The future of the global pig industry – hit or bust?

Overall, the global pig industry must be a hit. It is a complex but well-structured industry with an end product that is wanted, needed and is a going to be a growing staple diet in many parts of the world. However, there are some bumps foreseen along the road.
29 Jun 2009 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »

A future urban lifestyle for pigs

Agriculture is changing. Fuelled by altered views on the way we should produce our food in combination with growing human population we see farms grow bigger and become more efficient. The basic principle for this expansion has always been: more production! However, buzz words such as sustainability, green and carbon footprints force us to re-evaluate the way (and moreover where!) we produce our daily food. In contrast to single farms getting bigger, initiatives such as "urban farming" - that integrate multi systems at one urban location seems to be gaining interest.
22 Jun 2009 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »

If you can't beat them...

Just when pork producers thought they saw light at the end of the tunnel, H1N1 turned up. The influenza A scares caused a somewhat depressing atmosphere at this year’s World Pork Expo, in Des Moines, Iowa, USA, in June. The ‘why’ is not hard to see.
16 Jun 2009 - 1 comment(s) - Read more »

Some thoughts on big pens

The big pen concept for growing/finishing pigs really caught on around 2003, so we have a good five years experience to fall back on. Numbers together range from 80 to 300 growers in the same pen.
08 Jun 2009 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »

North American concerns over DDGS

There is no doubt. Dried distillers grains with solubles, or DDGS for brevity, have been a great money saver for most North American pork producers. Today, many producers use about 20-30% DDGS in finishing diets, whereas the inclusion rate reaches even 60% in some gestation diets. The problem is not if DDGS should be used, but rather, how much more can be used before problems start to appear. And, DDGS is not without its problems!
03 Jun 2009 - 1 comment(s) - Read more »

Should future pigs roll in the mud again?

Increased hygiene and a lack of exposure to various microorganisms may be affecting the immune systems of many populations – particularly in highly developed countries like the USA –to the degree that individuals are losing their bodily ability to fight off certain diseases.
25 May 2009 - 2 comment(s) - Read more »

H1N1, PRRS and IPVS: a day in the life

How busy can the life of a professional swine veterinarian be? Dr Ernest Sanford is swine specialist at Boehringer Ingelheim's Vetmedica division in Ontario, Canada – and apart from that he is IPVS president, organising the next congress in Vancouver, BC. On top of that, H1N1 asks some attention…
18 May 2009 - 1 comment(s) - Read more »

A viral update – lots going on in the swine world

There is a lot going on in the swine world regarding viral infections over recent days and weeks – flu, PRRS and circovirus, so I thought it would be useful to give an overview for readers.
11 May 2009 - 4 comment(s) - Read more »

Check those feeder gaps!

You have all got the latest and well-publicised feeder space allowances for growing and finishing pigs – well, I hope you have, as it is very important to get this right in terms of growth and feed usage. After this, in feed usage terms, comes the correct through gap allowance for the pigs as they grow. Let's put some figures to this.
04 May 2009 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »

Swine influenza worries

Little kids can be scared about anything, be it big green monsters or zombies under their beds or perhaps a dangerous unknown disease coming to get you...
28 Apr 2009 - 2 comment(s) - Read more »