World Hog news:

[mikey]

Tuesday, June 17, 2008Print This Page
PorkExpo 2008: A Global Gathering of Experts and Companies
BRAZIL - PorkExpo 2008 and 4th International Swine Production Forum will be held from September 30th to October 2nd, in Curitiba, Brazil



Agribusiness grows daily, driving global economy forward and transforming the scenario of this sector. In this positive context, pork production has an outstanding position both due to the continuous innovation and control of the production process and to the investments in research, improving the quality of its final products and increasing their acceptance by the final consumers.

According to Flávia Roppa, the organizer of the event, the main characteristic of PorkExpo is versatility. “The event is an excellent opportunity to make business, to learn new production techniques, to get in touch with global experts, to enjoy the social activities, and to taste delicious pork,” says Flávia. “We want – and we have been successful – the public to know and to consume more pork products. This event is extremely important to discuss strategies and to disseminate the actual characteristics this product.”

4th International Swine Production Forum and Scientific Studies
Parallel to PorkExpo 2008, the 4th International Swine Production Forum will be held, with the participation of more than 50 renowned professionals and researchers in swine welfare, genetics, nutrition, management, slaughter, and pork processing. The main theme of the event is “Swine Production in the Second Decade of the 21st Century (2010 – 2020)”.

The lectures will de divided in Specialization Technical Seminars on specific subjects and Lectures of general interest. “It will be an excellent opportunity for producers, professionals, and people linked to swine production to get up to date,” says Flávia.

Another attraction of the event is the presentation of the best scientific studies, which will be selected by a committee. The aim is to value and to disseminate research produced at universities and institution, as well as to promote exchange of information among the different production sectors.

Registrations - 4th International Swine Production Forum
In order to participate in PorkExpo 2008 and the 4th International Swine Production Forum, you can register by fax or at the website up to September 10th. After this date, you can register only at the venue. The registration includes didactic material, proceedings, access to the lectures, to the fair, and to the opening ceremony.

[mikey]

Tuesday, June 17, 2008Print This Page
Namibian Army Base Converted to a Piggery
NAMIBIA - A Kavango woman, along with her husband, has purchased a 30-hectare plot which was formerly a military base for 202 Battalion that was one of the South African army units. She has now converted this plot of land into a piggery.



According to AllAfrica, the piggery specialises mainly in free-roaming indigenous pigs for pork.

In an area where a farmer cannot be classified as such unless they plant millet or they rear Samba cattle, this innovative woman has ventured into largely unknown territory.

Forty-one-year old Rundu-born Mukano Maria Baleka Domingo has a thriving pig farm at Cubu Farm at Kasote some 15 kilometres outside town in the Kapako Constituency.

Her stock comprises mainly of white indigenous pigs that are very hardy and scavenge for their food and are known to convert food with a low nutrient content efficiently.

She said she started pig farming in 2002 with a start-up stock of a mere two animals given to her through a Luxembourg-funded rural poverty alleviation scheme.

Through the scheme, prospective pig farmers received a sow and a boar for breeding, after which they were expected to give a similar breeding pair back to the scheme once their animal gave birth. And these pigs from the farmers were in turn given to the others.

Like they say, Baleka Domingo literally received a pig in a poke as she was lucky that one of her friends gave her one pig and she also bought another two from another villager who was not keen on this sort of farming which more than doubled her animals to five.

Since sows can reproduce twice in a year with each litter consisting of between five to 12 piglets, her pig stock has now swelled drastically to a 100 animals.

The number of her stock would have been higher as she often sells some pigs to government officials and to an information technology (IT) businessman based at Rundu.

Since market forces such as demand naturally dictate the price of any given commodity the present low demand for her pigs and pork resulted in some of the animals being sold for prices ranging between N$250 to N$300 each because not many seem keen on pork.

But the general consensus is she could fetch much more for her pigs with current soaring global food prices resulting in many commodities costing an arm and a leg.

Though a litter can consist of 12 piglets the number could increase to 15 if the sow is given supplementary feed and kept in a shade to reduce heat since these farm animals appear more tolerant of cold conditions as opposed to heat this seems the reason while they like to roll in mud as it generally protects their skins from the harsh rays of the sun.

