Prebiotics and probiotics are frequent considerations for multimodal therapies in monogastrics, regardless of species It can be difficult to remain objective about their benefits, but the growing body of work indicates that considering the microbiome will become more prevalent in managing disease risk and potential treatments. We gathered several references for … [Read more...]
Swine vets highly valued, need more diagnostics
It may be a sign of swine producers’ growing expectations of technology, but fewer than 45 percent rated their vet as “excellent” at diagnosing problems in a study conducted by CF Grass Consulting. With high scores overall, the diagnostic metric reveals the continual need to educate producers on preventative production practices and to develop better diagnostic tools. … [Read more...]
Researchers summarize 50 years of pathogen research
Two University of Minnesota researchers have combed through 57,000 publications to share a 10-year retrospective of disease, pathogen research and how it is prioritized. Salmonella, E. coli, influenza, pseudorabies and FMD were the top 5 most researched pathogens. Source: National Hog Farmer, December 2018, page 6. Link. We generally find a shift in the last 40 years, … [Read more...]
Manage swine disease risk at the truck wash
Biosecurity measures literally hit the road when considering the health of the U.S. swine herd. Ann Hess relates the experiences of Illinois third-year vet student, Megan Bloemer, whose work was awarded the first Morrison Swine Innovator prize at the 2018 Allan D. Leman swine conference. Bloemer’s presentation, Protecting the Inevitable Risk: Biosecurity at a Truck Wash. … [Read more...]
Texas landowners get feral hog reporting tool
Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute has released a new online tool <link> to help in the growing effort to control the feral hog population in the state. The wild pig website offers Texas landowners and homeowners an easy-to-use tool to report sightings of feral hogs and the damage they may have caused. Source: National Hog Farmer, November 29, 2018. … [Read more...]
Rebecca Robbins, DVM, receives 2018 Science in Practice Award
Dr. Robbins is the senior production veterinarian for Seaboard Foods. She sees the ultimate goal of what she does as serving the betterment of a healthy swine industry. She believes the problem-solving focus of swine practitioners sets the swine industry apart from other livestock segments. You cannot do this by yourself . . . It seems silly for me to receive this award when … [Read more...]
The quest for more piglets has eroded quality
Litters of 15 or more piglets sounds good until you only wean 10. Mark Knauer reviews production practices and survival data, focusing on improving piglet birth weights to ensure better live-ability. Source: National Hog Farmer, August 9, 2018. Link. Piglet birth weight has clear associations with production throughput and efficiency. An increase of one piglet per litter is … [Read more...]
Virtual farm-to-table experience a must-see for animal health pros
The Maschhoffs is the fourth-largest hog production company in North America. Its new farm-to-table experience, an interactive digital tool that explains how pigs are raised, opens pork production to public. Less than 2 percent of the U.S. population works in agriculture and some animal health pros are unfamiliar with how pork is produced. Consumer education has been a priority … [Read more...]
Modern technology helping to manage smelly pigs
The battle between swine producers and their neighbors over the hog production smells may be getting some new technology beyond tree and bush windbreaks. Electrostatic precipitator technology from commercial industries is being tested at Iowa Select Farms. Source: National Hog Farmer, June 19, 2018. Link. John Stinn, environmental projects manager, says, “the electrostatic … [Read more...]
30-year milestone for World Pork Expo in the books
“It’s hard to believe Expo has been around for 30 years,” says Jim Heimerl, NPPC president and producer from Johnstown, Ohio. “Just as the U.S. pork industry has evolved over the years, so too has Expo.” In search of new ideas and solutions for today and tomorrow, more than 20,000 producers, employees and industry professionals attended the 2018 World Pork Expo. Among the … [Read more...]
World Pork Expo underway (slide show)
The World Pork Expo closes tomorrow at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. It is the world’s largest gathering dedicated to swine production. You can learn more at worldpork.org. Source: National Hog Farmer, June 5, 2018. Link. Willie Vogt walked around the expo as preparations were being made for the opening on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. In addition to new technology … [Read more...]
Tom Gillespie, DVM, named among 2018 Pork Masters
Passionate aptly describes Dr. Tom Gillespie. Whether it is the pigs, production challenges, pork producers or global industry colleagues he can be counted on to help make pork production more efficient, safe and valuable. He is always ready for the next challenge. Source: National Hog Farmer, May 22, 2018. Link. For Gillespie, communication is one of the major challenges … [Read more...]
How do antibiotics impact gut health?
This article was part of last week’s The view from the gut that featured the Blueprint issue of National Hog Farmer (Link). James Lowe, University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, i-Learning Center, director shares the work his group has done understand the factors that drive the development of the microbiome of the pig’s intestine. Source: National Hog Farmer, … [Read more...]
The view from the gut
There has been ongoing confusion about microbe management in the gut. Continuous research is helping determine which bugs are good or bad, what happens during the production cycle and how antibiotics affect gut microflora. We determined that recent information published by National Hog Farmer would be best presented in its entirety. Animal health pros can anticipate parallel … [Read more...]
What did veterinarians learn at AASV? (slideshow)
It has only been five weeks, but the American Association of Swine Veterinarians 2018 annual meeting may seem a distant memory. Realistically, there has likely been little time to act on the information learned there. Now is a good time to refresh the action items from the meeting, discuss them with colleagues and industry representatives. Source: National Hog Farmer, March … [Read more...]
