Maple Leaf's Lessons from the Listeriosis Crisis
"Do the right thing," an official from Canada's Maple Leaf Foods advised the audience at the Banff Pork Seminar 2009, describing the best response of a processor to a food contamination crisis.

Performance and Health Improvements of Pigs Treated with DRAXXIN® (tulathromycin) Injectable Solution: A Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae Challenge Model
A field study showed the efficacy of DRAXXIN (tulathromycin) in an injectable solution in a Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae challenge model writes Thayer C. Hoover, DVM, from Pfizer Animal Health.

Philippines - Livestock and Products - 2009
The latest GAIN report from USDA Foreign Agricultural Service offers an update on the pig industry in the Philippines in a report subtitled Philippine Hog Industry Update. Last year, pork production was down and imports were up by 38 per cent....

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...

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...

What We Know About Feeding Liquid By-Products to Pigs
Dr Jerry Shurson of the University of Minnesota talked about the advantages and challenges of liquid feeding at Big Dutchman's 5th International Agents' Meeting in Bremen, Germany in July 2008. He focussed particularly on corn condensed distillers solubles...

Large-Scale PRRS Management
A report on a pilot project to control Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) and its application by JoAnn Alumbaugh for Farms.com and supported by Boehringer-Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc.

Porcine Respiratory Disease Complex
Number 19 of the BPEX series Action for Productivity covers porcine respiratory disease complex. The disease is described, as well as management tips to control the complex condition.

Biological Effects of Bacitracin as a Therapeutic Agent and Growth-Promoting Compound
Dr David Francis of South Dakota State University and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Vaccinology describes an experiment in which he and co-workers found that cultivation of a wide variety of E. coli and Salmonella...

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...

Efficient Feed Usage
Number 18 in the Action for Productivity series from BPEX offers practical advice on how to get the best from the feed - from design of the feeding system to hygiene tips.

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.

Applied Nutrition for Optimal Gut Health and Pig Performance
Dr Chad Hagen (Hagen Swine Consulting) offers suggestions how to improve feed conversion and make the difference between profitability and loss as margins in pork production become ever narrower. The paper was presented at Alpharma's Swine Enteric Health...

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...

How are Breeders Helping to Reduce Emissions?
Past genetic improvements have significantly contributed to a reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) per unit of animal product, and breeding remains an important tool in further reductions. These key points were made by Dr Huw Jones of Genesis...

Bacitracin — Natural Peptide with Minimal Resistance Issues
A comprehensive overview about bacitracin and its advantages, including its efficacy against Clostridium perfringens. Dr Jerry Mathers, senior manager in the Government and Industry Affairs group at Alpharma Animal Health presented this paper...

Factors Influencing Litter Size and Birth Weight
By Hypor. The production of large litters of high quality piglets with good, even birth weights is an important aspect of maximizing Weaning Capacity because it results in the highest number and weight of piglets weaned. Attention to the areas of management...

Bioscience: The Science of the 21st Century
Professor Dianna Bowles enlightened invited guests at the 2008 JSR Technical Conference on this new subject. She holds the Weston Chair of Biochemistry at the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products at the University of York. ThePigSite editor, Jackie...

Control of PCV2-Associated Disease Through Vaccination
Coming from a background of mainly clinical development rather than basic research, I have often been confused over the years by the scientific reports on the relationship of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and the two major disease syndromes associated...

Overview of Research with Aureomycin Plus BMD for Ileitis
Pig veterinary consultant, Dr Nate Winkelman and Dr Teddi Wolf of Alpharma review the research into the combination of Aureomycin® and BMD® to treat ileitis. The paper was presented at Alpharma's Swine Enteric Health Symposium 2008.

Feeding the Hypor Sow and Gilt in Gestation
The feeding program for breeding pigs, and the type of diets used, have a major impact on many aspects of performance from farrowing rate and litter size to piglet weaning weight and sow health. In their breeding program, Hypor R&D takes into consideration...

NADIS/BPEX Health Bulletin - Swine Dysentery
Pig veterinarian, Mark White, explains the clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment and control of swine dysentery. He recommends trying to eradicate the disease from the herd as other forms of control are both difficult and expensive in the December...