[mikey]

Tuesday, June 17, 2008Print This Page
Manure Drying Tunnel Doing a Good Job
GERMANY - Generating power from renewable energies is becoming increasingly important in Germany as well as on the international level. Thus, it is not surprising that the number of biogas plants is steadily increasing as are wind power plants and solar plants.

 

Drying digestates from biogas plants
On the agricultural sector, biogas plants are an additional source of income on many farms besides crop production and livestock husbandry. When generating power and heat from biomass in biogas plants, digestates with a dry matter content of 5 to 15 per cent arise – this is similar to slurry. On the one hand, enough storage space for digestates has to be available and on the other hand sufficient surface for spreading digestates is required. Above all in regions of intensive precision farming this can be a problem, since the existing surface is already required for spreading animal manure.

Optimised use of nutrients from biogas plants
Up to now, rough solids are separated from the digestates by means of a press screw and dried. In this process, the dried quantity only corresponds to 10 to 15 per cent of the total quantity of digestates and the major share of liquid phase still has to be spread separately.

Ludger Möllenbeck from Füchtorf in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany also knows this problem. His biogas plant was connected to the network in 2002. The farmer deals with the subject of biogas already for 20 years. „In 1984, I have written my first paper on biogas“, he says.

Those who know Ludger Möllenbeck know that he is an expert in the field who has a lot of ideas and also knows how to put them into practice together with suitable partners. Due to the fact that digestates can not be as easily separated as slurry and that the liquid phase polluted with ammonia (NH3) still poses problems, a demo project was launched under scientific attendance of the University of Applied Sciences, Münster, Germany, with the topic: „Optimised use of nutrients from biogas plants by ammonia stripping and digestate treatment“. This project receives subsidies from the German Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture.

What happens with the volatilizing ammonia?
The aim is to dry digestates from biogas plants and thus to reach a more economical transport of the material. First of all, there was the question what should be done about the ammonia volatilizing in to the drying process.

In connection with the company Biogas Nord GmbH and the University of Applied Sciences Münster under the direction of Prof. Dr. Christof Wetter, a method has been developed to withdraw ammonia (NH3) from the digestates under vacuum. This so-called NH3 stripping is supposed to lead to a significantly higher separation rate of NH3 than with all other generally applied procedures. The resulting highly concentrated ammonia water can be excellently used as agricultural fertilizer.

Drying digestates by means of waste heat from combined heat and power plants
 
The digestates to be dried are spread uniformly on the upper tier by means of a dosing station. 
The considerations that followed revolved around how to dry the digestates free from ammonia. Ludger Möllenbeck had the idea to use a drying tunnel. Manure drying tunnels are not a novelty, up to now they are mainly used for drying poultry manure. Drying digestates from biogas plants however is a totally new field of application.

In cooperation with the company Big Dutchman, a drying tunnel of 25 m length and on 10 tiers was constructed. To be able to process the digestates with a dry matter content of approx. eight per cent, they will be mixed with the already dried substrate before being spread over the dosing station on the upper tier of the tunnel. Uniform distribution and drying is ensured by two distributing augers. The digestates pass the entire tunnel on conveyor belts, leave it as a dry substance and is continuously refilled. Waste heat from the associated combined heat and power plants is used for heating by drawing warm air across the tunnel by means of fans and giving it the possibility to stream through all tiers by means of negative pressure. Perforated manure belts ensure that the warm air does not only pass over the digestates but permeates them.

The storage period in the tunnel of the material to be dried is one to two days. Afterwards, the material has a dry matter content of 85 to 90 per cent and can be used as valuable potash and phosphate fertilizer.

Conclusion
Drying digestates from biogas plants opens up new options above all in areas of intensive precision farming. The dried substrates can be transported cost-effectively and thus spread also on fields at larger distances.

Drying digestates is not only acceptable for the environment by processing biogenous waste material, but can also result in an increased profitability of biogas plants, since all water evaporates in the drying tunnel and a previous separation of digestates is not necessary.

