Welcome to May s Newsletter

Transcription

1 May 2016 Editor: Amy Quinn Welcome to May s Newsletter Ciarán Carroll Welcome to the May edition of our monthly newsletter. May was a busy month for the Teagasc Pig Development Department (PDD). The European Pig Producers Congress 2016 took place in Dublin. This was a huge congress with over 350 delegates from around Europe attending. The organising committee of this very successful event was well represented by a number of the Teagasc PDD and three of the invited papers were presented by PDD Research and Advisory staff. The highlight of the month, indeed the year, is the completion of the new Pig Research Facility at Moorepark. This culminated with a walkthrough of the new facility this week, which saw a crowd of over 300 people attend over two days. All were equally impressed and the feedback has been hugely positive. We now have a state-ofthe-art 200 sow integrated herd research facility and with the growing number of research staff and students we can look to the future with confidence and in anticipation of a great research programme driven by pig producer and industry input. In line with this, we have just published the Teagasc Pig Research, Advisory, Eductaion and Training Programme , copies of which will be circulated soon. This document outlines our programme for the next few years, detailing the key initiatives and projects that we will be working on for the pig sector. In this issue: Some Days We All Need a Boost! Pig Supply Update PigSys/ePM National Performance for 2015 Overview of the Feet First - 8th Zinpro Swine Seminar

2 Some Days We All Need a Boost! Michael McKeon Danish research recently produced an interesting report on the effect of giving an oral energy booster to cross-fostered piglets. When piglets are born unlike other domestic animals they have a very limited supply of energy. They require KJ/KG of energy per day in the first few days of life for maintenance, to stay warm, movement etc. This is supplied by grams of colostrum if the piglet is encouraged to suckle. Unfortunately the piglet at birth has only approximately 430 KJ/kg of energy reserves composed of glycogen reserves (250 MJ) and fat reserves (180 KJ/kg). Therefore piglets have only a half-a-day of energy reserves so they must get colostrum / milk quickly if they are to survive. Small piglets (under 1kg) probably have even less time because their small weight means that they have a proportionally larger surface area which will lose heat faster (and burn energy) than larger piglets. Their survivability is down to a critical few hours. In the Danish trial researchers wanted to see if giving an energy boost after fostering reduced pre-wean mortality. They examined 824 small piglets at fostering that weighted an average of 1.05 kg s and from this group they blood tested 158 of the smaller piglets to assess their blood glucose level. They found that 38% of these piglets were hypoglycaemic (low in glucose/energy) and 35% of these piglets died in the following days. The remaining small piglets that had normal glucose levels had only a 6% morality rate. The researchers remarked that the low glucose piglets could be accurately visually identified in the farrowing pen as those piglets were a) active but not suckling a teat or b) inactive lying beside the sow or on heat-pad. Immediately after fostering they gave one of three different energy boosts to the piglets and compared them to a control group (no boost). Surprisingly they found little difference in mortality between the piglets who got a boost and those that didn t. The authors believed that giving the energy boost after fostering was probably too late as the boost only gives 1-2 hours energy and this is insufficient if the piglets are already very low in energy. If piglets got the boost before fostering there may have been better results. In summary this research project highlights the importance of getting the small piglets suckling immediately after birth before they get too weak. There may be a value in giving an energy boost for piglets that have not suckled (and becoming inactive) as this may give them enough energy to get their first suckle. Early identification and rapid help for small weak piglets is critical to ensure survivability. Teagasc Moorepark have a Ph.D. student who is examining the whole role of piglet energy boosts and hopefully we will have recommendations on this area at a later stage.

3 Pig Supply Update Michael McKeon Market prices in the pig industry (unlike other animal enterprises with subsidy payments) are based purely on supply and demand. The supply of E.U. pigmeat and the demand from the domestic/export market dictate the Irish pig price we receive at farm level. Over the last few years the E.U. has seen a steady increase in the annual volume of pigs produced each year but this appears to be reversing in This downward trend was first highlighted in the December 2015 E.U. pig census when the number of gilts served reduced by a substantial 8%. The E.U. Pigmeat Committee forecast a supply decline as 2016progresses with the October-December quarter expected to deliver a decline of over 2%. The E.U. pig census next month will give an indication whether this declining supply trend is expected to continue into next year. The decline in production is also coinciding with a big upswing in E.U. exports which is a double positive. The export volume in Table 1 shows the decline in the Russian exports being substituted by a massive increase in Chinese exports. If the Jan Mar 16 trend continues for the rest of the year then the volume of exports to China will have increased by nearly 300% in the space of four years. While 42% of all exports are currently going to China and effectively we have all oureggs- in- the- one-basket, it s great to have such a big basket at the moment! The other issue that was over-hanging the market was the volume of pigmeat in private storage (Table 2). This is now declining rapidly inline with the strong export market and will be eliminated within the next four weeks.the outlook for the second six months of 2016 is for a strong export demand coupled with a decline in the volume being produced across Europe. Hopefully this will give some badly needed stability to the industry. Figure 1: EU pigmeat slaughter volume Table 1: E.U. Pigmeat Export Volumes Tonnes 2014 Tonnes 2015 Tonnes Jan-Mar 16 Jan-Mar 15 Tonnes % % % % Tonnes % Compared China , % Japan % H. Kong % Philippines % S Korea % Russia Other , , Total 3,187 3,217 3,033 3, %

