Straw, stress and sensors in 10th issue of Pig Progress

First – the straw-based facility. It was at EuroTier that livestock equipment company Big Dutchman launched its Xaletto principle. This in short is a method to keep grower-finisher pigs on straw, with the straw bed being able to compost the manure, realising a lower ammonia emission. Reporter Kees van Dooren went to have a look near Cloppenburg in northern Germany, where the concept was developed, page 20.

Post-weaning stress syndrome

Stress? What type of stress? In this edition, Dr Elke von Heimendahl of Hamlet Protein, delves deeper into the theme of oxidative stress, a phenomenon that occurs particularly after weaning. There are nutritional methods, she explains, to minimise the impact of this post-weaning stress syndrome. In early November, Pig Progress also held a webinar on this topic. The article can be found on page 25.

Sensors at EuroTier

The sensors were key at the recent edition of EuroTier (13-16 November), Germany and therefore also come back in the review of the world’s largest animal livestock event, page 16.

A better metric to measure sow efficiency

In a very nice contribution by Prof Ken Stalder of Iowa State University and a team of contributors – a search has started on how to measure sow efficiency better than the well-known PSY. Mind you – there is some challenging mathematics in this article, which can be found on page 6.

Focus on China’s pork consumers

Once more we turned to China in our Country Focus series. In an earlier stage, both the developments of swine production on-farm as well as in the processing phase were key. Now let us take a look at developments at the consumers’ side. Much is changing there as well, as Dr John Strak explains on page 10 and further.

Consumers in China are changing rapidly. In Chongqing, youngsters are queueing up for a newly opened McDonald’s store. Photo: Baoshengrulai | Dreamstime.com

Helping weaner pigs to survive

Zinpro’s Zach Rambo takes the reader deep into the pig guts and explains how they function when everything is like it should be. He answers the question of how swine producers can help piglets overcome weaning challenges with as little impact as possible. Page 14

In recent years, Trouw Nutrition has spent considerable attention on Sow Peripartal Syndrome – which tends to favour the fittest piglets. The company identified 4 different parameters that can determine piglet survival. These 4 parameters again form the basis to acquire further understanding to formulate approaches to support piglet performance. Page 28

The why and how around dietary fibres

And… in case you had some questions about dietary fibre but you were always too afraid to ask, this month also features an interesting recap by Dr Fernandinho Almeida of ADM Animal Nutrition. Which types of fibres exist, why do they matter and how can its use be improved? Page 30

Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of cellulose fibres at a magnification of 35 times. Photo: Dennis Kunkel | ANP | Science Photo Library

Columns on ASF and knee-jerk reactions

Columnist Dr Casey Bradley launches a plea to sometimes think a little bit longer before making relevant decisions in her column on page 34. Last, and definitely not least, John Gadd shines his light on African Swine Fever and what farmers can do on-farm to minimise risks. Page 13