Five Ways to Address Summer Infertility in Pigs
Julian Wiseman, Professor of Animal Production, at the University of Nottingham introduces the topical problem of summer infertility in pigs in a discussion with Dr Grant Walling, Director of Research and Genetics at JSR Genetics to provide expert advice...

Developments on the Enviropig File
C.W. Forsberg and colleagues in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph report on progress breeding pigs that secrete the enzyme, phytase, in their saliva and thus require supplements of neither inorganic phosphorus...

Functional Underline Sections Affect Pig Weight at Weaning
The term 'functional underline' refers to a teat and its associated section of the mammary gland. This report in the June issue of North Carolina State Extension Swine News was submitted by Justin Fix and Todd See, and describes an experiment...

Lameness as a Welfare Concern
This paper was presented by John Deen of the College of Veterinary Medicine in the University of Minnesota at the 28th Centralia Swine Research Update. He discusses the seriousness of lameness in sow herds and how lame sows are more likely to be culled....

Piglet Survival: New Thinking on an Old Problem
There are a number of causes of mortality in piglets before weaning, and the best way to reduce losses will depend on the main causes on the particular farm. Dr Emma Baxter is a post-doctoral research scientist Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) whose...

Sow Herd Removals
Growing concerns over welfare have made the public more aware of sow culling, mortality and longevity. These issues are covered by Ronald O. Bates, state swine specialist at Michigan State University (MSU) in the latest issue of MSU Pork Quarterly...

Managing Highly Prolific Sows
Dr Mark Whitney, Associate Extension Professor at the University of Minnesota, offers tips on how to manage today's more prolific sows and their larger but less uniform litters. His advice is based on experience from France's Institut du Porc.

Defining the Benefits of New Genotypes
This study has been prepared by BPEX in order to help producers assess the best genotype for their herd. Trials compared the performance results of progeny from Large White, Hampshire and Pietrain boars at each stage of the production cycle and their...

Culling Sows: Are We Looking at All the Factors?
The best predictors of future performance of sows are age and appearance (conformation and lameness score), writes Dr John Deen, Associate Professor of Veterinary Population Science at the University of Minnesota.

Segregated Parity Structure on Breeding Farms
This paper presents the rationale for segregating sows on a farm into age-dependent sub-populations in order to take advantage of nutrition, management and health opportunities. It was presented by R. Dean Boyd (The Hanor Co) and Noel Williams (PIC USA)...

Be Careful with Oxytocin Use in Sows
S.K. Linneen, J.M. Benz, S.S. Dritz, J.M. DeRouchey, R.D. Goodband and M.D. Tokach of Kansas State University explain how best to use oxytocin for sows in order to decrease farrowing time and birth interval as an aid to prevent stillbirths.

Condition Scoring of Sows
Achieving an optimal average condition score of 3 throughout the breeding herd and minimising variation of condition scores should be the aims. Number 20 in the Action for Productivity series from BPEX is a practical guide on how to condition...

Sow Feed Additives on the Market: Are They Worth it?
Drs Joel DeRouchey, Mike Tokach, Steve Dritz, Bob Goodband and Jim Nelssen of Kansas State University give an expert opinion on organic acids and a range of nutrients in diets for sows in a review published in 2005.

Improving Piglet Survival Through Breeding
Analysis of the records of separate sire and dam lines of one breed has shown up genetic links between piglet survival, litter size and production traits, offering the hope of improving survival through breeding. The results were presented by Dagmar Kapell...

Quality Control of Extended Boar Semen
Dr Mario Baracaldo, DVM, and Jim Ward of Minitube Canada explained how boar studs monitor the extended semen doses produced and delivered to their customers at the London Swine Conference 2008.

Investigation of Boar Taint Moves Ahead
A recent study has shed more light on how the boar taint compounds, skatole and androstenone, affect the odour of pig fat. The work was presented by Claudia Richards at a special event prior to the latest JSR Technical Conference, and reported here by...

Applying Reproductive Technologies in Practice
William L. Flowers of North Carolina State University explained how to assess new reproductive technologies under farm conditions at the London Swine Conference 2008.

High Productivity on a Breeding Farm in Belgium
Wouter Seynaeve, a young Belgian pig farmer, described his very successful breeding unit at the latest JSR Technical Conference. Editor of ThePigSite, Jackie Linden, reports on the secrets of his unit's success.

Lactation Feeding Strategies
The major objective is to maximise sow feed intake during lactation, writes Greg Simpson, swine nutritionist with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Hypor Weaning Capacity
Work by Dr George Foxcroft and his team at the Swine Research and Technology Centre, University of Alberta, has shown that crowding of large numbers of embryos in the uterus and the consequent restriction of nutrient supply can result in low-birthweight...

Top Tips for 2009: Financial Fluency
Ten tips to provide a degree of stability in the current erratic economical environment from James Christian, Finance Director of JSR Farming Group.

Spanish Performance Supports Weaning Capacity
This article represents an interesting review of targeting an increase in weaners produced per sow per year as an indication of efficiency. It encourages producers to consider optimum productivity as a better indicator of the efficiency of production....

Gilt Management for Maximum Lifetime Productivity
By Hypor. Hypor gilts have the genetic potential for outstanding reproductive performance and careful attention to these key areas of gilt management will help to ensure a high first litter size and a long productive life. Correct management of the gilt...