[mikey]

Thursday, June 19, 2008Print This Page
The Pig Crisis Begins!
UK - Feed wheat was £100 a year ago, then it rose to £200. Now it has dropped back to £150. This poses a problem for the industry, which is faced with the task of explaining to retailers, processors and consumers why producers’ costs will not fall back proportionately.


Soya averaged £170 a tonne in the year to September but is currently trading at £285 a tonne and is expected to go to at least £290 a tonne, probably even higher. Other ingredients have also shot up.

Fat blend has increased from £300 to £595, which adds an extra £9 to a tonne of pig feed.

Phosphate has increased from £198 to £600, adding another £4.

Methionine has increased from £1,500 to £3,486, which adds a further £4.70.

Vitamin E has increased from £2.50 a kilo to £16, adding £2 to a tonne of feed.
The overall effect on pig production in Britain is that most producers will be paying half as much again for their feed in the next few months, which is why retail prices, and the percentage paid back to producers by processors, needs to increase.
 
Throughout the industry’s survival campaign so far, producers have highlighted the £200 increase in the cost of wheat.

What has not been explained — because up to now it hasn’t been necessary — is that any producer who has had to pay the full £200 is no longer with us.

Nearly all producers have faced swingeing increases in feed costs since last August, but most have had fixed term contracts for some feed ingredients, for some of the time.

But most feed contracts will be ending between now and autumn, which means producers are faced with having to lock into the next six or twelve months at higher prices.

As has been reported on this page in recent weeks, around 80 percent of producers would normally have locked into 100 percent of their feed requirements for next year by now.

But because they cannot see any point in committing to a loss, so far only 20 percent (if that) have locked in. Wheat has come down to c.£150 but producers say they need to see it at c.£130 before they will make their move.

This means, in effect, that the real pig industry crisis is only just beginning, and if the pig price doesn’t move forward quickly and substantially, the ten percent sow herd reduction predicted by BPEX will be greater.

Industry campaigners say that retailers need to understand that although feed costs make up about 65pc of pig production costs, wheat makes up only 45pc of a typical pig diet.

Other ingredients include barley (c.20pc), soya (c.15pc) and vitamins and minerals (c.20pc).

“We need to explain that the wheat price may be lower in the coming year but the pig feed price will be unchanged, if not higher, compared to the last nine months,” said Andrew Knowles, of BPEX today.

“Retailers must not expect that the industry can now accept a reduction in the pig price.”

The aim of the Pigs Are Worth It campaign continues to be to seek a rise in prices not as a result of shortage of supply caused by producers quitting, but as a result of the supply chain recognising the costs of raw materials has increased. These costs are likely to remain at at least current level for some time to come.

Last autumn, at a meeting in East Angia, processor John Norris said he had never seen higher costs of production influence the retail price, so there would have to be a reduction in output before the market responded and prices increased sufficiently.

“The fact is that we are now at that point - not just in the United Kingdom but in most of mainland Europe as well,” observed producer Chris Fogden last week.

This is not to say the Pigs Are Worth It campaign has been in vain. Speaking at the same meeting last autumn, BPEX chief executive Mick Sloyan acknowledged that getting better prices ahead of supply shortages was never going to be easy. “But let’s not just admit defeat and leave it to the market. Let’s have a crack at changing their minds in the first place,” he said at the time.

The Pigs Are Worth It campaign has successfully created an environment where prices have risen without (so far) creating consumer resistance. But perhaps its greatest challenge lies ahead...

[mikey]

Friday, June 20, 2008Print This Page
Lower Cereal Prices = Lower Pork Production Costs
IRELAND - IFA National Pigs Committee Chairman Michael Maguire said that the Irish grain harvest is forecasted to show high yields due to record plantings and increased acreage. Worldwide; the wheat supply for the 2008 harvest is forecast to be 30 million tonnes over 2007.

This fact, the EU extension of the suspension of EU cereal duties and the carryover of barley in Irish stores should lead to a fall in Irish pig feed prices.
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"Merchants should not target producers in a bid to improve margins at this time. Although the pig price has shown some recovery, over 50% of pig producers in the country are still not breaking even. Millers should be in a better position currently to pass back some of the benefit of the drop in native cereals seen in recent weeks" 
IFA National Pigs Committee Chairman Michael Maguire
 
The IFA Pigs Chairman advised that ‘pig producer home millers and grain farmers must consider taking the middleman out of the equation at this juncture. It is timely that both sets of farmers look at buying and selling forward’.

