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14 Reasons not to miss SPACE in 2021

22-07-2021 | |
Waiting in line: the trophies of the 2019 edition of SPACE. - Photo: SPACE
Waiting in line: the trophies of the 2019 edition of SPACE. - Photo: SPACE

Traditionally, mid-September is the time of year that many in the international swine business head for Rennes in France to attend SPACE. What interesting swine innovations are on show this year?

Virtually the entire world has experienced a lockdown for roughly 18 months. Covid-19 made travelling impossible for many. Now that vaccination levels are picking up, and travelling is becoming easier again, the 2021 edition of SPACE in Rennes, France, will be one of the first international events where the swine industry will be able to gather in Europe.

As is common, a range of innovations has been awarded prizes. In total, 35 innovations received an Innov’SPACE award, of which 7 got 2 stars and 28 received 1 star. Of these 35, 14 innovations are interesting for the swine industry. Flick through them at leisure.

Free-range farrowing pen⭐⭐

Vereijken France: Nanny Nest 145×85

This free-range farrowing pen surface takes care of the management of 2 temperature environments: to favour the sow’s comfort and food consumption and to respect the needs of newborn piglets. Vereijken, specialised for over 10 years in free-range maternity solutions, presents an integrated piglet nest. The Nanny 145X85 is a 1-piece unit, integrated into the enclosure of the pen, with a water bath heated floor and 4 technical hatches (sow visibility, nursing, weaning). The floor is designed to be cleaned perfectly and easily. The unbreakable transparent double cap provides clarity for the piglets, allowing easy monitoring and handling. (Hall 8, stand A11)

Photo: Vereijken

Photo: Vereijken

Flexible and modular farm buildings⭐⭐

Calipro: AgiliTrac

AgiliTrac by Calipro is a flexible and modular farm building, able to rapidly fit into all production systems in pig farming. The building is composed of prefabricated concrete parts which come together to form a module constituting the base of the building. That module can be repeated as often as necessary in order to create the desired size. To align with the environment and animal welfare standards, the building was designed to accommodate the Trac‘r phase separation solution. The solution allows growth without the need to reorganise entire farms. Each room can be expanded with one or more modules without affecting farm operations or biosecurity rules. (Hall 7, stand D16)

Illustration: Calipro

Illustration: Calipro

Tool to help new staff underway⭐⭐

Adventiel: Replace.Me

Farmers today have difficulty finding qualified farm workers to ensure the continuation of the day-to-day running no matter who is present. The matter relates to training as well as a follow up of instructions. The Replace.Me solution aims to help farmers in the management and monitoring of employee replacements via an application available on their laptops or mobile devices. It presents functionalities for farmers that allow them to set up and monitor interventions, as well as functionalities for farm workers that allow them to enter intervention forms and interact with farmers via chat or video. (Hall 4, stand B41)

Photo: Aventiel

Photo: Aventiel

Silage protection against fumonisins

Biomin: Fumzyme Silage

Fumzyme Silage is a fumonisins deactivator which is applicable onto silage materials. The product is an additive sprayed onto corn (whole-plant corn silage, high moisture corn grain, etc.), at harvest or during pit filling, that targets and detoxifies harmful fumonisins in a matter of minutes, so that the resulting silage materials are safe for swine and ruminant feed. The additive, created by Austrian-based animal nutrition company Biomin, is the only EU approved product proven to remove fumonisins from silage materials, for all species. (Hall 9, stand B37)

Illustration: Biomin

Illustration: Biomin

Piglet maturity classification

IFIP (Institut du Porc) and Wel2Be: Pic’Let

Pic’Let by IFIP and Wel2Be is an image capture tool capable of identifying immature piglets at birth. The tool offers automated phenotyping by image analysis, replacing subjective judgment by precise recording for selection purposes. It also allows producers to get precise knowledge about the piglets’ maturity in order to improve the survival of the piglet in maternity. The tool consists of a system with 2 cameras. The piglet is placed on the individual weighing scale. Once the weight is stabilised, a picture is taken and the algorithm, based on morphological head characteristics, assigns a maturity phenotype to the animal. This system has been designed in stainless steel for easy cleaning. (Hall 4, stand B41)

Photo: IFIP/ Wel2Be

Photo: IFIP/ Wel2Be

Straw distributor

Meier-Brakenberg: Distripaille

The Distripaille innovation is part of a range of pig welfare objects which respect the pigs’ natural behaviour, especially their need to root in the soil with their snouts in relation to their skeletal morphology. This new product is a stainless-steel feeder where large amounts of straw can be stored. The animals use their snouts to interact with a mechanism situated at its base and get straw strands as an award. That way, the tool allows the pigs to live in a stress-free environment. The product is made by Meier-Brakenberg in Germany and distributed in France by RV Biotech. (Hall 8, stand A06)

Photo: Meier-Brakenberg

Photo: Meier-Brakenberg

Technology to increase boar utilisation

PIC France: Fertiboar

PIC’s Fertiboar technology allows to predict boar semen quality based on testicular ultrasound measures prior to first semen collection. That way, producers can identify boars with the best semen quality and select those boars for artificial insemination. A machine learning approach is used to identify regions within the testicular pictures that are key to semen production. Those are analysed to calculate parameters describing novel attributes like the homogeneity and echogenicity of the tissue. In a second step, a supervised learning algorithm is applied to predict the probability that a boar will produce ejaculates of desired quality. (Hall 8, stand C40)

