Swine Grist
Dear Swine Producing Friends,
After a long, snowy winter, we are heartened to be receiving some warmth, seeing the ice and snow melt and looking forward to spring planting season. After a dry late summer and fall, we are encouraged with the amount of moisture the snow and early spring rains have provided.
In this edition of the Grist we have included a Global Health Update by Dr. John Carr who reminds us of the obligation of the global (and specifically Canadian) protein production industries to feed another 2 billion people by 2050. This is a high calling – and something that needs to be done profitably and sustainably in Canada for years to come. At the GVF group of companies, we are committed to enabling farms to be profitable, produce healthy food and improve lives of staff, customers, consumers who enjoy our customers meat, milk and eggs and those less fortunate that we support with a portion of our profits each year.
We have curated ideas and perspectives from a number of the experts on our team including Drew Woods regarding liquid feeding tips, JP Thibault regarding commodities, and two articles co-authored by Kayla Silva and Emily Miller on key
Expectations around Farrowing: Improving Piglet Birth Weights (Part 1)
by: Samuel Waititu, Ph.D. Monogastric Nutritionist
In the 2024 Spring publication, we explained that the reduction of birth weights due to increased litter size cannot be fully eliminated by nutritional interventions because it is associated with uterine capacity, and that this situation is worsened with increased prolificacy. In this article, the aim is to provoke new thinking in developing nutritional strategies that can be implemented to mitigate the
take aways from the Banff Pork Seminar and results that are being achieved in the early stage of the nursery with our new and improved BioForce® Initiate and BioForce® Propel nursery feeds. Launched two years ago, these products had already shown impressive, cost effective ADG and FCR, and with some formulation changes and addition of a couple new ingredients of late, the already strong results have been taken to the next level.
As they say, “when you have livestock, you have deadstock”. In these days of virulent viruses, growing biosecurity concerns, and reduced and/or expensive deadstock removal, the business case for installing your own incinerator on farm is solidifying. Aidan Gillespie describes the high quality, effective Agri Incineration System that Farmers Depot is importing from the United Kingdom. First featured at the Farmers Depot tent at the Canadian Outdoor Farm Show in September, this incineration system is experiencing growing popularity with producers who want to take control of their deadstock and enhance their biosecurity.
Happy farming and blessings on you in the upcoming planting season.
Sincerely,
Ian Ross CEO, GVF group of companies
occurrence of low-birth-weight piglets. Specifically, I desire to shift the focus of our discussion from the sow and the fetus, to what connects them. This is a similar shift to what we see in the Bible when Israel was fleeing Egypt. What stood between the children of Israel and their freedom was the Red Sea, not the great army of Pharoah that was pursuing them from behind. Therefore, God in all His great wisdom shifted the focus where it really mattered, to the connection, the Red Sea.
Low Birth Weight Threshold
In a multi-study analysis of birth weights of 4,068 piglets from 394 litters on four commercial farms (three European, one U.S.), Feldpausch et al. (2019), postulated that 1.11 kg is the birth weight threshold for increased risk of preweaning
Ian Ross, Chief Executive Officer | JD D'Elia, President David Ross, VP of Customer Advocacy & Experiential Marketing Monogastric Nutritionists: Aline Pereira, Drew Woods, Kayla Silva, Tanka Khanal, Morgan Colling, Ronan Santos Layout Editor: Curtis Ebanks
mortality. Hence, a piglet with a birth weight of ≤1.1 kg would be classified as having low birth weight.
Fetal Growth Restriction
It is worth noting that among livestock species, pigs have the most severe (up to 25%) naturally occurring fetal growth restriction, which is defined as impaired growth of the fetus or its organs, resulting in a fetus that is smaller than it should be at a given gestational age (Wu et al., 2006). This explains the inconsistencies in both within-litter and litter-to-litter, and within-batch and batch-to-batch variations in birth weights. This is also enough evidence that mother nature has a very strong influence in determining the outcomes of every gestation period. Piglets with severe fetal growth restriction (the runts) struggle to survive and thus are normally culled very early post-farrow. Low birth weight piglets that survive are more susceptible to diseases, pre- and post-weaning mortality, and grow slowly, a factor that leads to increased production costs. In their literature review, Tan et al. (2022) attributed low birth weight piglets to 5 major factors: uterine capacity, environment, genetics, immunity, and placental development. The most important of these 5 factors are uterine capacity and placental development and function during gestation (Tan et al., 2022).
What Connects the Sow to the Fetus?
