June 25, 2004 Volume 1 - Number 4
Calendar
July 30 SD Summer Spotlight Show, Huron
August 4-5 Midwest Boar Stud Managers Conference, St. Louis, MO
August 5 George Young Swine Health and Management Conference, S. Sioux City, NE
August 20 SD Master Pork Producer’s Pork Chop Open, Hartford, SD
September 4-6 SD State Fair 4-H, FFA, & Feeder pig swine shows, Huron
September 14 Deep Bedded Livestock Conference, Iowa State University
PG600 Reduces Summer Anestrous
Heat stress curbs feed intake in sows, extending wean to estrus intervals and ovulation intervals. Restricted feed intake results in depressed follicular development. To test the effectiveness of PG600 in offsetting follicular growth problems associated with summer breeding, the Missouri scientists, led by T. J. Safranski, conducted a field trial at a commercial swine operation. Outside temperatures averaged 85 degrees with 75 percent humidity. Three groups of sows were weaned at 15 days after farrowing. Sows were checked for standing heat by fence-line boar contact once a day starting three days after weaning. Sows not in heat by Day 7 after weaning randomly received either PG600 or saline. Average parity was 2.2 and sows averaged 9.8 pigs weaned.
On Day 0, follicles in PG600 and saline-treated sows had similar diameters. By Day 6, follicular diameter had increased for PG600-treated sows. Greater follicular development correlated with increased percentage of sows in estrus (93 percent vs. 32 percent) and a greater percentage of sows ovulating within six days (72 percent vs. 11 percent) in sows given PG600. More sows treated with PG600 became pregnant when inseminated, compared to sows treated with saline.
Conception rates, litter size, stillborns and number of mummies were similar between the treatment groups. Administering PG600 to anestrous sows on Day 7 after weaning reduced summertime infertility. PG600 can also be given at weaning to effectively control anestrous. However, by waiting until Day 7 postweaning, producers can identify those sows truly anestrous and provide treatment.
Source: National Hog Farmer/ Research Review, December 15, 2003. Courtesy of PorkNet Daily Update (http://www.porknet.com/)
Swine Welfare Assurance Program- Show Your Commitment to Swine Welfare
(By Mr. Darin Kooima, SD Pork Producers Council Summer Intern)
Swine Welfare Assurance Program, or SWAP, is a producer-friendly way to measure and track indicators of swine welfare on producer’s farms. SWAP is a voluntary and educational assessment tool; it is science based and is the industry’s standard for assuring the welfare of pigs of all ages. SWAP is different from PQA (Pork Quality Assurance) in the fact that it is an assessment of the welfare of an animal in the facility rather than the individual producer. SWAP is applicable to all production sizes or types. The SWAP program is in its’ second year of promoting the pork industry’s tradition of responsible animal care.
SWAP is being highly recommended to all producers for a number of reasons. Food service and retail companies may want assurances about on-farm animal care practices. SWAP will be a way for producers to answer this need in a uniform, producer-developed and farm implementable way. This program can also be used to help the producer identify weaknesses in management, nutrition or health programs before they become production problems. SWAP enables producers to use it as a benchmarking tool. Most of all implementing SWAP will demonstrate to packers, food service, retailers and consumers the producers’ commitment to their hogs’ welfare.
Please consider having your farm SWAP certified. There are local SWAP educators that will be more than happy to assess your production site, remember this assessment is NOT pass/fail it is rather a guide to promote swine welfare. For more information please feel free to contact Darin Kooima at dkooima@sdppc.org or to find SWAP educators in your area log on to National Pork Board’s website at porkboard.org and click on the SWAP logo.
Effects of microbial phytase in diets for finishing pigs.
