Swine Extension

By the Minnesota Board of Animal Health Originally appeared in MN Board of Animal Health’s Animal Bytes November 2022 Is a pig, just a pig? Well no, there are many different terms for members of the suidae family of mammals. What many people think of when they hear "pig" is a portly animal raised in a pen. However, sometimes those farm animals can break out of their fence and find a new home in the wild, which is not a good thing for our state. Pigs can cause significant damage to ecosystems and introduce disease concerns for domestic pigs. They are also difficult to remove once established. These are some of the terms you may hear when we talk about pigs in the wild: Feral swine: swine that live in the wild. Wild boar: generalized slang term used to reference anything from loose domestic pigs (any gender) to confined or unconfined swine of the species Sus scrofa, native to Eurasia and Northern Africa. Eurasian Wild Pig: swine with Sus scrofa genetics. Russian Wild Boar: ...

Every year the Industry Audit Task Force reviews feedback from producers, packers, auditors and customers regarding the Common Swine Industry Audit to help clarify and revise portions of the audit. There are no new questions or required records. The majority of the changes for 2018 are clarifications to the standard. Details of the 2018 updates are as follows: Animal Observations Excessive prod use was added as a willful act of abuse for consistency with the transport/load-out section Boar harnesses were added to the animal handling section Clarification on what to evaluate was added to the deep wounds and scratches benchmarking sections Instructions for auditing thermal comfort/air temperatures and air quality were added

By: Diane DeWitte, Swine Extension Educator Originally printed in The Land - February 7, 2018 -  https://z.umn.edu/SecurePorkSupply State and federal officials, collaborating with the National Pork Board, industry and universities, are currently rolling out Secure Pork Supply information to swine producers. In Minnesota, Dr. Dave Wright is working with Minnesota Board of Animal Health to inform producers, veterinarians, and producer groups how they can participate in the program. The purpose of the Secure Pork Supply plan is to provide pork producers with a workable continuity of business plan should a Foreign Animal Disease (FAD) occur. In the event of a FAD outbreak, livestock movement would be restricted, and preparation for such a catastrophe is the best way to ensure that producers could continue to move animals off of the farm and move products to market.

UMN Extension is co-sponsoring a swine production seminar along with Iowa State University Extension, Hubbard and Elanco on March 21 at Arrowwood Resort Conference Center (1405 Hwy 71) in Okoboji, IA. Speakers and Topics 9:30 a.m.        Registration and Welcome 10:00 a.m.      Production Practices & Social Responsibility; What can we Expect                        Sara Crawford, National Pork Board 11:00 a.m.      Industry Update - Producer Prospective                        John Schwartz, Schartz Farms Inc.