The National Pork Board has funded five projects on alternatives to subtherapeutic use of antibiotics in weaned pigs.
The five projects and main researchers are:
Effect of probiotics in the health and performance of nursery pigs raised in conventional or antibiotic/growth promoter-free farms, Robert Morrison, DVM, University of Minnesota;
On-farm evaluation of diet acidification, James Pettigrew, University of Illinois;
Impact of a pig-derived competitive exclusion culture as an alternative to antibiotics to control colibacillosis, Roger Harvey, Agriculture Department, Agricultural Research Service;
Inoculation of bacterial pathogens to control disease, Carlos Pijoan, DVM, University of Minnesota; and
Effect of probiotic lactic acid bacteria on health, growth and survival, Lucy Ward, The Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.
"The National Pork Board reviewed 20 proposals related to antibiotic alternatives," explains Jill Appell, chair of the Pork Checkoff Pork Safety Committee and an Altona, IL, pork producer. Projects funded "will ideally help all producers, from large-scale to organic and natural production systems, stay ahead of the curve to produce a safe, quality pork product," she adds.