Photo: PIC

Photo: PIC

Feed range for piglets 4 to 42 days old

Provimi Cargill: Neopigg Shield

Neopigg Shield by Cargill is a feed programme for piglets 4 to 42 days old, aimed at mitigating the negative consequences of weaning in piglets while limiting the use of medicated solutions. Its original formulation is based on the use of raw materials rich in fibre and selected for their highly digestible properties. In addition, it is based on highly digestible proteins in order to limit the intestinal inflammation aggravated by weaning stress. Tested in more than 50 farms in Europe, the feed range is distributed over the weaning phase +3 weeks have generated reductions in mortality, regular improvements in growth, which contributed to homogeneity. (Hall 8, stand B25)

Photo: Cargill

Photo: Cargill

Maximum heat detection

Vétoquinol: BoarBetter

Vétoquinol’s BoarBetter is a useful compound to be used in swine breeding. The product contains a triple boar saliva pheromone that is a patented combination of synthetic analogues of the 3 boar pheromone molecules (androstenone, androstenol and quinoline). Adding the compound to the heat detection process means producers can be certain that the sow received all 3 pheromones – and the maximum sexual behaviour is triggered. It allows to reduce the risks and improve the farm’s reproductive performance and can be used as soon as there is any doubt, after passing a boar, to increase pheromone exposure and help make better insemination choices. (Hall 4, stand C62)

Photo: Vétoquinol/ Eric Senmartin

Photo: Vétoquinol/ Eric Senmartin

Automatic ovulation prediction

Synthèse Elevage – Dilepix: Gwiz

Gwiz accurately detects when a sow is in oestrus and predicts the sow’s ovulation period by analysing the temperature measured at the vulva and the anus in a few seconds. The solution combines a thermal camera with an artificial intelligence application, which analyses the physiological variations of body temperature during the reproductive cycle. The product allows to precisely target the ovulation period, thus optimising the fertility and prolificity rate. The device by Synthèse Elevage is non-invasive, leads to a reduced use of hormones and optimises reproduction performance. (Hall 4, stand B41)

Photo: Synthèse Elevage

Photo: Synthèse Elevage

A daily co-pilot

Agrikomp France: AkCockpit

AkCockpit is a web application for tracking and optimisation of methanisation plants in injection and in cogeneration. It contains both data visualisation tabs (biogas, process, scrubber, laboratory, data centre, boiler) and tabs that will be linked to actions made by users (maintenance or filling the ration). Otherwise, if the specified set values are exceeded, some alarms will alert the operator so that corrective actions can be taken as quickly as possible. In addition, the operator can also remotely connect to the control software of his installation. Also, all the information necessary to control an installation are grouped into a single application. (Hall 4, stand B54)

Photo: Agrikomp France

Photo: Agrikomp France

Automatic preparation of powdered chlorine solution

Aquadis: Granulo-Pack

DCCNA is a chlorine molecule which is increasingly used for the disinfection of water in breeding, it is known for its excellent results at low cost. It is, however, known to be unstable, to decrease in concentration rapidly and lead to emission of chlorine gas. Granulo-Pack by Aquadis overcomes those drawbacks because it prepares a small amount of stock solution several times a day ensuring a constant concentration. Producers do not have to fill a hopper with DCCNA, as the system works automatically up to levels of 1,750 m3 or about 3 months for a farm consuming 20 m3/day. (Hall 4, stand C99)

Photo: Aquadis

Photo: Aquadis

Automatic man-machine time measurement solution

Aptimiz: Aptitrack

Aptimiz is expanding its offer with Aptitrack, the first solution which automatically measures all men and machine time on a farm. The system automatically detects which machine a farmer is working on and which tools are hitched-up (tractors, harvesting machines, soil working tools, feeding tools, high pressure cleaners, etc.). It ensures precise and automatic activity traceability carried out at the farm, from breeding to the plot. This allows a precise mechanisation costs allocation between all different workshops on the farm. (Hall 4, stand B42)

Photo: Aptimiz

Photo: Aptimiz

Diamond cut grooves on concrete floors

Vermot: Rainu’Diamant

Rainu’Diamant is a technical innovation for grooving concrete floors with diamond discs. The resulting grooves have perfectly formed edges without damaging the concrete surface. With a depth of 4 to 5mm, a width of 12mm at spacing of 27mm, this pattern of grooves improves animal mobility, comfort and safety. In contrast to grooves made with carbide-tipped parts, the grooves obtained by sawing have sharp and clean angles, thus ensuring the hooves to get a better grip. This diamond cutting technique allows concrete that is less than one year old to be grooved without the risk of splintering or damaging the surface. (Hall 1, stand C22)

Photo: Vermot

Photo: Vermot

SPACE 2021 will take place from 14-16 September in Rennes, France. On the 17 th , an entire online day will be added to the show. The last edition of the show, in 2019, showcased 1,400 exhibitors and attracted 105,000 visitors from 42 countries.

Editor of Pig Progress / Topic: Pigs around the world




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