Swine Extension

By Diane DeWitte, Swine Extension Educator Originally printed in The LAND - September 21/September 28, 2018 September is a busy and favorite time of year for all of us in agriculture.  Harvest is near, there’s a lot to be done in crisp fall weather, and most farm families are working through repeated long days and short nights. The week of September 16-22, is National Farm Safety & Health Week, and it’s a good time to review some of the most important safety issues facing swine producers. UMASH ON THE FRONT LINES Working to educate and inform both farmers and the public is the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH).  UMASH is a consortium of five research and healthcare institutions.  University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health and College of Veterinary Medicine collaborate with the Minnesota Department of Health, the National Farm Medicine Center in Marshfield, Wisconsin, and the Migrant Clinicians Network, based in Austin, Texas, to provide

By Jerry Shurson, University of Minnesota Department of Animal Science © 2018 Feedstuffs. Reprinted with permission from Vol. 90, No. 07, July 2, 2018 Obtaining accurate estimates of energy and the digestible amino acid and phosphorus content of feed ingredients is one of the most important factors for achieving precision swine nutrition when formulating diets. Using accurate nutritional composition values minimizes the risk of overfeeding or under-feeding energy and nutrients relative to the pig's requirements. They are also important for capturing the greatest economic value of feed ingredients by minimizing "safety margins," which are frequently used to manage uncertainty in the nutritional composition of feed ingredients used in formulating swine diets.

By Jerry Shurson, University of Minnesota Department of Animal Science © 2018 Feedstuffs. Reprinted with permission from Vol. 90, No. 08, August 6, 2018 Numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate the addition of high-oil (greater than 10% crude fat) and reduced-oil (less than 10% crude fat) dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) sources at inclusion rates of up to 60% of the diet — using metabolizable energy (ME) or net energy (NE) formulation methods — for nursery and growing/finishing pigs.

With the recent reports of African Swine Fever (ASF) in China it is a reminder of the negative impact that a trade limiting foreign animal disease (FAD) can have on pork producers. In China the ASF outbreak has resulted in quarantines, movement controls and mandatory culling of swine in affected areas in an effort to control the disease. If you haven't done so already, the Secure Pork Supply plan offers producers the best opportunity to meet the expectations of animal health officials and demonstrate that your pigs are safe to move in event of a FAD. Information can be found at www.securepork.org .

By: Diane DeWitte, Swine Extension Educator Originally printed in The Land - August 24/August 31, 2018 In animal agriculture, especially when we speak about biosecurity, we encounter an alphabet soup of diseases: PRRS (Porcine Reproductive & Respiratory Syndrome), PEDV (Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus), SVA (Seneca Virus A) and more. The broader scope includes the category FAD (Foreign Animal Disease), and the three that we do not have in this country: Classical Swine Fever (CSF), Foot & Mouth Disease (FMD) and African Swine Fever (ASF). These three foreign animal diseases are the ones for which the US swine industry is putting together a nationwide strategy of movement and containment, the Secure Pork Supply. Swine Disease in China Recently African swine fever made an appearance, and not in a good way. On August 3, 2018, a small pig farm in northeastern China was confirmed as infected with African swine fever. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported th

The Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH) released a new fact sheet addressing sharps safety. UMASH reports more than 80 percent of producers have accidentally stuck themselves with a needle while working with livestock. To address those accidents, UMASH developed the new fact sheet, which details proper sharps storage and disposal. Click here to view the fact sheet .

The United States Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices are now taking applications for the Market Facilitation Programs (MFP). Producers may apply for payment anytime between now and January 15, 2019. Program details and eligibility requirements may be found at farmers.gov/MFP Pork producers can apply several different ways: In person at your local USDA service center By mail (must be postmarked by January 15, 2019) Electronically: faxed, scanned or emailed; farm must have a Level 2 USDA e-authentication account. The payment by commodity during this period will equal: Market Facilitation Program Rate x 50% of total 2018 Actual Production = Payment

Want to know more about your environmental footprint? Get additional information about operational costs? University of Minnesota Extension specialist, Erin Cortus and Extension Educators, Diane DeWitte, Jason Ertl, and Sarah Schieck are looking to work with producers in confidentially assessing their own operations using The Pig Production Environmental Footprint Calculator - a tool developed with support from and maintained by the National Pork Board. Pork producers have made tremendous strides in productivity - as measures like pigs weaned per sow and live weight marketed per ton of feed and per pig space continue to improve. These measures of productivity serve the industry well, but consumers increasingly want to hear more about how the pork they enjoy eating makes productive use of limited resources, like energy, water and land. An 'environmental footprint' flips the point of view around to consider how much of a limited resource is used to produce a live pig or a poun

Join us for the 2018 Allen D. Leman Swine Conference on  September 15 - 18, 2018 . Details are posted on the  conference website . Register now!  Early bird registration has ended, but registration is still open.  See registration information for details.  Pre-registration is encouraged. Leman Conference will be held at the Saint Paul RiverCentre . See Conference Location and Accommodations for lodging information. Leman Conference is presented by College of Veterinary Medicine and University of Minnesota Extension.

PQA Plus Advisors are the educators who work directly with producers to educate them on the PQA Plus program and will help producers obtain PQA Plus certification and PQA Plus site status at their respective production sites. Next PQA+ Advisor Training is scheduled for: November 14th - 9a.m. to 3 p.m., AmericanInn, 1406 E Lyon St. Marshall, MN