Consequently, if we are to employ any nutritional strategies to improve birth weights, our efforts would be unproductive if we only aim to provide a conducive environment and meet the nutrient requirements of the gestating sow. Assuming uterine capacity improvement tools (most effective being genetic selection) are not in a nutritionists’ toolbox, then the most paramount target would be to positively influence placental development and function especially in early gestation (when the placenta’s growth is largest and its nutrient requirements are highest) because an inefficient placenta results in fetal loss, low birth weight and stillbirth (Vallet et al., 2009).
Why Rethink Placenta Nutrition?
One would ask, why bring such a perspective in mitigating this problem?
According to Annapurna et al. (2019), human placenta studies agree on the fact that the efficiency in transfer of nutrients and oxygen through the placenta is the primary determinant of birth weight. If that sounds unbelievable, just pause for a minute and imagine how profitable and efficient our pig farms would be if the transport systems and networks that link the farms to the feed suppliers and the slaughter plants were dysfunctional! The same is true when a blood clot blocks blood flow to a critical organ thereby resulting in a life-threatening emergency.
Consider these observations and statements from researchers and literature reviewers:
01. Increased litter size decreases placenta and fetal weights (Lyderik et al., 2023)
02. Placenta of small fetuses have less increase in weight than that of large fetuses by day 42 of gestation (Wright et al., 2016)
03. Lightweight fetuses are associated with placentas of lower weight and area, and shorter umbilical cords (Lyderik et al., 2023)
04. The placenta is a metabolically active organ that has significant nutrient and energy requirements and a higher rate of oxygen consumption than many other fetal and adult tissues (Vaughan et al., 2016)
05. The placenta utilizes about 30 to 40% of the glucose delivered by the maternal circulation (Brown et al., 2017)
06. Whenever the maternal nutrient supply is low, the placenta prioritizes its nutritional needs before the nutrients are made available to the fetus (Brown et al., 2017)
07. When there is a severe deficit in nutrient supplies to meet the placental needs, the functioning of the placenta is compromised to sustain the nutrient supply and health of the mother (Brown et al., 2017). The latter is the concept of self-care like that on an airplane which advice you to secure your own mask first before assisting others. Sadly, a nutritional approach for feeding the placenta has been totally ignored within the industry and surprisingly also remains understudied!
Implications of Placenta Nutrition to Gestation Nutrition
In conclusion, let us reiterate that when maternal nutrient intake is insufficient, the nutrition, health and birth weight of the fetus is negatively affected. To fix this, our focus in the industry has been very broad and mainly focused on meeting the sow’s energy and nutrient requirements while ignoring the most delicate interface, the placenta’s health and nutrition. The placenta determines the delivery of maternally sourced nutrients to the fetus, secretes important hormones and enzymes for the fetus, removes waste products from the fetus, and acts as an immunological barrier to the safeguarding and survival of the fetus. Studies across mammals agree on the fact that the placenta’s efficiency is the primary determinant of birth weight. Hence, the message in this article
was consciously crafted to generate a thought-provoking discussion on a subject that I could safely title, “the missing link in gestation nutrition.” In the next article, I look forward to discussing some time-tested nutritional strategies for enhancing placenta development and function, a factor that would improve sows’ reproductive performance that includes improving birth weights and reducing stillbirths.
References:
Annapurna, Panathula, Dinesh Iallu, and Kiranmai Karnati. "A Morphometric Correlational Study Of Placenta And Umbilical Cord With Fetus." Int J Anat Res 7.3.2 (2019): 6818-23
• Brown, Judith E., et al. Nutrition through the life cycle. Boston (MA): Cengage Learning, 2017
• Feldpausch, Julie A., et al. "Birth weight threshold for identifying piglets at risk for preweaning mortality." Translational Animal Science 3.2 (2019): 633-640
Lyderik, Kimmie K., et al. "Fetal and placental development in early gestation of hyper-prolific sows." Theriogenology 197 (2023): 259-266
Tan, Chengquan, et al. "A review of the amino acid metabolism in placental function response to fetal loss and low birth weight in pigs." Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology 13.1 (2022): 28
Vallet, J. L., J. R. Miles, and B. A. Freking. "Development of the pig placenta." Control of Pig Reproduction VIII; Rodriguez-Martinez, H., Vallet, JL, Ziecik, AJ, Eds (2009): 265-279
Vaughan, Owen R., and Abigail L. Fowden. "Placental metabolism: substrate requirements and the response to stress." Reproduction in Domestic Animals 51 (2016): 25-35
• Wright, Elane C., et al. "Uterine and placenta characteristics during early vascular development in the pig from day 22 to 42 of gestation." Animal reproduction science 164 (2016): 14-22
• Wu, Guoyao, et al. "Board-invited review: intrauterine growth retardation: implications for the animal sciences." Journal of animal science 84.9 (2006): 2316-2337.
