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...
ASF Vietnam: New Hope invests; rumours from North Korea While most of Asia is struggling to overcome the outbreaks of African Swine Fever, one of the largest Chinese...
Beet pulp can help reduce boar taint It is possible to reduce boar taint using nutritional measures – so much is clear at Vitelia, a...
Science-driven solutions for China’s swine industry As the largest pig producer and consumer in the world, China is facing increasing challenges in preventing and...
Irish pig industry facing difficult times The pig industry in Ireland may be relatively small in a European context, yet its problems are identical to...
Rabobank: Uncertainties threaten optimism in pork trade Uncertainty in global markets – due to disease risk, trade disputes, and feed availability – will create...
How much does it cost to have PRRS on a farm? A team of international researchers has teamed up to figure out what it costs on a farm level when the pig farm...
Saving costs and the environment by mixing pig diets By mixing feed phase rations for grow-finishing pigs, Canadian researchers have been able to reduce both feeding...
Converting pig carcasses into biogas UK scientists have found that bio-reduction through anaerobic digestion could provide a viable solution for...
Reducing costs with smaller corn particle size Grinding yellow dent corn to a finer particle size can help producers reduce feed costs by enable pigs to derive...
Animal protein sector to further consolidate European compound feed players have expanded geographically and the animal protein industry keeps on...
Rabobank: More competition in European pork industry Competitive power and market position are pivotal to success in the modern-day pig business in Europe, as...
Cargill posts heavy losses despite strong ag sector US agricultural giant, Cargill has reported a net loss of $51 million in the fiscal 2015 fourth quarter ended...
Better pig performance by improving management Pork producers can increase growth performance and reduce mortality by improving facilities and management...
Northern Ireland pig herd size sees increase December’s census by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland has reported a 9%...
Miratorg to replace imported equipment at pig farms Russian agricultural giant Miratorg will replace foreign equipment at pig farms with domestic produced...
Deep straw in pigs – when does it work? Pig management expert John Gadd became intrigued by a recent farm visit featuring a pig farm in Germany, keeping...
A big ‘THANKS’ to all the inspiring people in the pig sector In difficult times, what the swine business in Denmark and outside needs are people who choose to inspire....
Why you should benchmark your pig farm In this globalised world, information is available everywhere. On the web, there are lists of virtually...
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...
Immunity – some further thoughts At various moments, our pig management expert has touched on the topic of immunity and how proper pig house...
Continue what you are doing – just a little bit better While visiting many farms over the years, John Gadd has collected enormous piles of data about pig farms. Small...
Debate continues: EC's proposals on medicated animal feed The debate concerning the European Commission’s proposals regarding the Regulations on Medicated Feed continues...
BLOG: UK to monitor antibiotic usage – a simpler model... Several member states (MS) have already set up antibiotic usage monitoring systems on pig farms and the UK is...
What If? - Sow housing What if the entire pig industry in a given country was a single company? And what if all the retailers (grocery,...
Cost/ benefit analysis – Salmonella control in slaughter... EFSA have published an excellent analysis of the costs for reducing Salmonella in slaughter pigs and the...
Free-access 'lock-in' stalls vs group yards for pregnant... These comments follow on from Vincent ter Beek's blog last week on the subject. This made me look up the file...
Save 40% on your weaning to slaughter feed costs I have recently been studying what my best producers do compared to the average results I come across. The...
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...
FMD is back again in the UK - but is that all? Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) is back again in the UK, causing all sorts of problems regarding movement...
Poland's pig sector: Once thriving, now fragmented In the mid-1990s, Poland had over 22 million pigs within its borders. Ever since, however, the number has...
Nutritional value of fish silage in pigs By-catch fish and fish waste like heads and offal are usually disposed, resulting in pollution to the...
Protease: Ready for the post-antibiotic world Enzymes are usually classified by those substances they can split – therefore, proteases have the capacity of...
Low-cost diets with low excretion levels – it is possible Formulating pig diets is always a compromise. Do pig producers for example choose minimal feed costs or a diet...
Turning a great defence into an even better offence The concepts of offence and defence are commonly used in sport. Yet they’re also becoming more relevant to...
Colostrum (II): The immunogens Following on from his previous colostrum column, Pig Progress's expert, John Gadd explains more about hand...
Open air houses for German finisher pigs Idealism for more welfare and a better environment made the German family Ahrens-Westerlage invest in open air...
The future of feeding is already here Pig producers all over the world are facing hard times with difficulty making profit. However, there is reason...
Feed efficient pigs deal better with stress At Iowa State University, ongoing research has focused on selective breeding pigs with low residual feed intake....
Alternatives to South American soybeans Fly larvae, duckweed or soya from European soil – perhaps not the first things you think of as protein sources...
Colombia’s pig sector facing challenges The country’s pig industry is facing new challenges: diseases and imports. Colombia is dealing these issues...
German pig producers in limbo An official scientific advice has sent a shiver through Germany’s pig industry recently. The country would have...
Cherkizovo’s role in Russia’s self sufficiency Russian meat giant, Cherkizovo, recently completed a programme for developing its pork division, and it shows no...
JBS doubles earnings in 2014 Brazilian meatpacker JBS earned $650 million in 2014, despite a weak fourth quarter where earnings, at $197...
Chile’s pork engine is slowing down In the last decade, Chile’s pork industry has seen considerable growth in both production and exports. Recently,...
There is still a lot to learn about enzymes Phytase’s mode of action is well known, and still more applications are being discovered, including the use of...