Maguire said “A recent exchange with pig producers in GB indicated that pig farmers across the water are currently in the process of taking cover on their feed supplies going forward at realistic market prices. 70% of the cost of pig production is in the cost of the feed and this forward buying approach has served our neighbouring farmers in the UK well over the past 12 months”.

“Merchants should not target producers in a bid to improve margins at this time. Although the pig price has shown some recovery, over 50% of pig producers in the country are still not breaking even. Millers should be in a better position currently to pass back some of the benefit of the drop in native cereals seen in recent weeks,” he continued.

Maguire made reference to the flooding in the US, ‘soya prices are rising rapidly and as the EU must import approximately 16million tonnes of soyabeans and 24million tonnes of soyameal each year the EU must throw out the zero tolerance policy in relation to GM material imports’.

“Every year the amount of non-GM maize and soya being produced by the US, Canada, and Brazil is reducing. EU countries are therefore being forced to pay more to ensure that consignments are GM free. This makes no sense when these GM products have been safety assessed by other countries” the IFA man continued.

“Recent comments from Dr. Patrick Wall in relation to the EU re-looking at meat and bone meat for pigs and poultry come as a welcome development. Pig producers are currently at or below breakeven pig prices, it is therefore vital that the all stakeholders play a responsible role in the survival of this industry. I wish to encourage pig producers to pick up the phone and make contact with local grain growers to engage in a process of negotiations”, concluded Mr. Maguire.

[mikey]

EFSA: Salmonella in 10% of EU pigs
// 11 jun 2008

One out of every ten fattening pigs in Europe carries Salmonella, according to a random sampling that the European Food Safety Authority, EFSA carried out.

 
The scores however differ a lot between EU member states. Salmonella was not detected in Finland, but a third of the Spanish pigs seem to be contaminated with the bacterium. The Netherlands scored relatively well with 8.5% of the pigs that had Salmonella.

Salmonella is one of the main causes of food poising in the EU. In 2006, more than 160,000 Europeans got sick from Salmonella. This is around 35 out of 100,000 people.

[mikey]

Friday, June 27, 2008Print This Page
Pig Prices Take an Early Leap
AUSTRALIA - Pig prices are already starting to climb with pork rising six cents a kilogram (carcase weight) in the past week to hit 296c/kg, while bacon jumped 7c/kg to 266c/kg during the same period.



During the past month pig prices have been gradually creeping towards top dollar and the drought in pig numbers is helping the prices soar, reports The Land.

William Inglis and Son stock agent, Stephen Nutt, Camden, said more pig producers were getting out of the game due to the high cost of feeding.

“The pig market is bopping along not setting any records, but the shortage of numbers is starting to affect the market,” he said.

[mikey]

Friday, June 27, 2008Print This Page
Vietnam Strives to Produce Clean Pork
VIET NAM - Vietnam is launching a pilot project to produce clean pork by the end of 2008, in collaboration with some of the country's major livestock farms.



The pilot is to be conducted by the Livestock Breeding Department (LBD) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), as part of the agriculture sector's plan to develop and promote a more viable livestock production industry.

The programme has been created in part due to the many cases of PRRS reported recently in about seven of the country's provinces. When interviewed, Hoang Kim Giao, head of the LBD, said “The pilot programme would be carried out before the ministry develops a model to be used to increase production of clean pork. If approved, the model will be implemented nationwide next year.

“The pilot programme will cover all aspects of pork production, from the design and construction of breeding facilities, breeding selection process, choosing suitable diets for each growing stage of pigs’ sanitation, environmental hygiene, disease prevention measures and safe environmental measures. In addition the LBD will support the introduction of up-graded slaughtering and processing plants, and foster their use by pig producer co-operatives,” he goes on to say.

Hoang Kim Giao also said that the clean pork prices will not go up as proper breeding facilities will be utilised whereby the rate of weight-gain per animal will be increased, creating the possibility of more pork products.

