Swine Extension

On Tuesday, November 10th Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) announced pig farmers impacted by COVID-19 supply chain back-ups may be eligible for cost-share funds available for COVID-19 related losses. The MDA's Hog Depopulation Cost-Share program is available to provide financial assistance to pig farmers that had to depopulate pigs being raised in Minnesota. Pig farmers includes both independent growers and integrators. Funding for this cost-share program is through the CARES Act and is part of the $7.7 million plan announced earlier by Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan to support agricultural producers, meat processors, and farmers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To be eligible, pigs must have been depopulated between March 2, 2020 and September 30, 2020. Depopulation must have been performed under the guidance of an accredited veterinarian. See MDA's Hog Depopulation Cost-Share program webpage for complete details. Applications are due December 1, 2020...

Reprinted as posted on Swine in Minnesota blog . Adapted from a publication written by Dr. Montse Torremorell, Professor, Department of Veterinary Population Medicine Key Points Little is known about the type and nature of viruses that get trapped in commercial filters on swine farms due to a lack of sampling methods. The first part of this study established effective methods for eluting and identifying PRRS and IAV viruses in MERV filters under lab conditions. The second part of the study tested the verified method on used filters from swine farms, verifying the presence of both PRRS and IAV. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and influenza A virus (IAV) are both transmitted by air and are the two major respiratory viruses that often co-circulate in swine farms. Air filtration systems are used by swine farms as part of their biosecurity measures, implemented to reduce infection risk, often targeting PRRS. Continue reading about how PRRS and influenza A viruses are de...

  We are excited to share the UMN Extension Swine podcast has a new look! We’ve changed our name to Minnesota’s Swine & U and have an updated icon. If you are a subscriber to our podcast, there is nothing you need to do; you will just notice our icon has changed. In Episode 19: Farm Safety While Working on Pig Farms  is where Sarah Schieck Boelke and Diane DeWitte, both University of Minnesota Swine Extension Educators discuss farm safety for those working on pig farms.  Listen to the podcast: z.umn.edu/PodcastEpisode19   (recorded September 17, 2020) In the podcast, Sarah and Diane mention several resources such as: Upper Midwest Ag Safety and Health Center’s needlestick prevention and farm safety resources Center for Disease Control’s swine influenza resources University of Minnesota Extension manure management resources

UMN Swine Extension Educators Sarah Schieck Boelke and Diane DeWitte discuss the newly released livestock contingency plans the Livestock Team created. Diane and Sarah talk about the swine specific plan producers can customize for their own use and have in the event they get seriously ill or injured and unable to do their pig chores. The contingency plans can even be of use if a farmer goes on vacation and has a neighbor do their chores while they are gone. Listen to the podcast z.umn.edu/PodcastEpisode20   (Recorded September 28, 2020) The UMN Extension Livestock Contingency plans are available free of charge to anyone and can be found online at z.umn.edu/LivestockPlans . Be sure to look for the swine specific one.

Are you looking to become a PQA+ Advisor? 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 date is planned for: November 12 - 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., online via Zoom *NOTE this training was originally scheduled for in-person but due to University of Minnesota and MN Department of Health COVID policies, this training has now transitioned to online. Individuals wishing to attend the training session must meet the qualifications to become a certified PQA+ Advisor. Qualifications include: Be a veterinarian, Extension Specialist, or Ag Educator (for the purposes of PQA+, the definition of an Ag Educator is a person who spends full time in adult education or at least 50% time in production training) Have a DVM or B.S. in Animal Science (or equivalent) Have two years of recent documentable swine production experienc...

By Dr. Gerald C. Shurson, UMN Swine Nutrition Professor, Department of Animal Science Originally printed in The LAND – September 18/September 25, 2020 Crises often lead to change. For far too long, food waste has been the greatest contributor to inefficiency of resource use and our inability to achieve greater global food security and sustainability. More than 1.3 billion tons of edible food material are wasted annually around the world, which represents about one third of the total food produced and is enough to feed more than one billion people. The amount and types of food waste vary between countries where 44% of global food waste occurs in less-developed countries during the post-harvest and processing stages of the food supply chain, while the remaining 56% of these losses, of which 40% occur at the pre- and post-consumer stages, are attributed to developed countries in Europe, North America, Oceania, Japan, South Korea, and China. As a result, the United Nations (UN) has deemed ...