4 Table 2: Private storage of pigmeat for 2016 to date PigSys/ePM National Performance for 2015 Gerard McCutcheon The national data is compiled in April of May each year for the previous year. This is a compilation of data from all the herds that are submitting data input sheets for analysis on the Teagasc E Profit Monitor (epm) recording system. This was formerly the Pigsys recording system. The data is compiled and all herds then are pulled together and compiled on a weighted average basis to produce a report for the national pig herd. These figures may go up and down each year and it is important to remember that the farms contributing their data may change from year to year so that there is not a direct comparison with the data for each year. On the other hand the number of herds and the national herd size is increasing year on year which makes the results more reliable for the output figures of the national pig herd. Currently the national herd comprises of over 97,000 sows which represents 64% of the national sow herd. The born alive per litter and sale weight are rising but in 2015 the number of litters per sow per year dropped with the consequence of reducing the number of pigs produced per sow per year as shown in the Table below. Year Litters /sow/year Born alive/litter Piglet mortality Weaner mortality Finisher mortality Pigs/Sow/Year The sale weight of finisher pigs increased in 2015 to kg liveweight and 83kg deadweight giving 2058 kg of pigmeat /sow/year but requiring tonne of feed to achieve this. The Weaning to Sale growth rate increased from 670 g/day in 2014 to 694g/day in 2015 while the FCE improved to 2.43 (compared to 2.49 in 2014). This is just a summary of the figures. If you want further details contact your Teagasc Pig Specialist or check the Teagasc website for a copy of these figures.

5 Overview of the Feet First - 8 th Zinpro Swine Seminar Barcelona, Spain, 8 April 2016 Keelin O Driscoll In April this year Laura Boyle and I were delighted to attend the 8 th Feet First Spanish Swine Seminar, which is hosted by Zinpro, the performance mineral company. Zinpro hosts this meeting each spring across Spain, to bring some of the most up to date reviews and research in the areas of pig health and production to an audience of producers, researchers, and industry stakeholders. This year we heard four excellent presentations relating to water quality, epigenetics and trace minerals, stress and immunity and iron metabolism. Water quality impact on swine production Berta García, D.V.M., Swine Production Director, Coren, Spain This presentation demonstrated the importance of water quality when it comes to pig performance and health. Dr Garcia described in detail the effects that an inappropriate water supply had on one of the farms in the company she works for, and how the problem was identified and solved. Although the farm had an excellent manager and in general the animal management was very good, the sows had very poor reproductive performance and health. The farm had a farrowing rate of 75% and 5% of sows had vulvar discharge. Pre-weaning mortality was 20%, with piglets affected by diarrhoea, and low milk yields by the sows. Moreover, the farm had a sow replacement rate of 45%, with 35% of incoming sows ending up in the abbatoir. Dr. Garcia decided to base herself at the farm to carry out a detailed investigation of what was happening. It was while she was there, and after examining all procedures, that the staff mentioned that she shouldn t drink the water from the tap. This caused her to realise that if the water is not appropriate for human consumption, it could be likely that it was causing the problem with the pigs. After testing the water, it appeared that there were no water quality issues when it came to microbiology, so further more detailed tests were done to determine mineral content. The results showed extremely levels of some minerals (manganese and arsenic), which meant that the water had 4 times the level of conductivity of water on non-problem farms. A reverse osmosis system was installed. The filters need to be replaced depending on the level of minerals in the water, and the scale of the problem shown by the extremely high replacement rate. Although the filters cost money, production and health on the farm has greatly improved. Some take home points regarding specific minerals included: High in iron: suppresses water intake High in manganese: suppresses water intake High in aluminium: can cause lameness in fatteners Epigenetics and the role of trace minerals in improving animal performance Christof Rapp, Ph.D.,RNS Regional Manager - Europe, Zinpro Corporation, The Netherlands Dr Rapp started off his presentation by explaining how even individuals with exactly the same genetic information (e.g. identical twins) often have quite a different physical appearance. Epigenetics refers to how there can be changes in the expression of genes, without changes to an individuals own DNA sequence. So two individuals (such as twins) could have the same DNA, but different genes be turned on or off, which causes the physical differences in the body. This is a natural occurrence, but can be influenced by the environment or nutrition of the animal. For instance, the stress levels or nutrition