A digestibility experiment at SDSU was conducted by Dr. Hans Stein with the objective of investigating the effect of adding phytase to diets of finishing pigs. Eight pigs weighing 202 lbs were used in this study. The corn soybean meal-based control diet contained 0.61% lysine and 0.26% phosphorus, with all the phosphorus in the diet originating from the corn and soybean meal, and no inorganic phosphorus was added to the diet. Pigs on treatment group 1 were fed the control diet without the addition of microbial phytase, while pigs on treatment group 2 were fed the diet with the addition of 500 FYT of microbial phytase. Fecal samples were collected from all the pigs and the concentration of phosphorus in the feces was determined. Results of the experiment demonstrated that the digestibility of the phosphorus in the control diet was 24% while the phosphorus digestibility in the diet fortified with microbial phytase was 42%. Therefore, by adding microbial phytase to the diet, the absorption of phosphorus increased by approximately 90% while the amount of phosphorus that was excreted from the pigs was reduced by approximately 25%. This means that producers can decrease the amount of expensive, inorganic phosphorus they added to their finishing diets while also decreasing the amount of phosphorus excreted by the pig.
Source: Dr. Hans Stein, SDSU Dept of Animal & Ranges Sciences, publication in preparation.
Conference available for boar stud managers
Extension specialists from Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana have developed a 2-day conference for Boar Stud managers. It will be held on August 4-5 in St. Louis, MO. Topics to be covered include: causes of sperm abnormalities, boar housing considerations, health & biosecurity, boar feeding & nutrition, rate of cooling, storage and QC of sperm, and intrauterine & deep uterine inseminations. Some of the speakers include Dr. Billy Flowers (NC State), Dr. Don Levis (Ohio St), Dr. Tim Safranski (U of MO), Dr. Wayne Singleton (Purdue), and Dr. Rob Knox (U of ILL). Registration prior to July 19th is $150. For more information, contact Dt. Tim Safranski at 573-884-7994 or sanfranskit@missouri.edu.
Performance and behavior of early-weaned pigs in hoop structures
A series of six trials involving a total of 1,440 crossbred nursery pigs (15 lb initial wt) was conducted at two Iowa State University research farms from December 1999 to August 2000. Three small-scale hoop structures (20 x 36 ft) were divided lengthwise to form two pens (10 x 15 ft) per building for a total of six pens. Six pens (5.6 x 13.1 ft) in a mechanically ventilated confinement nursery with slatted floors were used for comparison with the hoop structure pens for each 5-week trial. The hoop pens were equipped with hovers and heat lamps for the winter and spring trials. In each trial, 240 crossbred nursery pigs were weaned at 18 to 22 days old and allotted by weight and litter to one of the six pens found in either the hoop (n = 120) or confinement (n = 120) nursery facility. Four commercial diets were fed in both housing systems in phase for the duration of each trial.
During the first 2-week postweaning, the pigs in hoop structures grew 23% slower (P < 0.001) and consumed 23% less feed (P < 0. 001) than the pigs in confinement.
Both housing systems had similar Average Daily Gain (ADG), Average Daily Feed Intake (ADFI), and Gain:Feed (G:F) for the last 2 weeks of the trial (p > 0.10). As expected, the performance parameters (ADG, ADFI, G:F) were affected by the building and season interaction during each 35-day trial. In all seasons, the hoop pigs' ADG and ADFI were less than the confinement pigs for the first 2-week postweaning (P < 0.05).
During the winter overall (5 weeks), the pigs in hoop structures grew 5% slower and consumed 9% less feed, but were 5% more efficient converting feed to live weight gain than the pigs in confinement (P < 0.05). In the spring, the pigs in hoop structures grew 7% slower (P < 0.05), consumed 6% less feed (P < 0.05), and had similar feed efficiencies (P > 0.05) as the pigs in confinement during the 5-week trial. During the summer the pigs in hoop structures grew similarly (P > 0.05), consumed 6% less feed (P < 0.05), and were 8% more efficient (P < 0.05) than the pigs in confinement for the 5-week trial.
Bedded hoop structures have not been widely studied as a cold nursery facility during the colder months. The results suggest that older, heavier pigs may perform better when placed directly into a cold facility such as a hoop structure.
Source: Performance and behavior of early-weaned pigs in hoop structures. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 19 (5): 591-599, 2003. Larson, M.E.; Honeyman, M.S.; Harmon, J.D. Courtesy of PorkNet Daily Update (http://www.porknet.com/)
Hoop barns & bedded systems for livestock production conference September 14th
On Tuesday, September 14 Iowa State University is conducting a conference on the latest research and practical information on utilizing hoop structures and other bedded systems for livestock production, and it will be held at the Hotel at Gateway Center in Ames, Iowa.
