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Let's hope the affidavits filed in other cases are included so that the U.S. Supreme Court justices and law clerks can see the costs that California's rule will impose. The case involving California's Proposition 12 was distributed for conference eight times in the U.S. Supreme Court! As has been said before, if California wins this case, it means that California can dictate the practices of all American farmers and overseas farmers that want to sell into California with its population of approximately 37 million. [Extracted from the article]

The additional burden of sow mortality on the sow farm production team is tremendous and the substantial investment in the sow is lost with a sudden sow death or removal. We are focused on peri-parturient health because farrowing is the time when mortality is highest in sows - more than 25% of mortality is at farrowing - and when the physiological impact of prolificacy is most evident. When well-trained and experienced sow farm managers struggle with the incidence of prolapses and identify most mortality cases as "unknown", we need to know more about the sow. [Extracted from the article]

In the last nine years that I have been with MetaFarms, a question that I get asked the most often from sow farm producers is, "Looking at my data, how can I get better?" From these 10 sow farms, data was analyzed for new gilts arrived between January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2022, which consisted of nearly 40,000 gilts. [Extracted from the article]

At least on Tosh facilities, Krantz observes that around 60-70% of their total pig mortality occurs in the first 48 hours of a pig's life. In fact, Krantz gives the example of farms he's seen that have one pet sow, and though the animal isn't typically the most productive member of the herd, the connection employees form with the sow and, subsequently, animal health as they ask their doctors about her needs can create well-informed, well-rounded teams in barns. In the process of tackling mortality rates in the pork industry, there are plenty of places one can look, but infancy is an especially critical time to ensure the health of a pig. [Extracted from the article]

New Jersey state lawmakers have passed a bill that prohibits the confinement of breeding pigs and calves raised for veal in a manner that restricts movement or provides inadequate space. The bill also revises the definition of a "farm owner or operator" to any person who owns or "controls the operations" of a farm in the state. [Extracted from the article]

Such losses could be attributed to the opportunity cost of weaned pig losses, loss of culled sows or sow replacement in the production system. Sow mortality has been a major rising concern for the swine industry, gathering attention from producers, researchers and industry experts. The overall incidence of POP was 7.1% for dead and culled sows and was defined as the presence of vaginal, uterine or rectal prolapse or any combination present since it was hard to distinguish between the three conditions for a farm employee. [Extracted from the article]

For more information about establishing a vaccination program tailored to the needs of your breeding herd with REPROCYC PARVOFLEX, contact your Boehringer Ingelheim representative. Porcine parvovirus (PPV), when present in breeding herds, can cause reproductive disease that potentially results in reproductive failure, costing producers unrealized potential. Many PPV vaccines available to swine producers today have not been proven safe for vaccination of pregnant sows. SP 1-2 sp This limits the flexibility of vaccination protocols that can be used in breeding herds. [Extracted from the article]

Graph In the US, two forms of organic chromium, chromium tripicolinate (AAFCO 57.155) and chromium propionate (AAFCO 57.166), are approved to supply 200 ppb of chromium to swine diets. Authored by Tom Weber Ph.D. of Kent Nutrition Group A nutritional solution that has been shown to increase sow productivity is the supplementation of sow diets with the trace mineral chromium in the form of chromium tripicolinate. [Extracted from the article]

In mid-April, the first animals arrived at the new Topigs Norsvin nucleus farm Innova Canada. The new nucleus farm Innova Canada represents an important step in the ongoing development of Topigs Norsvin. [Extracted from the article]

Scientific studies have reported decreased sow longevity and piglet productivity for both over and under conditioned sows, highlighting the long-term costs of improper nutrition. Feed is a significant and continuous cost in swine production. This increased precision could reduce feed costs, and moreover, improve the ability of caretakers to adjust feed allotments and sow body condition. [Extracted from the article]

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, representing Texas' 16th Congressional District, introduced H.R. 2939, otherwise known as the Pigs in Gestation Stalls Act of 2023 (PIGS Act). As U.S. pork producers patiently await the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on whether California's Proposition 12 should be allowed to go into effect, a bill that would permanently ban the confinement of pregnant sows was introduced last week in the House of Representatives. [Extracted from the article]