According to MARD, if it turns out that the pilot is a success, it will be beneficial to both farmers and consumers. At present, only 20% of Viet Nam's market meets consumer demand.

[mikey]

Friday, June 27, 2008Print This Page
Pig Industry View of the World
UK - Confidence levels in the British pig industry have, unsurprisingly, fallen according to the results of the latest survey by BPEX Ltd.

 

It showed although 70 per cent of producers had maintained or improved their competitiveness, their optimism had been significantly eroded.

There is a similar picture from the processing sector, however, half anticipated increasing investment over the next 12 months which is at odds with producers who said they were investing 75 per cent less.

There is also a contrast shown where processors are looking to invest to increase efficiency when producers are mainly having to spend money to cope with changing environmental rules and repairing buildings and facilities.

The question about factors limiting output has seen a major shift with producers citing raw material costs and finance whereas last year it was simply the physical capacity of buildings.

BPEX Strategy Co-ordinator Andrew Knowles said: "While we have seen some price rises in recent weeks, confidence among producers remains extremely fragile.

"The survey is still a valid and valuable snapshot of the British industry and the ability to compare it with the previous year makes it even more important.

"It was interesting to note that vets and members of the allied industry were looking to increase capacity and improve competitiveness.

"This is something they choose to do which shows they are looking at the future with renewed confidence."

[mikey]

Increasing Daily Feeding Occasions in Restricted Feeding Strategies Does Not Improve Performance or Well Being of Fattening Pigs
By Eva Persson, Margret Wülbers-Mindermann, Charlotte Berg and Bo Algers. Published by BioMed Central in the Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 2008, 50:24 Journal.


Abstract
Background
The natural feeding behaviour of the pig is searching for feed by rooting activities throughout the day; self-feeding pigs randomly space their eating and drinking periods throughout the day consuming ten to twelve meals per day. Pigs in conventional fattening pig production are normally fed 2-3 times daily with the feed consumed within 15 minutes. The aim of this study was to determine if more frequent feedings could improve the performance of conventionally kept fattening pigs.

Methods
The experiment was carried out on 360 fattening pigs (27-112 kg live weight), weighed and assigned to pens stratified by weight and sex. Each treatment group consisted of 180 pigs, allocated to 20 pens with nine pigs in each pen. To evaluate how more feeding occasions affects performance and well-being the pigs were divided into two groups and fed three (control group) or nine (treatment group) times daily. The same total amount of liquid feed was fed to each group and the feed ration was correlated to the live weight of the pigs. All weight and slaughter recordings were made individually and recordings of feed consumption were made pen-wise. At slaughter the stomach of each pig was examined for lesions in the pars oesophagea and scored on a scale from 1-6.

Results
Frequent feeding occasions influenced both performance and status of gastric lesions of the pigs adversely. Pigs in the treatment group grew slower compared to pigs in the control group; 697 g/day (± 6.76) versus 804 g/day (± 6.78) (P<0.001) with no difference in withinpen variation. There was also a lower prevalence of gastric lesions within pigs in the control group (2.4 (± 0.12) compared to 3.0 (± 0.12) (P<0.01)). There was a positive correlation between gastric lesions in the treatment group and daily weight gain (r=0.19; P<0.01).

Conclusion
Increased daily feeding occasions among group housed pigs resulted in a poorer daily weight gain and increased mean gastric lesion score as compared with pigs fed three times daily. This may be a consequence of more frequently occurring competition for feed in the treatment group. The present study does not support increased daily feeding occasions in fattening pigs.

[mikey]

Wednesday, July 02, 2008Print This Page
Bulgarian Pork Import Ban Lifted
SOFIA - According to reports made by the national veterinary service, the EU has lifted a ban on Bulgarian pork imports - a ban fixed in 2006 - due to outbreaks of swine fever in Bulgaria.



Experts from the European Commission's Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs visited Bulgaria in late June and concluded that it "has made considerable progress in containing and eradicating the swine fever virus," the service said in a statement.

This prompted the Commission to lift the ban and allow Bulgaria to export live pigs and pork products to the EU and third countries, reports IFocus

[mikey]

Thursday, July 03, 2008Print This Page
New Cyprian Boar Stud a Sell-Out Success
EU - Two open evenings at a new 90 place Cyprian boar stud have proved an outstanding success.