6 of a mother animal, can affect which genes are turned on or off in her offspring. This has been shown in pigs, whereby the number of secondary muscle fibres in growing pigs can be increased by adjusting sow feed intake. Thus mineral supplementation of the mother could potentially play a role in improving the performance, health or welfare of their offspring. In fact, recent work using Zinpro minerals has shown that zinc and manganese supplementation of the sow can improve gut function and immunity of piglets. This talk was particularly interesting as we are starting a new project in the autumn in Moorepark, investigating the effect of rearing nutrition and management on growing gilts, and on their offspring performance, health and behaviour. Stress and immunity in swine Janeen Salak-Johnson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Stress & Environmental Physiology & Wellbeing, Dept. of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, USA Dr. Salak-Johnson started her presentation by first explaining the basic concepts of stress. When an animal recognises something that could be disruptive to its physical or mental state (ie. It experiences a stressor) generally the body will have a physical response to deal with the situation. The response could be behavioural, or an immune response, or even a hormonal response. If the situation is something that the animal can deal with easily, then normal functioning of the body resumes. Examples would be a temperature change which can be dealt with by a response such as panting (if too hot), or huddling (if too cold). However, in a situation where the response of the animal isn t enough, then the body could enter a pre-pathological state, and eventually become ill. An example of this could be extremely high temperatures due to mechanical failure. Stressors can thus cause disease and reduce animal welfare. One of the body s responses to stressors is to release a hormone called cortisol. Dr. Salak-Johnson explained that if a pregnant mother has high levels of cortisol, this can pass over into her developing offspring. This type of exposure to cortisol in the womb can have life lasting effects on piglets, and leave them more susceptible to disease, less able to deal with stress themselves, and less responsive to vaccines. Iron metabolism in pigs: practical considerations Terry Ward, Ph.D., Global Director of Research & Nutritional Services, Zinpro Corporation, USA In this presentation we learned about how young pigs need an appropriate source of iron to give them a good start in life. Pigs are born with very little iron reserves, which is mostly in their blood. Sow milk is actually not a good source of iron; if pigs were outside they would obtain this from soil, which is why they need supplementation after birth. Because pigs have been selected for fast growth, this is very important for them. Finding the right balance is important though. A lack of iron results in decreased energy in the muscle cells and impaired disease resistance in general, but too much iron, which is a particular risk if using oral administration, can cause susceptibility to bacterial diseases. This is because bacteria use iron to grow. Some problems with injecting iron are the cost (iron and labour), animal welfare (injections) and it can restrict intestinal absorption. Dr. Ward told us about a promising alternative method of iron supplementation, by providing it orally through a type of litter that can be placed in the farrowing crate for piglets to investigate themselves. Using this method, fewer piglets turned out to be anaemic compared with injected piglets, and there was no difference in growth. The conference was extremely informative and interesting. We would like to thank Zinpro for hosting us during the conference.

7 Unit Walk through The walk-through of the new Teagasc Pig Research Facility in Moorepark took place on the 30 th of May with over 200 producers and industry stakeholders in attendance. An additional walk through took place on the 31 st of May for a group from AFBI and Teagasc staff with an additional 120 people touring the research facility. This was conducted prior to the stocking of the unit and therefore provided people with the unique opportunity to explore our new research farm and find out more about the research facility and the work we will be able to undertake here. QQI Level 5 Pig Production Course The Teagasc Pig Development Department are currently enrolling students for our next QQI level 5 course in Pig Production. This course is run in Cork (Teagasc Moorepark/Clonakilty Agricultural College) and Cavan (Ballyhaise Agricultural College). It takes place over 2 years; with students attending the course one day per month for the 2 years with 2/3 block release days (3-4 days) over the course of the 2 years. If you or a member of your staff is interested in enrolling please amy.quinn@teagasc.ie or contact your local Pig Specialist. We hope to get the course up and running as soon as possible and so the start date will be determined by enrolment numbers. Spaces are limited and will be based on a first come first served basis. Research Dissemination Day The Teagasc Pig Research Dissemination day series, took place on the 27 th and 28 th of April with two very successful days in Cavan and Horse & Jockey, with an attendance of almost 180 people. It featured a number of excellent presentations and posters on the topics of nutrition, management, health, welfare and salmonella. It provided attendees with the most up-to-date research results and an overview of on-going research projects and projects which are about to commence in the coming months. Health & Safety Training Teagasc have been holding a series of half-day Farm Safety Code of Practice Training Courses over the past few months and will continue to do so over the coming months. Safety training is now mandatory under the recently announced TAMS II schemes. To obtain payment under these schemes farmers must have completed the Halfday Farm Safety course or the Green Cert within the previous 5 years. For more information please visit: AA5_HealthandSafetyA5_2015.pdf Dates for your Diary 2016 The Teagasc Pig Conference will take place in Horse & Jockey Hotel on Tuesday the 18 th of October and the Cavan Crystal Hotel, on Wednesday the 19 th of October.