How to Make Good Use of a Smartphone
Thome uses a Casio G’z One Commando model smartphone with Android apps. He did his homework to make sure the phone would be rugged and could stand up to the challenging and often dusty, dirty and wet conditions in barns and outdoors.
Tackling Smartphone Technology
More and more pork producers are turning to smartphones as a go-to tool within their operations. The dizzying array of applications, or “apps,” as they are commonly called, can seem a bit overwhelming.
Pit Foaming Continues To Perplex Researchers
Researchers from several Mid¬western universities have teamed up to investigate potential causes and, hopefully, solutions, to the perplexing and dangerous problem of foaming manure pits under swine buildings.
Urban Media Reports Abound on Antimicrobial Issue
Not surprisingly, consumer interest in food production has driven press coverage this week of the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decisions regarding antimicrobial use in livestock production. The FDA issued three documents guiding veterinarians, farmers and animal producers on the judicious use of medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals by eliminating production uses and targeting antimicrobial use to only address diseases and health problems. A variety of experts weighed in on both sides of this issue in stories across the nation.
NPPC Responds to FDA Antibiotic Stance
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) issued a news release this week responding to the publication of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) documents in the Federal Register pertaining to the reduction of antimicrobial use for food-producing animals. Under the new, voluntary initiative, certain antibiotics would not be used for production purposes, such as to enhance growth or improve feed efficiency in an animal. These antibiotics would still be available to prevent, control or treat illnesses in food-producing animals under veterinary supervision. A three year “phase-in period” would elapse before these changes become effective. The dates of the phase-in period are currently unspecified.
Co-Product Antibiotic Levels Nearly Nil
Livestock producers and their nutritionists have been wondering whether antibiotic residues from the ethanol fermentation process might linger in the distiller's co-products used in livestock diets.
Formulating Diets For Carcass Quality
Feeding a diet with high levels of Distiller's Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) can provide significant economic benefits for pork producers. It also can result in a negative impact on carcass fat quality as measured by iodine value. Strategies such as withdrawing DDGS prior to harvest, formulating diets based on iodine level targets and possibly feeding reduced-oil DDGS may help improve carcass fat quality.
Manure Pit Foaming Remains a Perplexing Problem
Researchers throughout the Midwest continue to search for definitive causes and solutions to the challenge of dangerous and potentially explosive foaming manure pits under swine buildings. Preliminary research from the University of Minnesota indicates pit foam may be reduced by adding monensin sodium, sold by Elanco as Rumensin 90, directly to the manure pit.
Iowa Manure Applicator Certification Training Dates Set
A list of 2012 Manure Applicator Certification Training dates is available for Iowa livestock producers and manure management professionals. Producers with more than 500 animal units in confinement must meet manure applicator certification requirements to land-apply manure coming from these facilities in Iowa
Utilizing Flare Gas to Produce Nitrogen Fertilizer
Red River Farm Network News reports that North Dakota State University agricultural economists are partnering with the University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental Research Center to study the possibility of utilizing flare gas from the Bakken oil field
Regional Studies Assess U.S. Carbon Storage
The Department of the Interior recently released the first in a series of regional studies measuring the amount of carbon stored in U.S. ecosystems. Published by Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the study examines the current and projected future carbon storage in the Great Plains region as part of a nationwide assessment
