The farms of the future will likely use Cloud computing and real-time data to monitor livestock production. These emerging technologies present a huge opportunity in places like the Asia Pacific region, where everything is growing and pig production is booming, according to Art Frio, independent pig production and nutrition consultant. “There will be hesitation, as always. New things come at …
Aptimmune Vaccines Gaining Popularity
Aptimmune is looking to grow its presence in the swine vaccine market with the success of Barricade for porcine reproductive & respiratory syndrome (PRRS). “It’s kind of an exciting time because we launched the product over a year ago and we’ve got customers that are using the product, evaluating it in a number of trials,” said Steve Berger, director of …
Aptimmune Shares Barricade Vaccine Field Data
In the year since Aptimmune launched the Barricade vaccine to fight porcine reproductive & respiratory syndrome (PRRS), the company has been gathering field data from 30 different veterinarians in 12 different states. “We’ve been able to see a 50 percent reduction in mortality across the board, so it’s been very rewarding,” said Dr. Jessica Seate, professional service veterinarian for Aptimmune. …
Aptimmune Completes $6 Million Series B Funding
Aptimmune Biologics has completed its Series B funding initiative, raising more than $6 million from several investors. This increases the combined total investment to almost $9 million, generated by the company through three rounds of funding. “Aptimmune is thrilled to receive strong investor support during this critical time in our development,” said Aaron Gilbertie, Aptimmune CEO. “The Series B funds …
Proposed Rule to Modernize Swine Inspection
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced its continued effort to modernize inspection systems through science-based approaches to food safety. USDA is proposing to amend the federal meat inspection regulations to establish a new voluntary inspection system for market hog slaughter establishments called the New Swine Slaughter Inspection System (NSIS), while also requiring additional pathogen sampling for all …
Nebraska Farmer Named America’s Pig Farmer of the Year
Leslie McCuiston, a pig farmer from Columbus, Nebraska, has been named the 2017 America’s Pig Farmer of the Year. According to the National Pork Board, the award recognizes a pig farmer who excels at raising pigs using the We Care ethical principles and who connects with today’s consumers about how pork is produced. McCuiston received the highest combined score from …
Quarterly Hogs & Pigs Report
The Pork Checkoff hosted the USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report on Thursday, June 29, 2017. This quarterly teleconference featured three agricultural economists and their reactions to the report. Panelists included: Dr. Lee Schulz, Extension Livestock Economist, Iowa State University Dr. Scott Brown, Assistant Extension Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia Joe Kerns, President, Kerns & Associates, Ames, IA Reports seemed to …
A World of First’s in PRRSV Research
The world’s only provider of mucosal PRRSV and flu vaccines, Aptimmue, officially launched during the 2017 World Pork Expo. The vaccine utilizes the BARRICADE proprietary technologies and takes advantage of high-titer PRRSV antigen produced on ZMAC, the world’s only commercially available porcine based alveolar macrophage cell line. During the launch, I sat down with Dr. Jianqiang Zhang, Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, …
Aptimmune Launches World’s First Mucosal PRRSV Vaccine
On opening day of World Pork Expo, Aptimmune Biologics launched the world’s first commercially available mucosal PRRSV vaccine for swine administered via nasal spray. Aptimmune’s autogenous mucosal PRRS vaccine utilizes the BARRICADE® proprietary vaccine technology, which offers producers and veterinarians a revolutionary approach to PRRSV management. The mucosal vaccine offers a new class of vaccine to combat a devastating and …
#WPX17: A Showcase of the Pork Industry
This week we hit the agriblogging highway for the 2017 World Pork Expo at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) hosts the annual event taking place June 7-9 and will feature the world’s largest pork-specific trade show, educational seminars, youth and open swine shows, market outlook sessions and of course pork of all …