Swine Extension

Sarah Schieck, UMN Swine Extension Educator talks to recently graduated University of Minnesota Animal Science Graduate Student Anna Clarke about the research she did for her Master’s Degree in using HMB to reduce birth weight variability.   Her research used mice as models for sows. Listen to the podcast: z.umn.edu/PodcastEpisode12   (Recorded April 5, 2019)

By Jerry Shurson and Pedro Urriola, University of Minnesota, St. Paul Originally appeared in National Hog Farmer African swine fever continues to be a significant threat to U.S. pork production, as well as corn and soybean growers. The introduction of a foreign animal disease may cause the U.S. losses of about $8 billion for the pork industry on the first year of an outbreak (Hayes et al., 2011; Lusk, 2019). However, the economic impact of an ASF outbreak would extend beyond the pork industry because the prices and revenue from production of corn ($44 billion) and soybeans ($25 billion) would also significantly decrease as a consequence of decreased utilization of these ingredients in swine diets (Hayes et al, 2011). Most swine viruses tested in the Pacific and Atlantic transboundary models survived in soybean meal (Dee et al., 2018). In addition, porcine coronaviruses had the greatest survival in soybean meal compared to other feed ingredients (Trudeau et al., 2017).  Read the...

Do you need to submit samples to the UMN Veterinary Diagnostic Lab (VDL) and unsure how to submit proper samples? Good news....UMN VDL has put together a 1-page illustrated handouts to help you submit commonly used sample types. The "how-to" for each commonly used sample type is available in a downloadable PDF format. The handouts can be found on UMN VDL's website.

Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH) worked with their partners National Pork Board, the UMN College of Veterinary Medicine and UMN Southern Research and Outreach Center at Waseca to develop two new training videos addressing sow handling and biosecurity measures to prevent influenza. The videos are available in English and Spanish and were designed as training tools for employees. Be sure to check out the videos on UMASH's website.

The MN Board of Animal Health has new resources available to inform the public, producers, veterinarians and markets about how they can prevent African Swine Fever (ASF) and other swine diseases. The new fact sheets provide a background of ASF and how to prevent it with biosecurity. The fact sheets are available in multiple languages and are available on MN Board of Animal Health's website . The MN Board of Animal Health has also created a "Know the signs of foreign animal disease" fact sheet aimed at hobby or small scale pig owners. These fact sheets have been distributed to select feed stores across MN. These fact sheets show clinical signs of ASF, foot and mouth disease and classical swine fever to raise awareness and encourage pig owners to contact a veterinarian if they suspect any of these viruses in their pigs.

By Diane DeWitte, Swine Extension Educator Originally printed in The LAND - August 23/August 30, 2019 A year ago, on August 3, 2018, the Chinese government reported an occurrence of African Swine Fever (ASF) in their country. At that time, many North American producers and industry-affiliated folks had no idea about ASF. The disease was covered in veterinary textbooks and materials defining emerging & exotic diseases, but very few had seen it or had any experience with it. Today we know much more about it. From the National Pork Board, these are the plain facts about this disease the United States' swine herd has never faced: The virus is not dangerous to humans, it only affects pigs (domestic and wild). It is hardy and can survive for long periods - dried, frozen and cured pork products are at high risk of carrying the virus. The virus can be spread through feeding pigs swill containing undercooked contaminated pork. Adhering to strict farm biosecurity measures will decr...

By Dr. Jerry Shurson, University of Minnesota Department of Animal Science © 2019 Feedstuffs. Reprinted with permission from Vol. 91, No. 08, August 5, 2019 Swine diet formulation and feeding management are evolving into a new era of decision-making. Nutritionists are beginning to implement "precision nutrition" approaches to customize diet formulations and feeding programs designed for specific farm conditions to capture the greatest economic value in pork production. In addition, critical decisions are also being made on selecting and using alternatives to growth-promoting antibiotics and selecting feed ingredient sources based on their relative biosecurity risks of introducing foreign animal diseases.

Congratulations to the following swine faculty and educators from the Swine Extension Team who have had their work published recently. Chen, H., Peng, L., de Nanclares, M. P., Trudeau, M. P., Yao, D., Cheng, Z. X., Urriola, P. E., Mydland, L. T., Shurson, G. C. , Overland, M., & Chen, C. (2019). Identification of Sinapine-Derived Choline from a Rapeseed Diet as a Source of Serum Trimethylamine N-Oxide in Pigs. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 67(27), 7748-7754, doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.9b02950. Creager, C. M., Manu, H., Sharma, A., Baidoo, S. K ., & Gomez, A. (2019). Effects of vegetable and animal protein sources and nutrient specifications on the nursery pig gut microbiome. Journal of Animal Science, 97(Suppl 2) 41-41. doi: 10.1093/jas/skz122.073.

Join us for the 2019 Allen D. Leman Swine Conference on  September 14 - 17, 2019 . Details are posted on the  conference website . Register now!  Early bird registration has ended, but registration is still open.  Register online to pay by credit card or use the paper form if you need to pay by check or have the fee billed to your organization. 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+ Advisors are the educators who work directly with producers to educate them on the PQA+ program and will help producers obtain PQA+ certification and PQA+ site status at their respective production sites. A PQA+ Advisor training dates are planned for NEW Advisors: November 21st - 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. - AmericInn, 1406 E Lyon St., Marshall This PQA+ Advisor training session is for new Advisors. Individuals wishing to attend the training session must meet the qualifications to become a Certified PQA+ Advisor. Qualifications include:

Sarah Schieck, UMN Swine Extension Educator talks to recently graduated University of Minnesota Animal Science Graduate Student, Anna Clarke about research she did for her Master’s Degree on using HMB to reduce birth weight variability. Her research used mice as models for sows. Listen to  episode 12 podcast  ( z.umn.edu/PodcastEpisode12 )  (recorded April 5, 2019).