New and Improved Formulation
by: Kayla Silva, M.Sc.
Monogastric Nutritionist and Nursery Feed Specialist
Emily Miller, Ph.D. Monogastric On-Farm Technology and Product Performance Specialist
BioForce® Initiate & BioForce® Propel
Improvements in productivity are continuous, and as such, product offerings need to be updated to match these improvements. The dedicated team of Swine Nutritionists at Grand Valley Fortifiers and Fortified Nutrition as well as our partners, AB Neo, are continuously evaluating ingredient offerings available in the market to determine the optimal formulation for products in the nursery phase. Nursery pig nutrition is an important area of focus as the pig weight coming (in and) out of the nursery is predictive of lifetime performance.
Most recently, formulation testing in the early nursery has resulted in a new and improved formulation for BioForce® Initiate and BioForce® Propel. Customers can still expect continued cost-effective nursery products and highly palatable feed. This is achieved in part through optimal levels of milk products, digestible proteins, other essential ingredients, in a plasma-free option. This improved formulation will improve performance during feeding, getting newly weaned piglets off to a great start.
Through internal research trials, piglets receiving the new formulation showed 15% improvement in daily gain, >6% improvement in daily feed intake, and a 7% improvement in FCR while eating the pellets.
5% >6% >15% 7%
improvement in weight improvement in daily intake improvement in daily gain improvement in FCR
Depending on the weaning weight on-farm, find the right pellet to start with the table below.
Follow these products with BioForce® Piglet 180, which is formulated to meet performance goals in a cost-effective way.
Would you like to discuss how these products could fit in your nursery program? Contact your Livestock Business Consultant today or reach out at:
Phone: AB & SK 1-866-610-5770 | MB 1-866-626-3933
Email: info@fortifiednutritionltd.ca
Global Health Update
by: John Carr
BVSc PhD DPM DiplECPHM MRCVS
Grand Valley Fortifiers Consultant, Swine Production
What are the major issues affecting us on this planet?
There would be a few major conditions which I find particularly problematic.
• African Swine Fever (ASF) – obviously
• Influenza viruses – maybe
• Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) – an issue in Ontario at the moment Ear necrosis – what causes it?
Sow mortality Pelvic Organ Prolapse POP – genetic?
Welfare – really?
People – who is even interested in caring for our pigs
• Population – who is going to feed the extra 2 billion people in 2050 and what are we going to feed these pigs on?
I want to start the discussion with the last point:
We are now at 8 billion people in the world in 2025, in the next 25 years we will peak at 10 billion (or there about) after which the population growth rate will fall – and fall faster than it has risen since 1700, resulting in the plateauing and then reduction in the global population.
discussion on food safety, its affecting pork consumption.
Porcine
Epidemic Diarrhea
This winter PED, especially in January we have seen a large spike in PED in Ontario. Due to the snow accumulation, ice build-up, and increase in travel, cleaning and disinfecting is imperative and we need to keep our vigilance well up.
Ear Necrosis
This is a major problem. There is no understanding of its cause. My own belief is this is a trauma injury to the ear associated with the metal feeders in the nursery and an organism called Treponema pedis which lives in metal. This is not a vice like tail biting or ear biting.
Sow
mortality and Pelvic Organ Prolapse
This is discussed a lot, but outside North America, I personally do not see it. But mortality of sow over 6% must be curtailed. My number one issue is feet rather than POP.
My final grist is welfare and people. We care for our pigs but there are groups who hate what we do and will not listen to any reason. I am increasingly in court defending farming practices. But a major problem is people. We have fewer choices of great people to work on the farms and we need to move into more and more robotics, automation, and make our great industry attractive to young people.
Reference:
Why is this relevant
to us?
Because this extra 2 billion people – of which it is inevitable and cannot be stopped – are going to need food. While pigs are no longer the number one protein source for man, we have been outstripped by poultry, pork is still 36% of meat eaten and vital.
In 2024, the planet's population required 14kg of pork per capita. At 8 billion people, there are a billion pigs on this planet at one time. If the pig industry produced 25 pigs per sow per year, we are going to need an additional 10 million sows or producing 250 million more pigs per year to feed another 2 billion people the pork they desire. This is more than the whole of the current North American Industry. Canada is a vital component of feeding the world.
