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Showing posts from July, 2019

Zinc in late-gestation diets for sows improved piglet survival

By Lee Johnston and Julia Holen, University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center; Jae Cheol Jang, Pedro Urriola and Jerry Shurson, University of Minnesota, St. Paul; and Mark Schwartz, Schwartz Farms, Sleepy Eye, Minn. Originally appeared in National Hog Farmer Genetic improvement in the swine industry has resulted in a steady increase in litter size at birth over the last 10 to 15 years. Often, an undesirable consequence of such large litter sizes is an increase in variability of piglet birth weight and increased incidence of low birth weight pigs. So, the obvious question is: Can we manipulate the sow's diet during gestation to improve nutrition of the small pigs in the uterus, which would increase birth weight, reduce the proportion of these small pigs at birth, and improve their performance after birth? Read the full Zinc in Late-gestation diets article.

Can the Sun Cool Sows?

By Lee Johnston, Brigit Lozinski, Mike Reese, Eric Buchanan, Yuzhi Li and Adrienne Hilbrands, West Central Research and Outreach Center, Morris MN; Kevin Janni, Brian Hetchler and Erin Cortus, Department of Biosystems and Biological Engineering, St. Paul, MN Originally printed in The LAND - June 28/July 5, 2019 Food retailers and consumers worldwide are pressuring food producers (farmers) to reduce the use of fossil fuels and lower the carbon footprint of their production systems. Over the last couple years, researchers at the West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) have been involved in a project entitled “Greening of Agriculture”. This project focuses on methods to reduce the use of fossil fuels in production agriculture. Currently, as part of this project, we have research studies underway in the areas of agronomy, dairy production, and swine production. The overarching objective of these studies is to help farmers respond to market demands in a way that will redu

UV germicidal chambers - best practices

The UMN Swine Disease Eradication Center (SDEC), along with Center for Animal Health and Food Safety, developed a short video and a set of hand-outs to show producers the do's and don't's of UV boxes. View the video and materials on SDEC's website ( z.umn.edu/UVbox ). Ultraviolet (UV) germicidal chambers, also known as UV boxes, are used in farm biosecurity programs to decontaminate objects entering farms. In these chambers, UV light is used to inactivate pathogens by destroying or disrupting the pathogen's nucleic acid. This results in a reduction in the number of viable organisms on surfaces. Research has found that the effectiveness of the UVC light depends mostly on the length of time of UVC exposure and UVC light intensity.

Biosecurity during fair season

It is fair season in Minnesota, which means exhibitors and pigs are traveling to various county fairs across the state and to the Minnesota State Fair. Also with the pork industry focused on keeping African swine fever (ASF) from entering the U.S, it is a good time to remind exhibitors about the importance of biosecurity as well as zoonotic diseases.

ASF demands attention moving into the fair/exhibit season

By Diane DeWitte, Swine Extension Educator Originally printed in The LAND – May 31/June 7, 2019 . As African Swine Fever (ASF) spreads around the globe, pork industry and its partners all pulling together to prevent the entry of ASF into US pig herds. African Swine Fever is one of three Foreign Animal Diseases (FAD) that US livestock producers and partners are working to exclude from the United States; another is Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), which would infect not just pigs, but cattle, sheep, goats, deer and bison. FMD was eradicated from the US in 1929. The third FAD being watched is Classical Swine Fever (CSF) which many of us know as Hog Cholera, a disease also eradicated in the US in 1978.

Corn DDGS is a high-value feed ingredient for swine diets: Part 14

By Dr. Jerry Shurson, University of Minnesota Department of Animal Science © 2019 Feedstuffs. Reprinted with permission from Vol. 91, No. 07, July 1, 2019 Regulations that have led to restricting antibiotic use for growth promotion in livestock have caused swine nutritionists to consider various feed additives, functional ingredients and functional nutrients that can be used as alternatives to promote pig growth and health. Compared with other grain byproducts, corn dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) have relatively high concentrations of natural antioxidant compounds that may contribute to reducing oxidative stress. Furthermore, DDGS contains about 10% spent yeast, and yeast cell walls contain beta-glucans, mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) and nucleotides that have been shown to provide beneficial effects for swine health and growth performance.

Women in Ag Network Summer Tour

Join us for Women in Ag Network's Summer Tour to Lettuce Abound Farm, Rustic Designs Flower Farm and discussion at Goat Ridge Brewing in New London, MN. Date: Thursday, July 18, 2019 Location: Tour will begin and end at Model Citizen Restaurant/Goat Ridge Brewing (17 Central Ave W, New London, MN 56273) Time: Noon - 4:30 p.m. Cost: $30 (includes lunch at Model Citizen Restaurant, tours and transportation between sites)

Time for PQA+ Advisors to re-certify

June 5, 2019 the revised PQA+ version 4 was released. All PQA+ Advisor certifications for PQA+ version 3.0 will expire August 31, 2019, regardless of when an Advisor trained on PQA+ version 3.0. Therefore all current PQA+ Advisors must be re-certified. Minnesota Swine Extension, in collaboration with Minnesota Pork, will offer PQA+ Advisor re-certification sessions throughout Minnesota. If you are a current PQA+ Advisor, make sure you look at the schedule and register to attend an Advisor re-certification session before August 31, 2019.

Episode 11: Secure Pork Supply Plan in Minnesota

Sarah Schieck, UMN Swine Extension Educator talks to Dave Wright, Secure Pork Supply coordinator with Minnesota Board of Animal Health and Diane DeWitte, UMN Swine Extension Educator about how they are encouraging the participation of Minnesota pork producers in the Secure Pork Supply plan. Listen to episode 11 podcast  ( z.umn.edu/PodcastEpisode11 ) (recorded May 30, 2019). Secure Pork Supply resources mentioned in episode 11 podcas t include: Secure Pork Supply website  ( www.securepork.org ) Four videos recorded by Dave Wright and Sarah Schieck, UMN Swine Extension Educator to supplement materials found on the Secure Pork Supply website viewed on the UMN Swine Extension YouTube Channel ( z.umn.edu/UMNSwineYouTube ).  They are also embedded in Step 7 of the Seven steps to participate in Secure Pork Supply  found on the UMN Swine Extension blog ( z.umn.edu/SecurePork7Steps ). Secure Pork Supply Intro video (7:13 minutes)  SPS – Foot and Mouth Disease video (5:21