Link to This | Back to top

Pig Farm Causes Controversy

Link to This | Back to top

Pig Farm Market Updates

Vietnam will experience an 8 percent increase in its animal feed requirements by 2020 because of expanding pig farm production, said a forecast by the the head of the livestock department at the Vietnamese ministry of agriculture and rural development.

Korea has opened future trading in lean pork contracts, the first agricultural commodity derivative to be added to the country's futures market. The contract price movement is measured according to pig prices in 11 markets nationally. Data prepared for the launch by the KRX exchange estimated the value of Korea's pork production at about 3.6 trillion Won (US$3.5 billion) per year.

USA's ending stocks of maize for harvest year 2008/09 have been estimated by US department of agriculture at 21.2 million tons, with more uptake of the available corn for animal feeds offset by a lower usage for human food and industrial processing.

Japan's ministry of agriculture has approved the veterinary certificate for the import of fresh pigmeat from Germany. Supplies are permitted from authorized German plants with immediate effect.

Ireland has recorded a 1.6% annual decrease in the number of pigs slaughtered, for the first 5 months of this year.

Link to This | Back to top

The Economics of Pig Health Control - Part 2

The economics of pig health control — Section 2

Since the later months of 2006, a vaccine for piglets to protect them against the effects of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) has been widely and effectively used both in the USA and in Canada. Document­ing piglet survival rates was the most obvious goal of vaccine users because mortality is a pronounced feature of PCV2 disease. But many pig producers reported that surviving pigs in outbreaks with severe mortality often had acceptable growth rates. Interestingly and somewhat unexpected, there were even reports that the rate of growth had improved.

With subsequent interest in measuring and evalu­ating the impact of vaccination on weight gains and efficiency, several studies have since shown growth benefits from vaccine use. The financial implications of vaccinating have also been addressed. One controlled study reported last year estimated the lower mortality due to vaccination to be worth US$3.32 per pig, with the improved sale price for the animals adding another US$4.21 so that the economic benefit from the use of the vaccine worked out at US$7.53 per vaccinated pig.

Conducted as part of an evaluation of the use of the Intervet PCV2 vaccine with regard to both mortality and growth performance, this study took place at a farrow-to-finish operation of 1700 sows in the American Midwest. This herd had experienced a mild increase in mortality rates and a severe increase in culling, mainly involving castrates rather than gilts, due to PCV-associated disease. Along with PCV2, the unit was also known to be infected endemically with a variety of pathogens including Mycoplasma hyo­pneumoniae, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (App), swine influenza virus, PRRSv, atrophic rhinitis and Lawsonia intracellularis. Due to these disease chal­lenges, in fact, the herd was in the process of depopulating.

The pigs used for the study were from 2 consecutive weekly weaning groups. After weaning at approximately 23 days of age, they were allocated randomly to vaccinated or control groups with stratification by start weight, gender and litter of origin. Vaccinated and control pigs were housed together in the same pens within 4 nursery rooms and then 4 finisher rooms.

Their weights were measured when weaned and at the end of the nursery phase, then ap­proximately 6 weeks after entering the finisher (grower phase) and about 6 weeks later (finisher phase), which was 2 weeks before the first of them were shipped to market. The weight data allowed a calculation of daily gain values for each pig production phase. The daily gain during the finisher phase and the final finisher weight were used to predict the expected market weight with a maximum value of 280 pounds (127 kilograms).

A significantly lower rate of mortality was measured in PCV2-vaccinated pigs in the finishing phase, giving a benefit across all phases.

The presence of PCV2 and PCV-associated disease was confirmed by serology and virus identification and the presence of lesions in tissue samples. Among the control pigs there were 30 out of 32 found to be seropositive at 3 weeks old, 25 out of 28 at 6 weeks, 13 out of 28 at 9 weeks, 5 out of 28 at 12 weeks, 19 out of 28 at 15 weeks and 27 out of 28 at 21 weeks. The overall pig health status of the pigs was similar to previous groups, although 2 moderate outbreaks of App occurred during the study in one room in the grower phase and one room in the finisher phase. The rate of App mortality was similar among the vaccinated and control groups.

The effectiveness of the vaccine with re­gard to mortality has been well documented. But the data in the Tables clearly show the benefit of vaccination with re­gard to growth performance as measured by daily gain and final market weight. With the reduced mortality and extra sale value estimated to be worth $7.53, the net benefit to the user was predicted as approxi­mately US$5.90 per pig.

Link to This | Back to top

When Pig Feed Prices Rise

Continuing our search for possible responses by pig producers internationally to the effects of rising feed prices on their production costs.

What can pig producers do when feed prices rise? One of the first actions could be to look again at the feed ingredients and materials they give to their pigs.

Be aware that the case for using feed additives becomes even stronger whenever the cost of feeds increases, says Murray Hyden at ingredients supplier Agil, in an exclusive conversation for this issue of Pig International.

For example, he says, acidifiers show major benefits in terms of optimising gut health to provide digestive conditions that can increase effects of pig genetics, improving feed efficiency and reducing mortality. They are also important in feeds that have a high buffering capacity, such as those used in lactation. A key application of acidifiers is to minimize bacterial numbers in the feed, lowering the risk of pathogenic bacteria such as salmonella and escherichia entering the animal.

"Protected acidifiers with fructo-oligosaccharides are especially important to young animals that have not achieved full immunocompetence, particularly weaned piglets up to 9 weeks old or animals recovering from antibiotic therapy," he commented when interviewed at Agil's head office in the UK. "They have a direct impact in the animal intestine. Their effect is to optimise the gut microflora and protect mucosal linings, while providing a healthy gut environment."

More efficient pig feeding is vitally important at a time of high feed costs, he observes. All pig rations should contain antioxidants to preserve fats and oils, maintain palatability and generally maintain feed intake. Remember, too, how feed conversion rates can be damaged by the presence of mould factors in the diet. Including mycotoxin binders can reduce the severity of mycotoxicoses or even their occurrence and thereby safeguard both breeding and finishing performance.

"Other additives to bear in mind are the pellet binders included in cubed or pelleted feed. They have an important role to play in controlling feed costs on the pig unit, because they reduce losses due to dust or fine particles on the farm as well as at the feedmill and during transportation. Even a 1% reduction in losses from these so-called fines is valuable. It means saving one ton of feed in every 100 tons handled. I know this is obvious, but people forget!"

No pig farm is perfect, he adds. There are always opportunities to improve. Addressing any of the points mentioned will make improvements in feed efficiency that are more valuable than ever under today's market conditions.

Link to This | Back to top

Created with ShoutPost