The current feed price rise crisis

Of course every pig producer is talking about the feed price crisis now. I have been looking at what you can do at no cost at all to mitigate the extra €0.31/ kg this savage price hike is costing them. You can narrow that gap for no cost at all. Go for it guys!
28 Jan 2008 - 3 comment(s) - Read more »

Nutritional solutions to Edema Disease

Edema or oedema, depending whether you are in the USA or UK, respectively, is a frequent gastrointestinal disorder affecting millions of pigs each year. Scours, loss of appetite, depressed performance and overall condition are all consequences of this infective disease.
22 Jan 2008 - 3 comment(s) - Read more »

Campylobacter food poisoning - good news for pigs!

Campylobacter species are the commonest cause of food poisoning in man, affecting over 50,000 people in the UK and 69/100,000 population in Denmark each year, but Danish researchers have shown that potentially, only a small fraction of pig isolates are associated with man and these strains are also found in poultry, which appears to be a major source.
15 Jan 2008 - 3 comment(s) - Read more »

The second most cause of enforced culling - Legs!

Foot and leg problems together with lameness are still a major reason why sows have to be removed from the herd in the first 3 parities.
03 Jan 2008 - 4 comment(s) - Read more »

Feeding sorghum

Sorghum has re-surfaced recently as an alternative cereal, especially in Western Europe, where imports, particularly from the US, are more economically feasible. Of course, there is nothing new about sorghum, as many farmers in Kansas will readily attest. I recall diets in this state based entirely on sorghum, with no problems at all in growth performance or carcass quality. But, let's start from the beginning!
17 Dec 2007 - 2 comment(s) - Read more »

Enzootic pneumonia - is it a good time to consider eradication?

With costs rising rapidly due to increases in feed prices, is it a good time to focus on improving health and considering eradication of such production depressing diseases as enzootic pneumonia?
11 Dec 2007 - 9 comment(s) - Read more »

How to prolong sow productive lifetime

Last time I showed that Sow Productive Lifetime (SPL) was far too short these days. I have been on farms recently where the replacement rate of breeding sows was 45% and even 50% - a huge waste of investment in their superb genetics.
30 Nov 2007 - 5 comment(s) - Read more »

High cereal prices II

In my last blog, I discussed non-nutritional ways of addressing the problem of high cereal prices. Now, it's time for nutritional suggestions. After all, feed used to make up at least 60% of the cost of raising a pig. Now, it is even higher!
19 Nov 2007 - 3 comment(s) - Read more »

Future availability of antimicrobials in pig medicine

There is a joint FAO/WHO/OIE expert meeting on the 17-21st November on critically important antimicrobials and their use in human and animal medicine - what will they do when these two lists overlap?
13 Nov 2007 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »

Staring you in the face!

Supposing you were running a haulage business and the cost of fuel suddenly rose by 36% in six weeks, which you could do nothing about. Would it be putting your business in severe danger? This analogy might help to create a better insight in sow management.
05 Nov 2007 - 2 comment(s) - Read more »