US sow farmers scale back after bad year Covid-19 and expansion in the years prior led to the crisis in the US swine industry.
ASF Romania: 42,000 pigs culled on commercial farm All pigs on a Romanian farm with almost 42,000 pigs had to be culled as African Swine Fever was found on the...
Sweet feed, social pigs and a spray in Pig Progress 5 The 5th digital edition of Pig Progress in 2019 is now available. Key themes include biosecurity and breeding,...
Predicting the exact slaughter age in pigs Is it possible to determine in advance the slaughter age of pigs when it is 120 kg? Yes, to a good extent that...
Breeding reduces environmental impact with 1% per year Results of a new study by Wageningen Livestock Research, the Netherlands, show that breeding reduces...
Difficult times for Danish pig farmers The mood in Danish pig farming has darkened, with both swine farmers and the supply chain seeing dwindling...
Wrapping up September: What’s new in the world of pigs? September 2018 was the month of the animal nutrition companies – virtually everywhere events are going on, new...
Focus on sows in 6th edition of Pig Progress Sows are at the centre of our attention in the 6th issue of Pig Progress. From breeding improvement to insights...
Wrapping up July: What’s new in the world of pigs? Especially the swine genetic companies were active in July 2018 with a number of cooperations and announcements....
Zinc plays a vital role in male pig fertility Zinc plays a key role in promoting fertility in males – this applies to pigs as well as humans and other species
Wrapping up March: What’s new in the world of pigs? In March 2018, the news broke that several companies made interesting steps in the Chinese swine market. Also a...
Yingzi launches facial recognition technology in pigs The Chinese company Yingzi has launched its technology for facial recognition of pigs.
Wrapping up February: What’s new in the world of pigs? Big Data and sensor technology increasingly make their entry into the global swine business, so much became...
Wrapping up January: What’s new in the world of pigs? Several pig breeding companies were active in the 1st month of 2018 – with rebranding and ambitious orders from...
Piglet castration may be avoided by gene editing The long road to avoid castration appears to have got another turn. 2 US companies have teamed up to jointly...
Wrapping up December: What’s new in the world of pigs? Business-wise, the last month of 2017 brought another major take-over in the agribusiness as feed additives...
The future of swine breeding This month, Pig Progress featured a great farm visit on a 9-level pig breeding facility in China. Pig Progress...
Q1 2018: Pig world, fasten your seatbelts There might be rough times ahead in terms of global pig prices, according to pig market expert Dr John Strak. In...
Q4 2017: Will 2018 bring optimism or pessimism? With the 4th quarter of 2017 just having drawn to an end, and with the new year having just arrived, it’s time...
Take a look inside 3 Chinese pig farms In Asia especially, Pig Progress travelled around to inform readers about the latest developments on pig farms....
Blog: The Five Freedoms – outdated and simply wrong I have not heard anyone criticise the Five Freedoms. They are so well known that they have their own Wikipedia...
BLOG: PEDV – A disaster waiting to happen in the EU Although we have African Swine Fever (ASF) knocking on our Eastern door, Europe needs to wake up to the...
BLOG: Antimicrobial use monitoring – what is the best... Following on from my last weblog, how should we move forward with monitoring of antimicrobial use in pigs in the...
Nutrition Questions Nutrition is expensive, and it will remain so for a long time, especially while biofuels continue to compete...
Farrowing crates – freedom farrowing – are we getting there? I have personally been sceptical about the banning of farrowing crates to allow the sow her natural nesting...
France, pigs and 2013 Walking around at the annual livestock show SPACE in Rennes, I wondered how France is doing with regard to the...
Misinterpretations in conventional media In early September I am speaking about the role of the media with regard to Precision Livestock Farming in the...
Over-formulation Every week, I receive at least one request to review a set of diets. Sometimes for sows, sometimes for growers,...
Creep-Feeding and Genetics In the last couple years, I have observed a resurgence in creep feeding. Not only in smaller, family type...
