Swine Extension

Extension manure specialist Melissa Wilson recently completed research on sidedressing swine manure into corn with a dragline hose system. Her research concludes it appears to be a viable nitrogen source. Watch her video on sidedressing corn with liquid swine manure to learn more about her research on this topic. 

Animal science master's degree student Brigit Lozinski and her Advisor Lee Johnston are doing research on how the quality of water supplied to nursery pigs might affect their health and performance. The research is being done in Morris at the West Central Research and Outreach Center in collaboration with the Minnesota Pork Board and Christensen Farms. Watch the Exploring Water Quality and Swine Health video to learn more about this ongoing research.

MN Board of Animal Health staff working on permitting movement requests during the SFEAR exercise. By Sarah Schieck, Swine Extension Educator Minnesota participated in a United States Department of Agriculture Swine Fever Exercise for Agriculture Response (SFEAR) functional exercise September 23 - 26. During the exercise Poultry Educator Abby Neu and Swine Educators Diane DeWitte and Sarah Schieck served as Evaluators. The exercise involved many players including those from federal, state and local agencies, as well as industry. The 14 states playing along had to work through a hypothetical African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak. Exercise play included the following critical activities and tools needed during a foreign animal disease (FAD) response: 

By Jason Ertl, Ag Production Systems Extension Educator in Nicollet and Sibley counties Originally printed in The LAND - October 18/October 25, 2019 The annual fall harvest is well underway in many parts of the Upper Midwest with corn, soybeans and other row crops moving from the field to the grain bin or elevator. Crop yield, hog prices, weather and other operation-related logistics will occupy the mind of every producer. During this busy time of year, however, the absence of one key element on the farm can quickly turn a successful season into tragedy. The failure to recognize important safety measures, especially those associated with manure pits and their safety hazards, can endanger the lives of humans and animals alike, which make safety the top priority to everyone working on the farm.

With this fall being wet just like last fall, Extension Manure Educator Chryseis Modderman has put together a list of tips from commercial applicators for applying manure in adverse weather conditions. Check out her article on the UMN Extension Minnesota Crop News blog.

Source: Kristina TeBockhorst and Shawn Shouse, Iowa State University via UMN Extension Minnesota Crop News Are you looking for tips on cooling and storing grain through the winter? If so check out the Extension Crop Team's blog, Minnesota Crop News where they recently posted an article from Iowa State University reviewing some tips and rules of thumbs for cooling and storing grain through the winter. Links to corn harvest and soybean harvest and storage resources are also given.

Congratulations to the following swine faculty and educators from the Swine Extension Team who have had their work published recently. Arruda, A. G., Tousignant, S., Sanhueza, J., Vilalta, C., Poljak, Z., Torremorell, M. , Alonso, C., & Corzo, C. A. (2019). Aerosol detection and transmission of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV): what is the evidence, and what are the knowledge gaps?. Viruses-Basel, 11(8), 712, doi: 10.3390/v11080712.

"How to get $4 corn" is a workshop with a simulation game where attendees will explore three steps towards getting $4 - or more - for their corn. Price grain before harvest At harvest, store grain and roll the hedge forward to spring With a better spring basis, price and deliver grain This is grain marketing from start to finish. The workshop was designed by Extension Economist Ed Usset.

Save the date for the 5th Annual Women in Ag Network Conference on February 4, 2020. This year's theme is Celebrating Agriculture: Together We are One. When: February 4, 2020 -Registration at 8:45 a.m.; Conference from 9:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Where: Willmar Conference Center (240 23rd St. SE, Willmar, MN 56201) Cost: The early bird rate is $50 through January 21, 2020. After that date, regular registration is $65 through January 28th. Late registration is $80 and accepted until February 4th. Register for the Women in Ag Network's 5th Annual Conference by clicking here  ( z.umn.edu/2020WAGNConferenceReg ).

Sarah Schieck, UMN Swine Extension Educator talks to recent University of Minnesota Animal Science Graduate Student Julia Holen about the research she did as part of her Master’s Degree. Specifically, this research looked at the effects of supplementing transition sow diets with zinc on pre-weaning mortality and lifetime productivity of pigs under commercial rearing conditions . Listen to the podcast: z.umn.edu/PodcastEpisode13   ( recorded May 23, 2019) Learn More About Research Featured in the podcast Published in Journal of Animal Science