the Cost?” http://wflc.adobeconnect.com/pscmay23/

June 5th, 2012 – Dr. Denise Beaulieu, Prairie Swine Centre “Emerging Technologies with Potential to Influence Feed Efficiency” http://wflc.adobeconnect.com/pscjune5/

June 19th, 2012 – Dr. John Patience, Iowa State University “Dietary Energy Concentration and Feed Efficiency Targets: What are the Right Questions and Do We Have the Answers?” http://wflc.adobeconnect.com/pscjune19/

2012 Banff Pork Seminar Special Report Available

Posted in: Press Releases by admin on February 1, 2012 | No Comments

This year the Banff Pork Seminar was attended by 660 participants and featured speakers and discussions that covered many leading topics and issues for today’s pork industry.

A broad variety of stories, reports and photos from the 2012 BPS are available in an Inside BPS Special Report. Visit the Report page online: http://www.meristem.com/meeting/bps_2012-00.htm. It includes these stories and more:

The Inside BPS Special Report was supported by the Banff Pork Seminar to provide a timely, straight-from-the-Seminar-floor capturing of the event information for participants, and also to provide stories and photos for use by media. Note, these materials are available for use and reprint by industry organizations and media, with credit to Banff Pork Seminar.

The Banff Pork Seminar Advisory Committee would like to thank everyone for making the 2012 Banff Pork Seminar a successful event.

2012 BANFF PORK SEMINAR Advisory Committee

Phone: (780) 492-3651 FAX: (780) 492-5771

Email: info@banffpork.ca
www.banffpork.ca

BANFF PORK SEMINAR 2013

January 15-18, 2013 at the Banff Centre for Conferences, Banff, AB, Canada

« Previous Page Next Page »

SEARCH

Industry Partners

Advantages of Attending the Webinars

Schedule of Times and Speakers