Swine Grist

CENTRAL & ATLANTIC EDITION

A PERIODIC NEWSLETTER PRODUCED BY GRAND VALLEY FORTIFIERS

SPRING 2025

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

Liquid Feeding Update

by: Drew Woods, M.Sc. Manager of Monogastric Nutrition

Liquid feeding of pigs remains a common and economical means of swine production, and we would like to take the time to refresh our memories on how to get the best results. The definition of liquid feeding is a computer-controlled feeding system that delivers a liquid (soup) ration to pigs. There are various computer software companies that manufacture and support these feed installations, but are predominantly European, as this is where liquid feeding is most common. Having a computercontrolled system is great for automation of the feeding process, for record

1-800-567-4400 grandvalley.com

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 companiess

keeping, and control over feed intakes, but with technology comes common problems. In a liquid feeding system, there are many moving parts such as pipes, valves, sensors, and other items that can break, the management of the system is more intensive, and has a higher set up cost.

In this article we will cover some best practices of liquid feeding and how to get the most out of your liquid feed system.

System Hygiene

When working with liquid feed, there is a much higher risk of bacterial, yeast and mold contamination relative to dry feed. With this risk, system hygiene becomes very important to ensure fresh and clean feed is delivered at each feeding. While some ingredients have naturally low pH (< 7), this does not necessarily provide

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

the protection needed. To reduce the possibility of contamination, an ingredient should be preserved to a pH of less than 4.5. This ensures maximum protection from bacteria such as E.coli, Strep, and Salmonella, while still creating a beneficial environment for good bacteria like Lactobacillus. However, a low pH on its own is not enough to ensure the correct bacterial profile, you must achieve it with the right products. While inorganic acids are strong and can easily reduce pH, they lack the chemical properties to allow them to kill the bacteria, this is where only an organic acid should be used for preservation. There are many different individual organic acids or blends that can be used for this purpose.

Feed Mixing and Dosing

Creating quality liquid feed is not as simple as adding your liquid and dry ingredients in the tank and dosing them out. Sequencing is very important, as well as mixing times to get maximum feed quality. This will ensure maximum soaking time and proper mixing. Start and end with the largest volume ingredients to insure you allow for proper dosage and that any smaller volume ingredients are pushed into the tank by the larger ones. After all ingredients are added, mix for 5-10 minutes. Longer mixing times increases the risk of increasing oxygen content and provides a favourable environment for aerobic microorganisms. There are different mixing tank designs, but some of the more common ones are as follows: round sided, square sided, closed top, open top. With open and closed top systems, there are factors to consider ensuring high feed quality. On a closed top system, you can prevent contaminants from falling into the tank, but it is more difficult to clean and inspect. An open tank system is easier to clean and inspect, but it allows for much easier feed contamination via foreign objects falling into the tank. This can not only be an issue for feed contamination, but if objects such as pieces of metal, wood or plastic fall in, they can also break downstream equipment. To mitigate this risk, a good stone trap is essential in the feed line after the mixing tank.

Ingredient Storage

When working with dry ingredients, storage is not as difficult compared to liquid products. The benefit of a liquid feeding system outside of its automated capabilities is the ability to use liquid co-products from the human food and biofuel industries. When setting up storage for co-products, there should be a capacity of at least 40 MT per tank. This allows for full truck loads to fit into a tank and have room for agitation and examination. Proper agitation allows for the liquid products to be kept in suspension and ensure a uniform product is being dosed into the liquid mix. Products should be agitated for 5 minutes prior to dosing into the feed mixing tank. To get the best agitation possible, the use of paddles and baffles in the storage tank will allow for mixing throughout the product. Recirculation is a popular method of “agitating” co-products due to its lower cost of implementation, but this simply moves small amounts of product in a circular pattern, and it does not prevent settling out of solids from co-products. Having the ability to monitor and preserve co-products is key to proper storage and keeping feed quality at its highest.

Sampling

While following all of the best practices listed above, sampling is still needed to ensure that all feeds and ingredients are not losing feed value or being misused. In an ideal situation, dry matter and pH will be monitored on each delivery. This can be achieved with cost effective, on-farm devices. More complex testing such as protein and mineral analysis should be done via an accredited lab and has a slight lag time associated with it. All results should be reviewed with your nutrition supplier to allow for changes to complimentary products if needed. This is just a subsection of the complexity of liquid feed management. If you are interested in learning more or are considering implementing liquid feeding on your farm, reach out to a Grand Valley Fortifiers Swine Specialist today for a detailed assessment of your installation and the possibilities that exist with liquid feeding.

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.

World population growth, 1700-2100

Reference: Our World in Data

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.

But ASF control is still biosecurity, biosecurity, and more biosecurity. Love the perimeter fence.

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 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.

New year celebration in Vietnam on farm! But with specialty pork from outside the farm!

Herbs claiming to protect the pigs against ASF.

Ear necrosis in nursery pigs

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.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse

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.

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

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.

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.

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. For example, Ontario does have a regulatory requirement for incinerators within the province to have an ETV (Environmental Technology Verification) certification. At the time of writing, we are in the process of receiving this certification.

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 to help producers invest in protection of their animals and the livelihoods of those who care for those animals.

Depending on the weaning weight on-farm, find the right pellet to start with in 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: 1-800-567-4400 | Text: 519-239-6859

Email: customerservice@grandvalley.com

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.

Poor chiropody

Join us in Welcoming Our New Customer Service Manager!

Neta Wharehoka Customer Service Manager

It is with great pleasure that we introduce you to Neta Wharehoka, our new Customer Service Manager who will oversee the Grand Valley Fortifiers customer service team for Ontario. Neta comes to us with over 20 years of customer service and managerial experience and considers herself to be “an expert in the field of people”! Her passion for customers and her team was very evident throughout the interview process and this characteristic was a must have as we searched for the right candidate.

In her most recent role, Neta was the store manager of the Peavy Mart located right next door to our production facility in Cambridge, ON where she often served the same clientele our Valley Feeds retail store does. Neta grew up on a dairy farm in New Zealand where she was actively involved with helping her parents run the farm. It's been 20 years since she's been back farming, but she is looking forward to reengaging with the farming community in her new Customer Service Manager role.

Please join us in welcoming Neta to our team, her first day with us was January 6, 2025.

If you have any questions for our team, please feel free to contact Neta at: netawharehoka@grandvalley.com | 519-621-0241 ext.2264

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.

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 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

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.