Medicated feed premixes – is carryover in feed really a... It was reported last week that the Dutch are planning to ban the use of medicated feed premixes in 2011 from...
Feeding weaned sows One of the least discussed topics in pig nutrition is how to feed the sow after piglets are weaned and until she...
Feeder settings I've been working in Central Europe recently and while everyone seems happily fitted up with competition or...
Colostrum, cameras and construction in Pig Progress 9 The 9th magazine edition of Pig Progress is available for readers to access.
Colostrum: Do sows achieve full potential? Sows are exceptionally well equipped for their task: to provide colostrum and milk to their piglets.
How to train boars? On-farm boar manual Danish pig breeding company DanBred recently published a new manual on how to make a success of having their...
A new boar pheromone to mitigate infertility Seasonal infertility can have a serious impact on the performance of a breeding unit. There are ways to overcome...
A special marriage to a breeding company In 2017, Schwartz Farms in Missouri, USA, teamed up with genetics company Choice to become part of its breeding...
Social pigs: A new dimension to pig genetics A pioneering study by the Danish Pig Research Centre has confirmed pig sociability as a possible relevant trait...
How to better manage a gestation unit How to make sure that all aspects of breeding are performed at an optimal level. Danish breeding company DanBred...
By keeping FMD out, Korea’s swine sector ‘welcomed’ ileitis Foot-and-Mouth Disease rampaged through South Korea’s swine industry in 2010 and 2011. Since then, the country’s...
A new adventure for a British nucleus Nucleus Shute farm, located in Cornwall, UK, recently made a remarkable switch: it became the first breeder of...
A sandy pig farm at the shores of the Yangtze China, with half of all the global pig population within its borders, has an abundance of different pig holding...
Gene editing ruling harms EU pig breeding After postponing several times, the European Court of Justice decided last July that the gene editing technique...
Better sow performance with the right minerals Times are long gone when supplying minerals to pigs was a matter of one-size-fits-all. Sows have a different...
DanBred CEO: "Pig farms grow and so will we" In terms of organisation, the Danish pig breeding sector is reinventing itself. Thomas Muurmann Henriksen is CEO...
Can gene editing solve the castration issue? Gene editing, a relatively new technology, is being introduced commercially. Recently, a the company...
12 questions to ask to avoid sow mortality Mortality of sows has become a hot topic in the US swine industry recently. Knowing what causes the problem is...
Insemination in group housing – it works Pig producer Tim Kropp in Diepenau, Germany, chose to inseminate his sows without actually having them in sow...
Photo report: Thai farm - breeding pigs for Asia The Thai Limpaiboon Farm focuses at breeding resistant, uniform animals, fit for the markets in South East Asia....
Photo report: Dan Yu Breeding Farm, China The Danish pig industry is rapidly building up its presence on the shores of China. In recent years, a breeding...
PHOTO REPORT: Krannestrup Farm, Denmark Danish pork producer Niels Aage Arve at Krannestrup Farm is happy to have new systems tested at his modern...
FARM VISIT: Fair Oaks Farms, Indiana, USA It’s a commonly heard remark: The general public have no clue what goes on inside a pig farm. Indiana’s Fair...
TDM FARMS: North Carolina, United States With about 1 million breeding animals, North Carolina is the United States' second-largest swine state, despite...
SMEENK FARM: The Netherlands Within less than two years, all breeding farms in the European Union have to keep their gestating sows in group...
AGFEED, China, part III: Jiangxi Hypor Agfeed Breeding... The Chinese economy is booming and so is its pig industry. In various locations all over the country,...
AGFEED, China, part II: Jiangxi Lushan Breeder Pig Farm... The Chinese economy is booming and so is its pig industry. In various locations all over the country,...
WOLTERS FARM: The Netherlands The 450 breeding sow farm of Wim and Gerjo Wolters is located near the village of Laren, in the eastern part of...