When a gilt or sow is identified as an at-risk animal, and showing signs of going off feed or water or another complication, consider letting her out of her crate and walking her around the farrowing room. Increasing piglet survivability and combating sow and gilt mortality requires consistent and systematic production team processes. There are a number of strategies that can also help the farrowing team focus on acclimating gilts to their new environment and getting them comfortable so they don't have added stressors during their first farrowing. [Extracted from the article]

Sows fed high zinc throughout gestation (Breed-to-Farrow) had an increased percentage of pigs born alive compared to sows fed the Day 110-to-Farrow topdress or the Control diet (Figure 1). Effects of supplementing late-gestation sow diets with zinc on preweaning mortality of pigs under commercial rearing conditions. [Extracted from the article]

To put that into a real-life example, for a 2,000 head sow farm that produces at the top 10% average of 31.1 PWMFY, that farm will produce 62,200 pigs on an annual basis. Graph B Farrowing performance comparison b Farrowing barn performance is the catalyst to the number of pigs produced for the farm. In the calendar year 2022, the number of sow farms was over 410 which consisted of a total mated inventory over 1,100,000 animals with an average farm size of 2,683. [Extracted from the article]

However, as it relates to placing sows in group-housed gestation, once a gilt reaches the sow farm, there is no difference in survival between the scores within traits. Following structural conformation evaluation and formal gilt selection, replacement gilts followed the normal production flow through the gilt development unit and ultimately to their assigned sow farm. Sow longevity continues to be of concern for the United States sow herd and producers continue to seek solutions. [Extracted from the article]

The inclusion of soluble fiber in late gestating sow diets shows the potential to stimulate gut motility, ultimately reducing constipation which could influence farrowing performance metrics positively. This relationship between water and the physicochemical properties of soluble fiber may help explain the alleviation of constipation in sows fed with high levels of dietary fiber. [Extracted from the article]

Expression of genes involved in growth rate (IGF-1), reproductive development (ER-alpha and TAC3), and the immune response (TLR-4 and TLR-5) were determined. The high expression of these genes at estrus supports distinct alterations in vaginal epithelia in association with gilt reproductive readiness. Retaining females within a breeding herd continues to be a challenge for producers, with nearly 3 million breeding females being removed from the herd each year due to reproductive failure. [Extracted from the article]

Examining the gait of a sow can still predict real problems, but sows are also capable of hiding their lameness or showing different levels of lameness over time. Rather than asking how the sow walks to the farrowing stall, the question is really whether the sow in the farrowing stall has no inhibition to get up and down easily to eat, drink and nourish her litter. When you think about a sow with lameness, what image leaps to your mind?. [Extracted from the article]

The reduction comes after low hog and pork prices in 2022 forced many producers to reduce their sow inventories in 2022, although the inventory did rebound late in the year due to a recovery in hog prices. Chinese hog production in 2023 is forecast to decline 2% to 700 million head due to a lower, on average, sow inventory in 2022 compared to 2021, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) reported in a new Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report. [Extracted from the article]

Sows with perineal swelling died due to lameness (two sows), prolapse (eight sows) and unknown (four sows). Sow death loss continues to be an animal well-being, economic and sustainability challenge for pig farmers. Yes, abnormalities were more likely (P Results from the current study challenge the author's paradigm that poor stockmanship and structural conformation are largely related to the sow U.S. sow mortality dilemma. [Extracted from the article]

A swine nutritionist with Carthage Veterinary Service, Neill recently spoke about the importance of sow lactation feed intake during the 2023 Banff Pork Seminar. Great nursery pig performance begins at the sow farm, more specifically at the mammary line, says Casey Neill. [Extracted from the article]

b Pen gestation is just the term used to describe the loose housing of sows. B An electronic feeding system is an efficient way to feed sows in pen gestation. b Gone are the days of pouring feed out and hoping everyone gets their share. [Extracted from the article]

Prop 12 and the possible ripple effect could paint an entirely different view of the hog production landscape. Under Prop 12 standards, producers will need to conform or have their pork products prohibited from being sold to the nearly 40 million residents of California, a market that consumes about 15% of U.S. pork production. [Extracted from the article]