Hoops are attracting increasing attention for their
low-capital cost, competitive returns, and flexibility. Recent innovations have
expanded hoop production beyond the initial focus on swine finishing.
Alternatives include providing shelter to sows and piglets, dairy and beef
cattle, and other livestock systems. Conference topics include: Design and
remodeling of bedded systems; Making it pay: how to budget for bedded livestock
operations; Manure, bedding, and air quality management; Animal health issues
and animal welfare issues; Hoops for sows and piglets; Hoops for dairy beef and
other livestock operations; Process-verified systems; Value chains and niche
marketing; Interfacing hoops with conventional systems; Pork quality; An
international perspective will be provided by experts from The Netherlands,
Ukraine, Canada, and Australia.
A complete program can be found at
http://www.abe.iastate.edu/ABLS/Registration.htm. Registration is $25
before September 1, and contact Beth Weiser, Program Coordinator at 515-294-0557
or
weiser@iastate.edu
for more information.
Bi-Weekly Weighing Pays
Taking a minute to weigh individual pigs is paying big returns for the Prairie Swine Centre’s research barn in Elstow, Saskatchewan. Starting at 20 weeks into finishing, pigs are weighed every two weeks to enhance the odds they will land in the packer’s core target weight range of 240-275 lb. The investment, less than a minute of one employee’s time per pig, has increased the percentage of hogs that hit the core weight from 60 to over 90 percent. After the premiums and improved index scores have been tallied, the unit pockets an extra $5-10 (Canadian) per pig. The Centre markets 13,000 to 14,000 pigs per year to Maple Leaf Foods in Saskatoon, which adds up to an extra $65,000 to $140,000 per year.
The Swine Centre targets two weight ranges during weighing: animals ready for market in a week, at 242 lb., are marked with blue. Pigs ready in two weeks, about 231 lb., receive a red mark. The blue pigs are penned separately for early shipping and the rest return to their pens for another two weeks before being weighed again.
Source: National Hog Farmer/ Lorne McClinton, Jan. 15, 2004. Courtesy of PorkNet Daily Update (http://www.porknet.com/)
Swine Manure Aids Organic Matter Buildup
Research being conducted by the University of Saskatchewan shows the long-term use of swine manure as a fertilizer at recommended rates contributes to a building of organic matter content in the soil. A multi-discipline project being conducted by the University of Saskatchewan's Department of Soil Science is evaluating the effects of repeated application of swine manure at various rates for comparison to the use of commercial fertilizer.
The work is being conducted at four sites representing the provinces four climatic zones and has been underway from five to eight years. Senior Researcher Dr. Jeff Schoenau says, after a number of years, the organic matter content in the soil has been rising and he credits the increased plant growth resulting from using fertilizer.
Source: SaskPork/ Farmscape #1442/ Bruce Cochrane, Feb. 9, 2004. Courtesy of PorkNet Daily Update (http://www.porknet.com/)
George A. Young Swine Health & Management Conference Scheduled for August 5th
The annual George A. Young Swine Health & Management Conference is scheduled for Thursday, August 5th in South Sioux City, NE from 8:30 – 4:00. Topics include: The challenges of sow mortality (Dr. John Deen); Out of feed events (Dr. Mike Brumm); Water as a predictor of tomorrow (Dr. Mike Brumm); The Nebraska model (Mr. Al Prosch); Control of ileitis (Dr. Scott Hurd); Ileitis (Dr. Nate Winkelman); A practitioners perspective on foreign animal diseases (Dr. Jim Unwin); The role of the Dept of Homeland Security in ag biosecurity (Dr. Beth Lautner). Registration is $65 prior to July 29th and Continuing Education credits are available. For more information, contact Sharon Clowser, Conference Coordinator (402-472-8550 or sclowser2@unl.edu).
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For comments or questions about this newsletter or if you want to subscribe, contact Dr. Bob Thaler, SDSU Extension Swine Specialist at 605-688-5011 or robert_thaler@sdstate.edu