Livestock producers could take a cue from their crop brethren and adopt some precision technology to be more efficient. That advice comes from ag economist and swine industry specialist Dennis DiPietre, who spoke at the Boehringer Ingelheim swine health seminar in North Carolina on Friday. “It’s a really interesting road map what has been going on with precision agriculture techniques,” …
Oral Fluid Testing for Hogs
Testing saliva for human diseases has been around for as long as a century, but it was only about a decade ago that someone thought it might work for livestock as well. The swine industry is getting very close to being able to detect the presence of disease in a herd using a rope that pigs can chew on and …
Evaluating Prevention vs Treatment of Swine Diseases
Swine producers need to carefully evaluate the costs of prevention versus treatment when it comes to disease in their herds. “We need to try to categorize the different types of diseases, as to whether it has a real good type of treatment, a low cost type of treatment, or maybe a high cost animal health problem if we do get …
Air Filtration Provides Promise for PRRS Control
Better control of the air that hogs breathe offers the greatest promise for preventing the transmission of PRRSv that the industry has ever seen. That is what Dr. Scott Dee with the Swine Disease Eradication Center in Minnesota told producers attending the Boehringer Ingelheim swine health seminar in North Carolina. We have chatted with Dr. Dee before here on Agwired …
Golden Rule of PRRSv Control
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. (BIVI) is passionate about pigs, which is why working with producers to control PRRSv is so important to them. Dale Polson, with technical resources in the swine segment of BIVI, was first up on the company’s annual swine health seminar in Carolina Beach today and his presentation talked about the “Golden Rule” of PRRS control. “Transmit …
BIVI Swine Health Seminar Starts With a Bang
The annual Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. (BIVI) North Carolina Swine Health Seminar started off with a seafood supper and fireworks on the beach Thursday night. The location is beautiful Carolina Beach at the Courtyard Marriott and the weather was beautiful this evening. The event will include a day long business session on Friday featuring the latest in swine health information …
World Pork Expo Wrap Up
Despite the challenges facing the hog industry, there were still thousands of producers who attended World Pork Expo earlier this month in Des Moines. Officials estimate attendance was about 14,625, down from 2008, but it was expected due to the impact of the H1N1 virus on international travel. Even though there were less international visitors at Expo this year, the …
Boehringer Ingelheim Focused on PRRS
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a major focus for Boehringer Ingelheim, which sponsored a press conference at the recent World Pork Expo to talk about some of the latest in PRRS-control strategies. Dr. Reid Phillips, with BI’s Swine Enteric Technical Services, says they strive to encourage collaborative research in the field and continue to evaluate their modified live …
Novus International Partners With Chr. Hansen
NOVUS International signed an agreement last week at World Pork Expo with Chr. Hansen to provide the direct fed microbial BioPlus 2B® for swine producers in the United States. BioPlus 2B® contains two strains of Bacillus (Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis). These Bacillus strains can improve the intestinal microbial balance of swine. Safety studies have proven that BioPlus 2B® strains …
Hog Industry Outlook at WPX
A media event at World Pork Expo sponsored by Fort Dodge Animal Health gave the outlook in several different areas for hog producers – the market, H1N1 and control of Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2). It goes without saying that the market outlook is pretty dismal. University of Missouri professor emeritus Glenn Grimes summarized his forecast simply. “Farrows trending down, …