But in reality, the company's "group housing" keeps pigs locked in gestation crates for a significant part of their lives", says Kitty Block, HSUS president and CEO. Smithfield Foods was one of the first major pork retailers to promise a phase out of gestation crates for its sow herd. [Extracted from the article]

Dr. Gilster liked to say that facilities and barns were not always the most important aspects when it came to hog production. That said, although we used separate boots for the hog barn, our idea of biosecurity for the hogs from farrowing through finishing was not that tight. Along with hundreds of animal science students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I had Dr. Keith Gilster as my instructor for Animal Science 101 as a freshman at UNL in the early 1980s. [Extracted from the article]

Dr. Gilster liked to say that facilities and barns were not always the most important aspects when it came to hog production. Along with hundreds of animal science students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I had Dr. Keith Gilster as my instructor for Animal Science 101 as a freshman at UNL in the early 1980s. That said, although we used separate boots for the hog barn, our idea of biosecurity for the hogs from farrowing through finishing was not that tight. [Extracted from the article]

Along with hundreds of animal science students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I had Dr. Keith Gilster as my instructor for Animal Science 101 as a freshman at UNL in the early 1980s. That said, although we used separate boots for the hog barn, our idea of biosecurity for the hogs from farrowing through finishing was not that tight. Dr. Gilster liked to say that facilities and barns were not always the most important aspects when it came to hog production. [Extracted from the article]

That said, although we used separate boots for the hog barn, our idea of biosecurity for the hogs from farrowing through finishing was not that tight. Dr. Gilster liked to say that facilities and barns were not always the most important aspects when it came to hog production. Along with hundreds of animal science students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I had Dr. Keith Gilster as my instructor for Animal Science 101 as a freshman at UNL in the early 1980s. [Extracted from the article]

The added costs of 20% more space for group-housed sows destined for California, plus the costs of segregation, product tracing and new labeling, will cause the cost of regulated pork products in California to rise by 25 cents per pound, the economists estimate. California's state agriculture agency is throwing cold water on talk of a two-year delay in implementation of Proposition 12, an animal-confinement measure passed by voters in 2018, as a new university study predicts that pork prices will rise as a result of the law. [Extracted from the article]

Furthermore, when gilts were exposed to Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, there were higher concentrations of Mycoplasma sp. in the blood and the colostrum. Gilts had elevated levels of Lactobacillus sp. (species) in the colostrum while sows had elevated levels of Clostridium sensu stricto 1 sp. Graph Researchers are continuing to evaluate the different microbial populations between the gilt and sow to determine how to improve gilt offspring liveability. [Extracted from the article]

Whenever there is a significant change to diet composition or ingredient sources, feeder boxes should be recalibrated to validate that sows receive an amount of feed that is expected based on feeder settings", Holen said. With new-crop corn entering sow rations, or really when any change is made to sow diets, Holen said it is a good time to recalibrate feeder settings within the gestation barn. [Extracted from the article]

Because AA levels above those required for maximum growth improve metabolic status, it was hypothesized that current AA utilization assumptions were incomplete. Based on this hierarchical model of nutrient use, it has been deemed excessive to supply more AA than is required for maximum animal growth, and thus the linear-plateau mathematical model has been deemed adequate for AA requirement estimation (Fig. [Extracted from the article]

The annual growth rate in pigs per litter was 0.105 pigs or 1.1% per year. Key performance metrics for swine production include feed conversion, litters per sow per year, pigs per litter, and pounds of pork produced per sow per year. To provide some perspective on the importance of production performance and market weights, we will contrast the growth rates in sows farrowed, pig crop, and swine production in pounds (USDA-NASS). [Extracted from the article]

Graph Associations between farm recorded mortality codes with the sow body condition caliper are shown in Figure 3. Females were evaluated at day 95 of gestation for body condition using the Knauer sow body condition caliper (18 = "BCS 5"). [Extracted from the article]

A new sow complex is now under construction featuring the first prefabricated steel swine barns in the United States. Chris Schmitz, director of construction services for Ag Property Solutions, said APS discussed the idea of a wood alternative swine structure with Pipestone Management for several years. [Extracted from the article]

