Research science

SwineCast 1036 Show Notes:

• This episode by PIC shares important management best practices on managing ventilation for maximum performance. We’ve assembled for this timely topic Lance Barton (Belstra Milling Director of Wean to Finish and Genetic Services), Fernando Gomez (PIC Wean to Finish Specialist), and Nat Stas (PIC Wean to Finish Tech Service Team member).
• Key take aways: 1) Periodic ventilation monitoring and maintenance is a must, 2) Train people on the specific equipment, troubleshooting skills, and the role ventilation plays in managing animal health, and 3) Develop a mindset that ventilation is not just airflow or temperature or equipment, but a combination of all these factors.

Improving Sow Survivability Dr. Jason Ross, Iowa State University, presents a look at sow mortality, especially due to prolapses. This is an ongoing research project that has collected raw data from over 100 farms. One of the key observations is that there is significant variation across farms. Follow-on activity includes projects at high & low incidence farms plus designing & employing on farm mitigation studies [video].

SwineCast 1035 Show Notes:

• In this second of a two part episode of At The Meeting Honoring Dr. Bob Morrison, we continue our conversation on African Swine Fever or ASF.
• Dr. Montse Torremorell joins Dr. Tom Wetzel and Dr. Gordon Spronk with special guest Brad Heron, Director of Operations of Cherkizovo (pronounced "Chair-Kee-Zi-Vo") in Russia. Brad offers a personal, boots on the ground perspective on ASF.
• Brad shares several stories of how ASF was discovered and handled on the Russian farms he helps run. The early disease indicators were confusing due to other animal diseases also running its course so ASF was not discovered as early as they had thought they would.
• Brad highlights what happened to the operations when ASF was discovered, actions they had to take, and the Russian regulations they had to work with requiring depopulations within a five mile radius.
• Brad also summarizes the biosecurity changes they made to defend against ASF, including transportation tracking, multiple testing points through out the operations, and physical farm and people security improvements.
• The number one key take away from Brad: Have good testing; if you don't test, you don't have the ability discover outbreaks.

SwineCast 1034 Show Notes:

• In this first of a two part episode of At The Meeting Honoring Dr. Bob Morrison, we share a conversation on African Swine Fever or ASF.
• Dr. Montse Torremorell joins Dr. Tom Wetzel and Dr. Gordon Spronk with special guest Dr. Liz Wagstrom, Chief Veterinarian for the National Pork Producers Council, to talk about ASF and how it is the most feared disease in pigs in the world.
• Take away: 1) Having ASF in the United States would impact trade 2) ASF is a hardy virus (hard to eradicate and lives in extreme conditions), and 3) there is no vaccine.
• The U.S. pork industry is taking action now by making sure laboratory capacity is up to date, looking at identifying and categorizing higher risk transmission paths plus their mitigation plans, and improving the approach to surveillance and risk planning and implementation.

The Impact of Vitamins on Swine Production Dr. Casey Bradley, Dr. Ken Stalder, Dr. Joseph Hahn, and Dr. Jonathan Bergstrom each share insights on the impacts of vitamins on swine production. Each presenter brings their specialty and research to the conversations to help producers improve their understanding of sow health and sow productivity [video].

Euthanasia Research and Resources Ms. Caitlyn Mullins, North Carolina State University, shares research on approaches on diagnosing pigs and understanding the decisions on animal recovery or euthanasia. Ms. Mullins also talks about consumer perceptions of sick animals and how euthanasia plays a part [video].

SwineCast 1033 Show Notes:

• In this episode of At the Meeting honoring Dr. Bob Morrison, we share a conversation on Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) breaks in the summer. Dr. Montse Torremorell joins Dr. Gordon Spronk and Dr. Tom Wetzel with special guests Dr. Cesar Corzo and Dr. Juan Sanhueza.
• The group talks about the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Program and what data they have been collecting and analyzing. One of the questions they are now able to address is if there are more new PRRS breaks this summer compared to other summers. One of the observations is that incidence of summer breaks is about 3% of farms, which is about 250,000 sows.
• Take away: 1) The industry should be looking at breaks all year long (not just in the fall / winter months) and 2) operations should continue practice disease prevention and spreading with regular biosecurity processes.

Nutribiosis to Address Pig Production Challenges Mr. Aart Mateboer, DuPont Business Unit Director, Animal Nutrition, and Dr. Milan Hruby, DuPont Global Senior Application Manager, share research on nutribiosis to address pig production challenges. The focus of the presentations is to show information on how good intestinal health helps optimal swine performance [video].