 

Response from producers to the initial invitation to view the new EU standard stud, developed by pig production company LA Top Genetics, was so enthusiastic that an extra date had to be arranged and, within days of the events, production of the new JSR Geneconverter 700 semen was totally sold out with orders placed by both existing and new customers.



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"LA Top Genetics has been making tremendous progress, carefully selecting quality genetics to suit the discerning Cyprian market, where the tenderness and taste of the pork is of utmost importance- and its demanding climate. Now, with further investments in equipment and genetics, they are set to raise the island's standards still higher." 
Paul Anderson, European Sales Director of JSR Genetics
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“We have worked closely with JSR Genetics for the past 3 years,” says Loucas Andreou, Managing Director of LA Top Genetics, “building our own nucleus and multiplication herd. Our new boar stud is the next logical step and allows us to double boar numbers. The response by the island’s producers has been fantastic: 45 came along in total, keen to see our new facilities and the JSR lines that we will now be able to offer.”

Paul Anderson, European Sales Director of JSR Genetics, who co-hosted the evening with Mr Andreou, commented, “LA Top Genetics has been making tremendous progress, carefully selecting quality genetics to suit the discerning Cyprian market, where the tenderness and taste of the pork is of utmost importance- and its demanding climate. Now, with further investments in equipment and genetics, they are set to raise the island’s standards still higher.”

Following a welcome drink and introduction, producers were taken on a tour of the facilities including the new AI laboratory where they were impressed by the sophisticated equipment in use. In particular the NucleoCounter SP-100 which delivers effective measurement of total cell concentration and cell viability in a sperm sample from sperm ejaculates or doses. The measurement range of the SP-100 is virtually unlimited and provides a reading in less than 30 seconds, giving customers instant confidence in the semen quality.

Even with so many visitors, bio-security was maintained by the strict measures in place throughout both the boar stud and its laboratory. Producers were able to observe boars from a purpose built bio-secure viewing room.

A selection of dam line boars were on display including 12x, 16x, Large White and Landrace stock. Of sire line boars the Titan, Duroc and new Geneconverter 700 lines were represented. The Cyprian producers were particularly impressed by the outstanding efficiency figures of the recently introduced GC700. With the continuing pressure of higher feed costs, its 13.4% reduction in FCR represents a significant saving per pig produced and a valuable opportunity for them to improve profitability.

“The event has been a real confidence booster, if one was needed”, confirms Loucas Andreou. “Production of GC 700 semen has been totally accounted for by new orders, a new customer has ordered a regular supply of Duroc semen and several other producers will be returning to discuss their requirements in detail. I’m now putting together the specification for my next shipment of breeding stock from the UK to include the GC700 – soon to be launched in Cyprus – and Genepacker 90 Parent gilts.”

[mikey]

Thursday, July 03, 2008Print This Page
Chinese Food Safety Under Eye of BAX® System
CHINA - The inspection and quarantine administration of China has announced that Dupont's BAX® system will be used as an official method for pathogen detection in food imports and exports.

 

This development should provide not only a boost to Chinese food safety, which has come under large scrutiny this year, but will also improve foreign confidence in its meat sector.


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"We understand that China is also facing the increasing demands and emerging challenges on food safety" 
Qin Zhenkui, president of the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine (CAIQ), AQSIQ.
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The Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) is a government agency responsible for monitoring the safety and quality of food in China. The agency published this new standard for entry/exit inspection and quarantine in the PRC. This describes the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique for rapid pathogen detection and names the automated BAX® system as an approved PCR method for detecting Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter jejuni and E. sakazakii in food.

“When monitoring food imports and exports, efficiency is critical,” said Qin Zhenkui, president of the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine (CAIQ), AQSIQ. “PCR technology can provide the speed, sensitivity and accuracy in routine food testing that allows our agency to make faster release decisions with a high degree of confidence.”

Another food safety monitoring authority in China – the Beijing Municipal Center for Food Safety Monitoring (BFSM) – is already using the BAX® detection system to provide technical support for food safety management of the Beijing municipal government and the 2008 athletic competition.