Pathogens – African Swine Fever
This is as significant as ever. For example, last year there was a major outbreak in Ukraine, a concern for me because of the types of farms which fell over, some were genetic farms with supposed great biosecurity. Canadian farms would be at a particular disadvantage, as our farms have no or little perimeter biosecurity. We still do not have a proven vaccine. Watch the Philippines with great interest. But one concern is the complacency of farmers in positive countries. When the disease seems to disappear, it becomes yesterday’s problem.
Influenza H5N1 2.3.4.4b – Avian Influenza
With the occurrence of Influenza H5N1 in a pig in Ohio and the rise of H5N1 in cattle B3.13 and now the new D1.1. It may not happen, but with all of this
Wrap Up
by: Kayla Silva, M.Sc.
Monogastric Nutritionist and Nursery Feed Specialist
Emily Miller, Ph.D.
Monogastric On-Farm Technology and Product Performance Specialist
One of the first swine events each year is the Banff Pork Seminar, hosted at the beautiful Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. The program invites speakers from around the world to deliver a high impact conference. The location of the conference never disappoints, and we were lucky to have beautiful weather. The Banff Pork Seminar is a technology transfer meeting for the pork industry that has been held in Banff, Alberta, Canada since 1972. The conference program is coordinated by the Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, in cooperation with Alberta Pork, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry and other pork industry representatives.
This year’s program included an impressive lineup of speakers, technical sessions, and industry exhibits. From the latest research in animal health to advancements in swine management, the Banff Pork Seminar provided valuable insights to shape the future of the pork industry.
One of the morning production sessions highlighted the recent finds from the “Improving Pig Survivability Project” in the USA, funded by the National Pork Board and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. The first part, by Dr. David Rosero from Iowa State University, summarized the sow research done over the last years, investigating sow pelvic organ prolapse. A perineal score system was developed to assess the risk of prolapse and research is ongoing on this project. Dr. Joel DeRouchey presented the second part of the session, focusing on post-weaning mortality research. Several studies were summarized, with the common goal of maintaining nutrient intake post-weaning, which can be difficult as piglets face an abrupt change from predominately milk consumption to completely solid feed. The outcomes of this larger project have been summarized into a wide range of resources for producers. Go to piglivability.org to learn more about this project and outcomes.
One of the afternoon production sessions focused on Sow Management with three great presentations. First was Jennifer Patterson from the University of Alberta, going over many aspects of gilt development that are critical for sow lifetime productivity. This was followed by Courtney Werth from South West Vets, highlighting the work they are doing with sow bodyweights and pairing it with production data to make management decisions. Finally, Chris Opschoor
New year celebration in Vietnam on farm! But with specialty pork from outside the farm!
Herbs claiming to protect the pigs against ASF.
But ASF control is still biosecurity, biosecurity, and more biosecurity. Love the perimeter fence.
Pelvic Organ Prolapse Poor chiropody
Ear necrosis in nursery pigs
from Topigs Norsvin discussed the critical transition period for sows between gestation and lactation.
During the Nursery Management breakout session, Gilles Langeoire, a swine nutritionist and consultant presented strategies for reducing zinc oxide and antibiotics in the weaned piglet feed which is timely due to the zinc oxide reduction to 300 ppm by July 2027. He highlighted that there is a holistic approach including breeding management such as increasing weaning age, as well as nutrition which included nutrient digestibility and Acid Binding Capacity (ABC). Lowering the crude protein while supplementing with crystalline amino acids would reduce the undigested protein leading to less fermentation in the hind gut and reducing scour pressure on farm. Using highly digestible proteins such as whey powder or potato protein concentrate, where the protein digestibility is over 90% will improve the gut health of piglets. Acid Binding Capacity refers to the resistance of a feedstuff to the pH reduction by gastric acid. When looking at ABC, it is important to know that energy has little impact, while protein and largely minerals increase this value. One way to lower the ABC value is to choose organic acids, as well as low ABC calcium sources such as monocalcium phosphate. Having an ideal ABC level will improve protein digestibility, enhance growth performance and reduce proteolytic fermentation. Overall the Banff Pork Congress provided a wealth of knowledge on all aspects of Swine Health, Management and Nutrition, while being able to connect with customers and colleagues from Fortified Nutrition and Grand Valley Fortifiers, and other members of the industry across the country. We were proud to support this headline industry event.
