As we start our third year of writing articles for the Weekly Preview, we thought it would be interesting to look at the production trends over the last four years....More
Female parity effects on weaned pig averages focusing on several production parameters - weaning age, pigs weaned/female farrowed, female death loss percentage, female culling percentage, sow herd parity structure and farm size....More
What is happening to the U.S. breeding herd? That is a frequently asked question these days. USDA will begin surveying producers this week for the December Hogs and Pigs report, which will be published on Dec. 23...More
Smithfield Foods has turned down a demand from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to review company records on plans to eliminate gestation crates...More
Canada's Oct. 1 quarterly Hog Statistics report revealed a swine breeding herd that was larger than one year earlier for the first time since April 2005. Canada's herd of 1.3083 million head was 0.1% larger than last year on Oct.1...More
When an industry stalwart announces retirement, I sit up and take notice.
Such was the case when George Foxcroft, reproductive biologist at the University of Alberta, presented his keynote address at the Al Leman Swine Conference recently...More
Lantz Enterprises’ farm manager Doug Siebenahler will never forget the PRRS outbreak of 2007. Two strains of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) struck with a vengeance...More
In this follow-up to our last column, "The Effect of Parity on Weaned Pig Average," we will again use the 94 farms selected from the Swine Management Services database....More
Gary C. Althouse, DVM, professor and chair of the Department of Clinical Studies at University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center has recently been named to the Marion Dilley and David George Jones Endowed Chair in Animal Reproduction...More
In recent years, the goal of many sow units has been to achieve the elusive 30 pigs/sow/year (P/S/Y) production goal. Several units have already achieved this goal, and an elite few North American producers have surpassed the 30-pig mark...More
The number of pigs a sow can produce annually continues to be a popular measure of production efficiency. The common metric used to compile sow productivity level is the well-recognized pigs/sow/year...More
Selection is the most powerful tool in making permanent genetic improvement in swine. There have been no long-term selection studies targeting the subject of this Blueprint...More
A variety of sow software management programs are used to estimate the genetic parameters and breeding values across herds, so a close examination of the traits used and the emphasis on each trait is warranted...More
For the next few articles, we are going to be using 94 farms selected from the farms that Swine Management Services consults with on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis....More
Even as a young boy, Terry Hauder, part owner and manager of the Hauder-Martin PC breed-to-wean facilities near Milford, NE, had a passion for pigs. “When we came home from vacation, the first thing I would do is run out to check the pigs in the barns”...More
Gary Althouse, DVM, professor and chair of Department of Clinical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center, recently returned from Bonn, Germany, where he was invited to speak at the 7th International Conference on Boar Semen Preservation...More
Understanding and solving lameness in pigs could save producers $23 million a year.
Anna Johnson, an Iowa State University animal scientist, will be leading a research project to understand lameness in pigs and provide solutions to producers...More
Leading speakers from across the United States and the world will address attendees at the first International Conference on Feed Efficiency in Swine, Nov. 8-9, 2011 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, NE...More
