Innovations and insemination in Pig Progress 8
The latest edition of Pig Progress is available online. The pages of this edition highlight noteworthy innovations on show at EuroTier, and visits a swine farm that was hit with an ASF infection. At a mixed farm in Germany, a farmer has built an entirely new artificial insemination room, ready to face the future. This and much more.
Innovations in the spotlight at EuroTier
Each year, EuroTier in Germany is the place to spot pig innovations. This overview on pages 6-9 highlights some of the innovation prize-winners, and many more innovations, including a heat conductor for pig nests, a flexible pig flooring system and a holistic system for rodent control, and a new vaccine combination.
Interview with Dr Gaetano Blanda, Evonik: One plus one is two, also in animal nutrition
Animal nutrition may be a different business than coating additives, but they both follow the universal laws of chemistry and economics. Describing himself as a “data guy”, chemist Dr Gaetano Blanda quickly learnt about his new challenge at the helm of Evonik’s Animal Nutrition business line. Pages 11-12.
Column: High performance diets
Today, nutritionists must extend their expertise to integrate multiple disciplines, like microbiology, immunology, genetics, and even behaviour, and columnist Dr Casey Bradley says that the challenge isn’t just understanding nutrition but synthesising how all these fields interact in the metabolism. Page 13.
Along came ASF – and the future evaporates
Thomas Paul is a pig producer in Hesse state, Germany. His future in the business suddenly became very uncertain when his farm had to be emptied and cleaned due to an infection of African Swine Fever. A restart is not to be expected any time soon… Pages 14-16.
Star Wars at pig farms?
Take a look on pages 18-19 at an emerging energy storage trend – one of the novelties at a pig farm in the east of the Netherlands.
A pioneering AI room with loads of space
Pig Progress visits farmer Eckhard Grobbe who has a mixed farm with 330 sows in Germany. Anticipating new welfare legislation in the breeding area as from 2029, he recently built an entirely new artificial insemination (AI) room, ready to face the future. The piece of pioneering work might be a glimpse of what future pig production might entail. Pages 20-22.
Germany: More welfare, shrinking finisher numbers
In the last 8 years, Germany’s pig slaughter figures have shown a downward trend. At its peak, around 60 million pigs were slaughtered; this year, however, only an estimated 44.5 million pigs will be slaughtered. Political challenges and stricter regulations have increased the pressure on the meat industry. Pages 26-28.
Column: Eating at weaning – good or bad?
There is a strong emphasis on getting weaned pigs to eat as soon as possible to avoid a growth dip. On page 34, pig welfare expert Dr Irene Camerlink considers whether this is actually desired.