Please visit Inside BPS for more additional communication about the sessions, provided by the Banff Pork Seminar Communications Team: www.insidebps.com/bps_2025-blog.php
Deadstock and Biosecurity
by: Aidan Gillespie Category Manager, Farmers Depot
In the fall of 2024, Farmers Depot was pleased to introduce Agri Incineration Systems (AIS) incinerators for the disposal of deadstock to swine and poultry producers in Canada. Given Farmers Depot’s extensive commitment to the protection of animals and the livelihoods of those who feed them, incineration was a natural extension of our biosecurity product line. Currently, there are several options for producers to dispose of deadstock: collection for rendering, composting, burying, or incineration.
The advantages of incineration over other deadstock disposal methods include:
Incineration offers the opportunity to eliminate deadstock inside the perimeter of the barn. With all other methods, it is necessary to move the deadstock outside the barn. The process of moving deadstock to a resting place outside of the perimeter of the barn represents a biosecurity risk via the equipment used to transport the deadstock.
• When compared to composting, incineration does not attract scavengers, such as coyotes, bald eagles or turkey vultures. These animals are not scavenging exclusively at individual barns and pose a biosecurity risk as they can carry potential pathogens (or deadstock) from farm to farm.
• Incineration offers the quickest method of disposal eliminating the disease risk posed by storing deadstock on-site.
What to consider when selecting an Incinerator manufacturer:
There are few companies who specialize in the manufacturing of incinerators, and generally they market their products internationally. As we compared all the options within the industry, Farmers Depot selected AIS based on the following advantages:
01. Longest warranty in the industry – 3 years or 2,100 hours.
02. The incinerator chamber is made from a monolithic concrete pour with stainless steel anchors, rather than brick, making it the industry leading option for longevity.
03. Deadstock is reduced to ash representing 3% of original body weight. This is safe to utilize as fertilizer.
04. All models include a secondary chamber that burns the smoke at high temperatures, eliminating smoke and odour.
05. AIS offers multiple models to match the specific needs of swine or poultry farms.
06. AIS has partnered with Farmers Depot to do the servicing and supply parts locally, reducing maintenance and repairs costs for producers.
Incinerator Regulations
From a regulatory perspective, incineration is a viable option in Canada, with provincial authorities applying their specific requirements.
Government Assistance
The final opportunity is with grants from individual provinces for deadstock disposal. In the fall of 2024, Ontario had grants available for up to $100,000 per project, to a maximum of 3 projects per farm, at a cost share of 40% that is covered by the government. We are optimistic that the deadstock funding will once again return across the country to help producers invest in protection of their animals and the livelihoods of those who care for those animals.
If you would like to learn more about incineration and receive a quote for an incinerator matched to your operations size, please reach out to me at: aidangillespie@farmersdepot.ca or 1-866-527-6229.
Commodity Outlook
by: JP Thibault Business Development Manager
A lot of water went under the bridge since we reported about the markets. The USDA completely muddied the waters with their January WASDE report and their acreages projection from the February Outlook Conference. The weather in South America has become a problem, with below-normal rainfall for parts of Brazil and Argentina. Despite this, Brazil is still forecasting a record soybean harvest.
The tariff war with the USA is intensifying with new tariffs and a new chapter should be written a few days after composing this text (early April). China has also added its two cents to the tariff war by imposing tariffs on Canadian canola, pork and beef, among other things. There is always a lot of uncertainty about the consequences, and they can be very different depending on the angle of attack that the US will decide to take. In December, we reported record levels of crushing for the month of October, but these levels were beaten again in November and December. The February NOPA Crush Report had a different story, as it reported a decline in Vegetable Oil demand because of many factors (i.e.: avian flu, Biodiesel US policy etc.). Combining the uncertainties of the USA/ China trade war with the surplus of meal, buying opportunities are definitely present at the moment, especially for canola meal. Our position has not changed, and it is always good to price a commodity when it reaches a new low to avoid volatility, however the trade war could force us to take long term contracts to avoid market fluctuations.
Thought of the Day!
10 Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.
11 Wisdom along with an inheritance is good and an advantage to those who see the sun.
12 For wisdom is [a]protection just as money is [b]protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.
Ecclesiastes 7:10 – 12 NASB
In Ecclesiastes we’re given access to wisdom from King Solomon (we believe), who the Bible claims was the wisest man who ever lived. In these verses he reminds us how wise people learn from the past but live in the present with all its opportunities. He also reveals that wisdom is like an inheritance in that both provide protection, but wisdom is better, as it can preserve the lives of those who possess it.
