Swine Extension

Reprinted as posted on Swine in Minnesota blog May 2, 2025 Key points: Clinical re-breaks of PRRSV on sow farms are a frustrating reality for producers and practitioners and occur despite consistent use of modified live vaccines (MLV). 13 re-break events on 12 farms were identified from production and diagnostic data and were analyzed at the whole genome level. Numerous amino acid sites on structural proteins were observed to change frequently between the primary and secondary outbreaks. This includes sites previously associated with escape from serum neutralization or to be positively selected, and sites known to be accessible to antibodies. Read the full article on the Swine in Minnesota blog .

By Diane DeWitte, UMN Extension swine educator Originally printed in The LAND - as March 14 , 2025 Swine & U column Much of UMN Extension’s swine work involves disease preparedness. Not only are foreign animal diseases (FAD) a threat, but the endemic seasonal diseases faced by pig farmers every day require mitigation efforts.   The three FADs that swine producers prepare to NOT get are African Swine Fever (ASF), Classical Swine Fever (CSF), formerly known as hog cholera and eradicated in the US in 1978, and Foot & Mouth Disease (FMD), which was also eradicated in the US in 1929. FMD can also infect cattle, sheep, goats, deer and more. Typical prevention education includes assisting producers in creating an enhanced biosecurity plan through the Secure Pork Supply (SPS) process. Nationally, SPS provides a common template of farm map creation, identification of a biosecurity lead person on the farm, enhanced plans for feed and other deliveries, mortality disposal, employe...

By Diane DeWitte, UMN Extension swine educator Originally printed in The LAND - as April 25, 2025 Swine & U column Minnesota is typically considered an outdoor recreation, hunting-and-fishing state, the motherland to six outstanding professional sports teams, and home of the Mall of America. However, nestled within Minnesota’s rural communities are nearly 9 million hogs and hundreds of well-trained professionals who grow them. According to the 2022 Ag Census, Minnesota ranks 2nd in the U.S. in inventory of hogs & pigs, and in number of hogs & pigs sold (28.5 million). That number translates to $4.7 billion in sales, up 31% since the 2017 US Ag Census. Across the country, Americans are challenged to evaluate their health habits and assess their diets. While it’s important to consider the quality, quantity and nutritional value of food that we consume, I have been concerned about health experts who generously toss around terms like “toxins” and “poison”, and the phrases ...

Funding is still available through the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Veterinary Services and NPB to equip swine exhibition sites, cull sow market stations and processing facilities with RFID tag reader equipment. This program helps improve traceability and supports the transition to RFID tags. Swine exhibition sites can apply for handheld RFID readers, while cull sow market stations and processing facilities may receive both panel and handheld readers (up to five panel readers and four handhelds per site) with a valid premises identification number (PIN). Funding is available through September 14. Contact Dr. Brent Pepin , NPB director of swine health for more details.