In last week’s article (Weekly Preview, June, 3, 2011), we took a closer look at the effect of seasonal infertility on farrowing rate, repeat services, wean-to-first service interval and female death loss....More
This time next year, South Dakota State University (SDSU) officials hope construction of new swine teaching and research facilities is well underway on the north side of the school’s Brookings campus...More
As the weather warms up, you need to make sure your breeding crew adjusts weekly or batch group breeding targets to allow for a drop in farrowing rate of females bred during the summer breeding season. Since we do analysis for a large number of sow ......More
The first was the family-owned and operated Ivey Spring Creek Farm (ISCF) near Goldsboro, NC, which began modestly in 1979, with select purebred Chester White and Spotted bloodlines that grew to 250 sows with the help of a low-interest, Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) loan during the Carter administration...More
In his senior year of high school, Bill Flowers’ parents gave him money to buy a class ring. He spent the money on a pair of bred gilts — a choice that may have sealed his destiny to spend his life’s work in the swine industry...More
Over the last several years, the total number of pigs born per sow has increased and piglet survival (preweaning death loss + stillborn loss) has declined. This raises the important question, “Are farms weaning more pigs per litter or just disposing of more dead pigs?...More
Vaccine selection begins and ends with a strong relationship with your veterinarian. Building a herd health program without communication with your veterinarian is like swimming in open water on a cloudy day with no idea which direction the shoreline is...More
There are several agents, both viral and bacterial, with the potential to cause disease within swine herds. It is important to discuss with your veterinarian which pose risks to your herd in order to develop an effective herd acclimation and stabilization program...More
A well-developed immune system is essential for healthy pigs. Even a so-called perfect immune system teamed with the “best vaccine” won’t protect all the pigs in the herd. There will always be susceptible pigs...More
Traditional genetic approaches have been used effectively in the swine industry to enhance feed efficiency, carcass leanness and reproductive traits. In the last decade, swine genome research has expanded from identifying genes associated with production and reproduction traits to swine health, well-being and disease-resistance traits...More
In June, about 235 genetically selected hogs will be flown from Chicago to South Korea to start rebuilding the swine herd there that has been decimated by foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)...More
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved IMPROVEST (gonadotropin releasing factor-diptheria toxoid conjugate), an option for farmers to use for safe and effective castration and to reduce boar taint in intact male pigs intended for pork...More
In recent months, we have been getting questions on the size of farms as it relates to performance. Back in September 2009, we broke the size of farms into four groups:...More
Maintaining the ability to strategically use antimicrobials and more complex nursery diets to support the health and wellness of pigs should not be taken lightly...More
As we continue to look at the importance of finding sows that recycle after breeding and their impact on subsequent farrowing rate, we will continue to use a subset of 22 farms....More
Data from 22 farms in the Swine Management Services (SMS) database was used for this article. We used two specialized reports developed by SMS called the In-Depth Breeding Analysis Report and Breeding Technician Report to analyze the farms. These ......More
As production costs climb higher, pork producers need to closely evaluate all phases of production to ensure they are achieving optimum efficiency throughout their operations...More
We selected 22 farms from Swine Management Services database that recorded the technician responsible for inseminating each breeding female, the weekday and time of day the insemination occurred (military time, hour 01:00 to 24:00)....More
Registration is open for the first-ever Swine Webinar Series sponsored by the University of Illinois (U of I) College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, U of I Extension, the Illinois Pork Producers Association and the Pork Checkoff...More
The distance education program SowBridge begins its fourth year in March 2011, and suggestions from subscribers have improved the program since its inception...More
Billed as “the world’s leading exhibition for professional livestock management,” EuroTier 2010 was staged at the 45-acre exhibition grounds in Hanover, Germany on Nov. 13-16, 2010...More
A typical day for Julia and Dirk Tewes begins well before sunrise as they rustle their four young children out of bed and send them off to school. Nestled nearby is a 100-sow farm on the edge of the small village of Zelle, Germany...More