“This is good news from AQSIQ,” said Kevin Huttman, president – DuPont Qualicon. “Protecting the food supply is a major global concern, and we understand that China is also facing the increasing demands and emerging challenges on food safety. We’re pleased that the BAX® system is helping government agencies in China and around the world with cost-effective and highly accurate food safety testing.”

[mikey]

Friday, July 04, 2008Print This Page
Intelligent Farrowing Pen on the Way
DENMARK - For a newborn piglet, slipping from a warm and secure environment inside its mother’s womb and landing on a cool floor in a modern farrowing pen is not much fun.



It is a rather tepid start in life for a piglet that in its first few days of life is very poor at regulating body temperature. Figures from sow farms attest to this fact; on average 23 percent of piglets die before weaning.

Scientists at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Aarhus intend to do something about the problem. In collaboration with the company Skov A/S and Danish Pig Production, they will investigate if mortality can be reduced by developing an "intelligent farrowing pen".




The farrowing pen of the future may offer local climate control based on the animals’ behaviour – to the benefit of the animals’ welfare. Photo: Janne HansenPart of the concept of the intelligent pen includes climate control right down on the level of the individual farrowing pen. Warmth is what the little pigs really appreciate in their first few days of life.

Quite a few piglets die due to lack of oxygen during birth. Others are born weak or are chilled immediately post partum. Such piglets are in great risk of dying. On average, one whole pig per litter can be saved just by providing warmth immediately after birth. That alone would be a huge economical boost, says senior scientist and project leader Lene Juul Pedersen from the Department of Animal Health, Welfare and Nutrition at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences.

What is needed is a way to regulate heat right down on the level of the individual pen. Today climate is regulated for a whole farrowing house unit at a time. It is necessary to develop methods that build on knowledge of the animals’ behaviour. On the basis of their behaviour, when the farrowing will take place can be predicted and that can be coupled to advanced heat control so that the climate in each pen can be regulated according to the needs of the animals in it.
Activity-controlled climate
Together with Skov A/S, the scientists will develop a system whereby the condition and activity of the animals will be registered. For example, previous studies have shown that the sow is very active in the 24 hours prior to farrowing. She stands up and lies down often and spends time building a nest. This knowledge can be used to predict when she will farrow within a narrow margin.

When the system predicts when the sow is expected to farrow, a message is given to the farmer and to a climate control system that ensures that there is more heat in the pen. Not only does this save piglets. It could perhaps also save heating bills in the farrowing barn, which is usually kept at around 20° C.

The relatively high temperature in the room is for the sake of the piglets, but the sow would probably prefer it so be somewhat cooler, says Lene Juul Pedersen.

Apart from the level of activity, it would also be preferred if sensors could be developed - sensors that can measure conditions such as where in the pen the sow and her piglets are and how the sow and her piglets are doing. This would provide the farmer with important information about the well-being of the animals and if there are any problems coming on, the farmer can take action before small problems grow big.
The research project will also be investigating whether it is most practical to measure conditions using sensors, chips in the ear or video surveillance.

The four-year project is supported by Højteknologifonden with 8.3 million kroner. The total budget is 16.5 million kroner. The rest is financed by the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences with 1.7 million kroner, Skov A/S with 5.4 million kroner and Danish Pig Production with 0.1 million kroner.


 

[mikey]

Wednesday, July 09, 2008Print This Page
Indian Maize Ban Affects Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA - The livestock industry in Kuala Lumpur is bracing itself for a shortage of feed following the Indian Government’s decision to ban the export of maize.



According to The Star Online, with about half its supply coming from India, farmers here would face a shortage until feed from new sources arrived.

Federation Of Livestock Farmers Association Of Malaysia (FLFAM) president Lee Ah Fatt said that since the supply from the United States was based on new orders, stocks might take some time to arrive.

“I have appealed to the Government to assist the industry in facing the problem,” The Star heard him say.

Lee also said the Government could undertake government-to-government negotiations with India to allow the export of maize to Malaysia, and extend the diesel subsidy programme to poultry and pig farms.