Joan Wennberg discusses with different experts how do they think that the ideal mating area design should be.

The immune, endocrine and central nervous systems communicate through anatomical and hormonal-neuropeptides pathways.

Sow nutrition research has historically been only about 2% of the swine scientific literature, but new commercial facilities are changing this.

30 years ago, the idea of setting up a conveyor belt like the ones that are (or were) used in poultry farming appeared.

Most infections with occupational diseases occur at slaughter, when humans handle potentially infected meat or body fluids. We’ll introduce two major ones here: erysipelas and S. suis infection.

Returns increase in a PRRS-positive farm in the middle of a census increase plus a change of management in the batch farrowing system, from 3 weeks to 1.

The most difficult thing for sows is learning to open doors. Here we show an easy and practical way to achieve it.

Some of the take-home messages of this article are: M. hyo transmits slowly within exposed populations, but pigs can shed for long periods of time.

The impact of Chinese tariffs on US pork, the pork exports picture, feed costs forecast and more...

Practical implications of a study that analyzes the consequences of litter standardization by weight or number and the supply of creep feeding.

Total born, use of toxin binder, farrowing assistance and health status show an association with sow mortality due to uterine prolapses.

Joan Aparicio and Lluís Ferrer share their experience on how to prepare the replacement animals with Joan Wennberg.

The skin is the first defensive line, as is the largest organ of the body.

Let’s hope that spring makes consumption grow. The foreign markets hesitate, and it will not be easy to sell the European surpluses.

Enric Marco comments on the practical implications of a recent research article about PEDv excretion in semen.

One of the main tools to encourage the installation of extra lighting in the mating area is the data analysis, and more specifically the weaning-to-service interval.

Intestinal integrity is just as relevant as vaccination protocols in inducing adequate immunity to environmental challenges.

When we must treat many animals (e.g. when blanket vaccinations or antiparasitic treatments must be administered), injections must be fast.

Total forecasted average profitability for the year has eroded some, from about $25/head to around $12/head in the US.

Vitamin D₃ plays a central role in the immune response of swine . 25-OH D₃ may be a more efficient source to improve vitamin D status of pigs than cholecalciferol.

Percentage of prolapsed sows has consistently increased every year, from 4.8 in 2012 to 10.2% in 2016.

Gilt acclimation was performed in 78% surveyed European farms; vaccination, alone or combined with natural exposure to infected animals, was the main used strategy.

It is very important to analyze new PRRSV sequences against a broad reference set representing the farm, the system and the region, as well as the sequences of available commercial vaccines (this will make it possible to differentiate between field and vaccine strains).

It is very likely that the swine nutrition industry will be shaped in the near future by the study of the microbiome.

The structural deficit of pigs in Germany and the latent ASF threat have caused an important increase in prices that has dragged all the European markets.

Increasing feed intake in late gestation improves very little body weight gain of gilts and sows and increases stillborn rate.

The average piglet birth weight from the 3 groups of vaccinated sows was statistically higher than that from the unvaccinated sows.

Three factors must be taken into account when defining the viability of the elimination of M. hyopneumoniae on each farm: negative replacements, cost and return on investment, and risk of re-infection.

The diseases shared by livestock and wildlife involve many players: mainly farmers, but also hunters and different public administrations.

Modern startup farms may have less pressure of respiratory diseases infection in winter as they usually have good ventilation design. However, the clinical case described here is an App outbreak in a startup farm with modernized ventilation design.

Huge supplies, increasing production and an efficient, coordinated global chain fuels low cost soybean meal, cheap feed and high profits.

After reviewing some of the main hazards for pork producers in previous articles, this article is devoted to practical measures describing how to reduce risks of illnesses and injuries from those hazards.

The threat of ASF in Germany causes that nobody wants to keep greats stocks because of the risk that they become ‘unsaleable’. This attitude of selling at all costs has caused a collapse of meat prices in Europe.

Floor cooling is based on the conduction of heat from the sow to a sink while lying down.

The compounds responsible of boar taint can be reduced through feeding strategies, genetic selection and good management practices.

No single strategy will confer total protection. A well-orchestrated combination of various methods adjusted to a single production unit or system will be needed.

Weaning one or several weeks straight into pens, a week worth of space can be gained

Combining the use of low levels of dietary protein with highly digestible protein sources and certain probiotics can be a good strategy in the face of the increasing restrictions on the use of antibiotics in feed.

This article describes the main diseases that wild boars can transmit to the domestic pig, their prevalences and transmission routes. It also discusses the increase of the wild boar population in Europe.

How serious is the possibility that US corn production could undergo a substantial reduction in the coming crop year?

As of today, with 2017 almost ended, the annual Spanish pig price (arithmetic, not weighted) mean is €1.26/kg LW.

Mucosal surfaces, constantly exposed to foreign antigens, have developed the ability to protect the host from potentially harmful organisms by means of innate and acquired immune responses.

After over 20 years of research effort, the question of how to balance efforts in Salmonella control among the preharvest, harvest, and post-harvest sectors remains alive, but ‘silver bullets’ for on-farm control of Salmonella in pigs have proven elusive.

Illness and injuries can cost serious economic, physical, and emotional health issues that can deter from an efficient and enjoyable production system and home life. In this article, I will list several categories of health and safety issues for workers.

Spain is, regarding pig census, the third country in the world in relation to pig production, behind China and the USA, and the fourth as pork producer because Germany fattens many piglets imported from The Netherlands and Denmark, and it also slaughters pigs from these and other countries.

Frequently, diseases become established on a farm because we culture them.

Enric Marco discusses a trial that concludes that the later the infection by M. hyorhinis occurs, the less serious it is. This information can be very useful to devise new control strategies in the era of antibiotic reduction.

Does a high growth rate really increase the risk of osteochondrosis and lameness?

Dr. Robert Morrison created the Swine Health Monitoring Project in 2011 and, after his tragic loss, in May 2017 the program was renamed.

The farmer contacted the veterinary surgeon concerning an increase of subcutaneous haemorrhages and bruises in the skin of several piglets in eight different litters. No deaths have yet been attributed to the problem.

Resist, resist and resist should be the motto for the first three months of 2018.

We come to the close of a year filled with happy surprises in the hog industry. 2018 will be a year of continued growth in income for most nations throughout the world. Higher incomes bring more demand for pork.

Curiously, when I started to think about it, what I had considered as my number one mistake for most of my professional life became the fifth in importance.

Weaning is a critical event in the pig’s life. It is a very important and stressful transition that, if not handled properly, can be responsible for the occurrence of diarrhoea and/or poorly adapted piglets.

The answer is no. We only know how to feed the average pig of a certain genetic composition, and sex.

This article offers a new alternative to plastic feed scoops, the use of a 5/10-liter can made of strong plastic and with a built-in handle.

This is one of the parameters that must be established between producers and the meat industry as it affects food safety, animal welfare and meat quality.

What is a priority and what is not? It depends on the risks and the PRRSV status of the farm…

The article explains how to manage nurse sows in 3-week batch farrowing systems with a practical example.