Stockmanship: natural talent or learned skill?
Raising livestock has become a skilled trade with the advent of more technology being deployed in livestock operations. Cheryl Day discusses the challenges and opportunities of training a new swine industry work force in the art of stockmanship. Source: National Hog Farmer, February 13, 2018. Looking at textbook definitions, animal husbandry is the science of breeding and … [Read more...]
Vaccine or vaccine failure?
It’s hard to put a price tag on preventing an animal from suffering, says Cheryl Day, National Hog Farmer editor, in her comments about the February issue. Her team has collected a series about vaccination and herd health that is worth review, regardless of what species dominates your time. These articles include: What would the world be like if we didn’t vaccinate pigs? … [Read more...]
Survey shines light on pork industry’s biosecurity investment
A new survey study from Iowa State University (ISU) reveals the challenges of biosecure swine production and the variations of adoption of biosecure measures. It also highlights opportunities to help increase biosecurity measures. For animal health pros, the challenges in these results further underscore the themes of compliance across all species. Specifically, note the … [Read more...]
Opinion – Weaning age variations in pig production
The quotes below are from two excellent articles demonstrating options in pig production. Data aside, economics frequently override what’s best for piglets and sows. Part of this stems from how the swine industry has been vertically integrated and where revenue is created in the process. In beef production, calves that do not survive or are sick are often charged back on the … [Read more...]
46th annual Iowa Pork Congress sells out (slide show)
Iowa Pork Congress, one of the first livestock events of year takes place annually. The activities and seminars address the issues of the pork market, production challenges and often set the tone for the upcoming year. Among the notable topics Cheryl Day highlights are: Are we manure poor? Increasing the Pork Checkoff rate Trade and exports Pork and table fare … [Read more...]
Space, a new frontier in nursery pig management
There has been significant research studying the effects of space allowances on grow-finish pigs. But little information is available regarding the effects on them. With increasing concerns for animal welfare and getting weaned pigs off to a good start, finding appropriate space allowances based on animal behavior, health and performance considerations will be … [Read more...]
Sponsored: Sample water supplies properly
Water quality affects animal health from the backyard to the largest confined operation. Jesse McCoy of Neogen Corporation writes about how to properly sample a water supply. Source: National Hog Farmer, November 30, 2017. Several considerations must be taken when sampling the site. The first is the sample must be the best representation of the water coming in to the … [Read more...]
Human capital an issue for hog industry
Human capital has long been a challenge for the protein sector overall, but has recently become a real concern for the swine business within industry and academia, said Maynard Hogberg, Iowa State University. He noted the pressing issue for both is that of the increasing need for scientifically trained personnel. This comes at a time when there are fewer swine faculty within … [Read more...]
2017 swine research reviewed
Sow space, boar pheromones, sow barn energy consumption, cool sows and flu’s cyclical nature are part of topics reviewed in this research-specific issue of National Hog Farmer. Flipping through the pages exposes a picture of the intensity of maintaining swine health while improving production conditions with the pigs in mind. Source: National Hog Farmer, December … [Read more...]
PEDV, PDCoV have taught hard lessons
Aaron Lower, DVM, reminds us that the swine industry is embarking on its fifth winter of managing porcine epidemic diarrhea virus and porcine deltacoronavirus. As we enter the seasonal epidemic, it is important to review the key exclusion and management principles learned over the past five years. Source: National Hog Farmer, November 22, 2017. Sit down with your production … [Read more...]
Producers learning to live with VFD
Those in the swine business discovered in the last year that the VFD process is more than just having a veterinarian’s signature on a piece of paper. Because there is no allowance for using feed-grade medications in an off-label manner, veterinarians completing the VFDs have had to pay extreme attention to every detail on the label, including the dose, duration of feeding, … [Read more...]
Biosecurity takes a team
Diligence, teamwork, research, technology and collaboration are required to maintain biosecurity on farm and within the collective U.S. swine populations. Kevin Shultz distilled the frequently cacophonous elements of biosecurity efforts in this article. It truly takes a team willing to be cooperative, even though they are often competitive. Together, biosecurity remains a key … [Read more...]
Opinion – Immune response and nutrient metabolism swine research evolving rapidly
This research information should interest to any animal health pro as whose focus is on prevention and managing disease. The immunes system has high biological priority. When pathogens are detected, the immune response becomes the animal’s energetic priority and changes how dietary nutrients and calories are utilized. Source: National Hog Farmer, October 2017. Any energy … [Read more...]
Pork facts (slideshow)
Pork is big business today. More than 2 billion pounds of it is produced annually in the United States. As the most versatile meat, it can be marinated, roasted, barbecued, pan-fried, stir-fried, grilled, dry rubbed, boiled and baked. No matter how you fix it, pork is a protein-packed treat. Cheryl Day shares some facts about pork that animal health pros may find useful and … [Read more...]
October is National Pork Month (slide gallery)
The designation of October as pork month marks a time of year when hogs were traditionally marketed. The United States is the third-largest pork-producing country, following China and the European Union. Pork is safe, efficient, environmentally friendly and a superior source of protein. Source: National Hog Farmer, October 1, 2017. According to an analysis by the USDA, pork … [Read more...]