By Dr. Gerald C. Shurson, Extension Swine Specialist Originally printed in The LAND – October 16/October 23, 2020 . In the previous Swine & U column, Dr. Jerry Shurson described the issue of food waste and whether we can improve sustainability of food animal production systems by recycling food waste into animal feed. Maximizing Resource Recovery and Value of Waste Streams Food waste disposal options have been characterized in a hierarchical order of priority based on achieving the greatest value from resource recovery while minimizing negative impacts on the environment. The best solution and highest priority are to minimize or eliminate food waste, followed by redistributing food to hungry people. The next greatest priority is to convert food waste into animal feed, which is preferable to composting, anaerobic digestion to produce biogas, and disposal in landfills. Food waste has been fed to pigs in every country for centuries, but since 2001 it has been banned in the European Un...

Recently Extension Manure Management Specialist Melissa Wilson and Research Manager Scott Cortus created a video on how to take a representative manure sample for nutrient analysis and how to build a manure sampler. The video, along with additional resources, can be found on the Minnesota Crop News blog.

During this busy time, it is necessary to consider the health and safety of everyone working in agriculture, including those who pump manure pits and apply manure to fields. The Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH) has a Manure Safety Toolkit providing farmers and their family members, manure haulers and agricultural workers with specific resources to have on hand during manure agitation and land application. Be sure to check out this great resource.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is opening up a second round of grants aimed at increasing the capacity for livestock processing plants and producers to increase capacity for slaughter, processing and storage. The grant is for both those that made investments to increase capacity during packing plant slow-downs and those still wanting to add capacity. The Livestock Processing Rapid Response Mini-Grants will range from $1,000 to $5,000 to applicants. Entities that did not receive funding in the first round, or did not receive the full $5,000, can apply. Applications are due November 30, 2020, or until all funds are depleted. Applications must be submitted through MDA’s online application system . To learn more, visit MDA’s Rapid Response Mini-Grant for Livestock Processing webpage or email Courtney VanderMey at Courtney.vandermey@state.mn.us .

 Recently the U.S. Soybean Export Council released a publication on the benefits and applications of using soybean oil in swine and poultry diets. The publication titled, Manufacturing Quality Feeds with U.S. Crude Degummed Soybean Oil: Advantages, Benefits and Applications was written by Dr. Jerry Shurson, Professor of Animal Nutrition in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Shurson is world-renowned for his team’s research on assessing the nutritional value of feed fats and oils for swine and poultry, as well as the effects of lipid oxidation on animal health and performance. This new publication is available in both English and Spanish , so be sure to check them out.

 Congratulations to the following swine faculty and educators from the Swine Extension Team who have had their work published recently. Holen, J.P., Urriola , P.E., Schwartz, M., Jang, J.C. Shurson, G. C., & Johnston, L.J. , (2020). Effects of supplementing late-gestation sow diets with zinc on preweaning mortality of pigs under commercial rearing conditions. Translational Animal Science, 4(2), 519-530. Doi:10.1093/tas/txaa010. Hung, Y.T., Hu, Q., Faris, R. J., Guo, J.J., Urriola, P.E., Shurson , G. C. , Chen, C., & Saqui-Salces, M. (2020). Analysis of Gastrointestinal Responses Revealed Both Shared and Specific Targets of Zinc Oxide and Carbadox in Weaned Pigs. Antibiotics-Basel, 9(8), 463. Doi:10.3390/antibiotic9080463. Shurson , G.C. (2020). “What a Waste” – Can We Improve Sustainability of Food Animal Production Systems by Recycling Food Waste Streams into Animal Feed in an Era of Health, Climate, and Economic Crises? Sustainability, 12(17), 7071. Doi:10.3390/su12177...

The following are PQA+ and TQA class dates for the rest of our 2020 Quality Assurance schedule: November 18 – Stewartville, MN – CANCELED December 9 – Mankato, MN – MN Pork Board Office, 151 Saint Andrews Ct., Ste. 810 PQA+ certification is scheduled from 9 a.m. - noon and TQA from 1 - 4 p.m. All certification sessions are free, but NOTE pre-registration is required and no walk-ins will be allowed to accommodate COVID-19 physical distancing protocols. Facemasks are to be worn by attendees so folks should bring a facemask to wear. To register contact Minnesota Pork Board at 1-800-537-7675 or colleen@mnpork.com .  We know during this time, life and activities on the farm must go on, including getting your PQA Plus and TQA certification completed. Feel free to reach out to us, your University of Minnesota Swine Extension Educators Sarah Schieck Boelke and Diane DeWitte, and we will work with you to complete your PQA Plus and/or TQA certification by alternative means if in-person does ...