Industry Insights

China’s huge protein gap is no secret, but it won’t last forever as the country works to rebuild its pig herd and become more self-sufficient again. As China’s need for...

Castrating male piglets has always been quite a controversial topic for farmers and consumers alike, but more pressure is being applied these days by the latter to ban the practice....

Tracheal sampling is a good way to determine if Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyo) is present in a herd, but it’s an invasive procedure that can be difficult to accomplish. The...

Feeding fermented oats to weanling pigs may have beneficial effects on their growth performance, nutrient digestibility and ileal microorganism balance. Pigs require several essential nutrients in order to meet their...

Will a faster diagnosis make a significant difference in the fight against African swine fever? These days we have grown accustomed to hearing talk of rapid diagnostic tests, and not...

The working group, North American Swine Health, was created by health authorities from Mexico, the United States, and Canada, in collaboration with the meat industry in each of the countries....

Heat stress is not only of interest for swine producers in countries with tropical or sub-tropical areas. Even in temperate latitudes, at least for a few weeks per year, sub-optimal...

Grower pigs housed in pens with an extra platform are performing better than those held in pens with a single floor. That was the conclusion of a recent trial at...

M. hyopneumoniae is involved in most of the co-infections of the porcine respiratory system. How does it act and what effects does it have? In the field, respiratory problems in...

Market disruptions have forced swine producers into some unique situations in the past six months, such as slowing down pig growth and increasing stocking densities in barns. Because of this,...

We are finding more evidence of the possible role PCV-3 plays in certain reproductive problems. When the problem of PMWS arose, discussions about the central involvement of PCV-2 in the...

An Argentinian research team is working on a vaccine that could prevent the Brucella suis infections in swine and its potential subsequent transmission to humans, without secondary effects of current...

Preparturient sows, the farrowing process and the piglets themselves interrelate in many ways. Zooming in on all these factors, it appears that calcium levels in a sow’s blood are likely...

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a new campaign to raise awareness and help halt the spread of African swine fever (ASF) in southeast Europe. The campaign targets...

Ground pork is trending. According to Numerator data from the National Pork Board, 45% of ground pork shoppers today were not purchasing ground pork in the prior 12 months. Sales...

Piglets are curious, sensitive to smell and love sweet flavours. Mixing fruity flavours such as raspberry through the feed encourages their interest. Weaning is a critical phase for piglets. The...

Top meat importer China has suspended imports from some foreign meat packing plants where workers became infected with coronavirus - but not others. Why is China So Wary of Frozen...

The biggest misconception many producers have about lameness in sows is it is something we simply have to live with, says Benny Mote, assistant professor and swine Extension specialist at...

Today’s consumer is constantly evolving and asking hard questions about the brands and products they can trust. On Sept. 1, the National Pork Board will launch a new master-brand strategy...

The feed industry is focusing on alternatives to reduce the use of antibiotics as growth promoters and zinc oxide as a diarrhoea remedy in piglet diets. Thanks to its immunomodulation...

While national polls show President Donald Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in the race for the White House, the latest Farm Journal Pulse shows continuing strong support for...

US researchers have shed additional light on why copper benefits the pig’s Feed Conversion Rates (FCR). Research from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA, in cooperation with the...

Although Covid-19 has not affected pigs directly, the effects of the human virus are having a profound effect on the swine business everywhere in the world. Now the question is...

The 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report highlights the important role that animal products play in ensuring sufficient protein and other nutrients in the American diet. On Aug. 13,...

In the best case, farrowing within a batch usually happens over the course of three days, and in the worst case can last longer than a week, creating different lactation...

A major US hog producer is closing due to the economic effects of the pandemic. The number of pigs backed up on US farms is being disputed, and the option...

Disease, contamination, destruction. They may be small in size, but their devastation results in thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost profit. No one wants to talk about...

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) urged congressional leadership to include the RELIEF for Producers Act of 2020 in the next COVID economic recovery package. “American hog farmers have been...

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and 26 state pork associations representing thousands of American hog farmers have asked the USDA’s Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) to implement enhancements to...

Retail consumer demand for pork continues driving pork production increases in Mexico. In addition, meatpacking plants’ COVID-19 preventive measures have allowed Mexico’s pork production to continue its upward trend to...

African Swine Fever took Belgium by surprise in September 2018, but luckily it occurred in wild boar, in a part of the country where not many domestic pigs were kept....

Genetic selection has caused an ever-growing increase in the number of pigs born alive. However, other important factors in pig production are overlooked. This article lists four of them. Could...

Brazilian livestock producers have been using their stocks since March, but supply can be a problem for the second half of 2020. The Brazilian National Union of the Industry for...

Phosphorous (P) is the second most abundant mineral in the body. Besides bone mineralization, phosphorous is involved in protein accretion and energy metabolism. Deficient levels can inhibit skeletal development and...

Increasing voluntary feed intake of the sow is a major challenge for nutritionists in tropical climate conditions. Recently we published a study (Silva et al., 2018) aiming to determine if...

Tail biting is a behavioral problem that involves both biters and victimized pigs. The biters are triggered by things such as genetics, physiology, or insufficient housing, nutrition or environmental enrichment...

Microsoft South Africa plans to invest up to R40-million to bolster the use of technology as an enabler to tackle the challenges facing South Africa’s agriculture sector. The investment aims...

US scientists have identified a new way to detect the presence of live African Swine Fever virus that minimises the need for samples from live animals and provides easier access...

Farmers are the stewards of our planet’s precious soil, one of the least understood and untapped defenses against climate change. Because of its massive potential to store carbon and foundational...

One of the big questions that has occupied South African agricultural economists over the past decade has been how to foster inclusive growth in the sector. This is, of course,...