Cloudfarms, a subsidiary of BASF SE, and JBS Live Pork, a subsidiary of JBS USA and one of the largest pork producers in North America, have started a collaboration to further advance production data management at sow operations in the United States. JBS has already set up Cloudfarms' Swine Data Management System at their 90 U.S. sow farms. [Extracted from the article]

"Improved sow lifetime productivity is just one aspect of creating a more sustainable swine industry", said Abe Huisman, director of research and development for Hypor. Hypor and the University of Alberta have received a grant from Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada to identify and study new approaches for the improvement of sow lifetime productivity. [Extracted from the article]

Danish firm, dol-sensors, has developed a camera for measuring pig weight with the use of 3D technology. "Our team have developed the camera to fit many different farm layouts, and with the processing power of the iDOL 65 camera it is possible to improve and add even more features to the camera. [Extracted from the article]

The USDA's Economic Research Service recently released a comprehensive report, detailing all of the state farm animal welfare policies, the extent of their implementation and the challenges these policies have faced. In 2002, Florida became the first state to pass a farm welfare policy addressing the use of gestation crates or stalls in pork production within the state's production. [Extracted from the article]

The United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on Dec. 1, 2022 was 73.119 million head, down 1% from last quarter and 2% from the Dec. 1, 2021 report, according to the latest Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report published Friday by the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. All inventory and pig crop estimates for December 2020 through September 2022 were reviewed using final pig crop, official slaughter, death loss and updated import and export data. [Extracted from the article]

This article presents information on a study on the impact of gestational heat stress on the pregnant gilt or sow and its unborn offspring. It discusses the economic losses associated with gestational heat stress, the methods used in the study, the length of gestation and weight gain during gestation, and milk production by gilts.

This article provides information on phase feeding in managing swine reproduction cycle. It discusses the challenges posed by the breeding herd and customizing feed, the importance of meeting the animal's nutrient needs in phase feeding, and the purpose of feeding sows in both gestation and lactation.

This article focuses on the use of reproductive management programs to improve a sow's lifetime productivity. It discusses the neonatal management of the litter in which future replacement gilts are born, handling of the mature gilt from the time she arrives until she is bred and enters production on commercial farms, and pre-weaning growth.

This article offers information on the key components of a commercial off-site gilt development unit that is designed to meet the target of identifying gilts as "select" and eligible for breeding. It discusses reasons for non-selection for entry to the GDU, sow management on delivery, and GDU performance and retention.

The article reports on how to improve sow lactation performance. It informs that factors affecting nutrient requirements include stage of lactation that determines the nutrient requirements of sows during lactation; litter size factors that drives milk production in the sow; and energy available from feed intake and mobilization of body reserves is used for growth and maintenance of the sow and for producing milk.

Feral pigs cost the agriculture industry at least $1.5 billion in damage, disease and control costs around the United States annually, running rampant on large swaths of grazing lands. When young pigs make up the majority of a population, diseases transmit among individuals more efficiently because those young pigs are more likely to become infected than older individuals", Wisely said. [Extracted from the article]

Other presentations during the JEV symposium addressed U.S. JEV preparedness, including potential for importation and spread, federal strategy, one health point of view, as well as information on domestic hosts. The 2022 Japanese encephalitis virus outbreak in Australia continues to be at the forefront of producers' minds there and attracts attention from around the world. [Extracted from the article]

The article reports the pork industry opinion on the Constitution's dormant Commerce Clause which does not allow states to enact laws and economic impact on other states. It discusses that state-level mandates creating a patchwork of rules that restrict cattle producers' ability to conduct business across state lines.

Sow mortality has been a growing concern over the past decade in different countries and it has been increasing on many swine farms and production systems. This study also documented the negative impact of the gestation type on sow mortality and showed that whole-herd medication can reduce sow mortality. [Extracted from the article]

However, fiber supplementation via the top-dress tended to decrease the number of non-viable pigs at weaning when it was provided to sows previously fed the low fiber diets during gestation. A total of 117 sows were assigned to either a low fiber diet providing 9% of total dietary fiber or a high fiber diet providing 18% TDF. [Extracted from the article]