Across the world the population continues to grow, adding an average of 78 million people per year.  And, with that growth, so does the demand for more food. Protein demand is also on the rise as middle class is projected to double in size by 2030 to 4.9 billion, reports Brett Stuart, president of Global AgriTrends. 

And, to meet those increasing demands, producing heavier hogs becomes even more critical. Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) believes that healthier pigs are heavier pigs. Disease is the greatest destroyer of profitability in pig production. It affects average daily gain, feed conversion, meat quality and death loss. According to ag economist, Dennis DiPietre, preventing disease has been shown to yield higher profits than treating outbreaks after they occur.

Variation in the growth rates of animals, DiPietre believes, can cause significant negative consequences to profitability. Today, swine diseases are still plaguing the industry, and are costing the industry billions of dollars. For example, hidden profit robbers like ileitis cost swine producers more than $100 million each year.1 And, respiratory diseases like porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) cost the industry more than $664 million each year.2 Protecting pigs from these economically-draining diseases can be a daunting task, especially if you have to do it alone.

No one wants to lose money on their pigs. You care about maximizing performance, and we want to help by uniting the swine industry for a single purpose: to advance pig health and performance for optimized pork production. With the launch of a new health platform: Start Healthy, End Strong, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) has pledged to help farmers succeed in preventing swine diseases, and improving performance, by providing the right tools for a healthy start.

“Start Healthy, End Strong is our commitment to pigs, our commitment to the veterinarians, and our commitment to producers,” says Dr. Kate Christmas, director of swine professional services for BIVI. “And, we think that if we can partner with them in getting pigs off to that healthy start, then everybody wins in the end.”

Start Healthy, End Strong is more than a platform for BIVI. It is our commitment to swine producers to help them grow a healthier pig through disease prevention, biosecurity, sanitation, proper nutrition and a clean environment.

Through Start Healthy, End Strong, BIVI is committed to bring the swine industry innovative services and resources like: 

“Preventing disease is the single most important thing a producer can do to create long-term, low-variance, higher than industry average profitability.” DiPietre shares. BIVI is committed to partnering with our customers to achieve the end goal – delivering healthy, uniform pigs.

Click here to watch the Start Healthy, End Strong video. For more information on the swine products offered by Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., visit www.bi-vetmedica/com/species/swine.html.

References:

1 McOrist S. Defining the full costs of endemic porcine proliferative enteropathy. Vet J 2005;170(1):8–9.

2 Holtkamp DJ, Kliebenstein JB, Neumann EJ, et al., “Assessment of the economic impact of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus on United States pork producers.” J Swine Health Prod. 2013;21(2):72-84.

©2016 Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc.