What happens if the agent that causes swine dysentery is detected, but there is no disease? This is how can it be diagnosed and the consequences to the herd.

A small cart is parked at the end of the aisle of each farrowing room, just below a dry feed distribution line.

Today's swine industry depends on a supply of properly balanced feed, the quality and safety of which are critical to pig health, welfare, and maximum productive performance.

This case describes the deferred lesions resulting from tail biting and quantifies the losses it causes.

After four months of being at the limit, the price is gliding down - seemingly without panic - in search of a bottom.

Eight years ago, Granja Capdevila Torrent Ramaders started up its biogas production plant using co-digestion and is now an example of economic viability and sustainability.

Spain is the first EU country to legislate the installation of video surveillance systems in slaughterhouses, following the example of England, Scotland, and Israel.

Data sheet with the nutritional value (table comparison) and most recent studies about sweet whey.

We must assure correct management, primarily in the following points: Number of animals / drinker, placement, flow, control of water consumption, design and height of the drinker.

A plastic safety fence, like those used in construction, is used to create a barrier between the doors, allowing one person to control sow movement.

In the search for solutions, it is possible to identify and implement effective management strategies to improve the engagement and performance of the younger generation of farm employees.

What laboratory diagnostic methods can I use to diagnose swine dysentery? Which one should I choose according to the situation? How do I interpret the results?

A commercial product is formed by a combination of the active ingredients and excipients. The active ingredient is the compound with therapeutic properties and the excipient is what is added to transform the active ingredients into a combination suitable for administration.

The farmer decided to use a facility that was previously used for finishing pigs for the final growth phase of gilts. He adapted the liquid feeders to be able to feed dry feed semi-ad libitum.

The Spanish pig price can only go down. The million-dollar question is when.

Knowing the pattern of pig drinking behavior is essential for effective treatments.

Enric Marco examines the reasons why the average age at weaning has not yet reached 28 days in Spain.

Every 10 years, the Agricultural Census provides a snapshot of French agriculture. In 2020, metropolitan France had 389,779 farms (-20% in 10 years).

Are we forgetting the importance of vitamin levels in the post-weaning diet in the post-zinc oxide era?

This article describes different techniques that can be applied, in order of priority, to prevent NH₃ and CH₄ emissions.

Collecting data at the slaughterhouse is a common method to obtain information on health and productive parameters, mainly from the last weeks of a pig’s life.

By May 2023, 85% of all Danish pig herds have a serological PRRS status. Area eradication programs have been established in regions with a high density of PRRS seropositive herds. The Danish Agriculture & Food Council has taken a range of initiatives with the purpose of paving the road for a national reduction of PRRS, including an implementation strategy, digital tools, common guidelines for the classification, monitoring, and eradication of PRRSV, and project funding resources.

Mercolleida has had the same price for the 13th time in a row. Spain continues to have the most expensive pig price in the world in what is now known as the "Spanish Miracle".

We must know the environmental conditions to be able to correctly estimate water consumption.

S. suis outbreaks are frequently associated with co-infections and stress factors identified as potential triggers, but the natural infection process is not fully understood, so, we wanted to know what the condition is for naturally affected pigs.

Does more available space for finishing pigs improve production? Should we aim to have homogenous weight groups? This study assesses the effect of different elements on finishing performance.

A systematic review evaluating the effects of inducing farrowing on stillbirth rate, birth weight, preweaning mortality, weaning weight, farrowing duration, and colostrum and milk characteristics.

Here we will focus the discussion on the practical applications and on lessons learned from recent field studies on response strategies for PRRSV management in affected breeding herds.

In this first article on emissions, Xavier Flotats explains how the main greenhouse gases and ammonia are generated on our farms.

Upon medicating water, the doses should be repeated with a time interval that prevents plasma levels from dropping below the minimum effective concentration and exceeding the toxic concentration.

What laboratory diagnostic methods can I use to diagnose influenza A? Which one should I choose according to the situation? How do I interpret the results?

There are many types of do-it-yourself sow card holders for farms, but this one stands out thanks to its simplicity and functionality.

We asked Rosa Pujol, 333's longest-standing employee to tell us about the beginnings of the website a quarter of a century ago.

Íñigo González explains the biosecurity measures taken in Hypor genetic nucleus and multiplication farms.

What implications do current hog prices in Spain have for exports and slaughterhouses? How will we manage the typical reduced supply in the summer, exacerbated this year by PRRS?

With a sensitivity and specificity comparable to that of PCR, LAMP reaction can be done on-site in the field for practical “Point-of-Care” results with minimal waiting.

Medicating water using a tank is an easy and flexible method used to administer drugs, but it can be imprecise if the products we use aren’t totally soluble.

The gut-lung axis: New tools for improving the control of PRRS virulence and persistence at farm level.

We continue to talk about subpopulations within the farm. Here, we discuss how to optimize the sow group according to parity number to improve productivity.

Use a waist bag to always have the supplies you need for farrowing assistance at hand.

Mistakes to avoid when receiving, sampling, and storing raw materials in the pig feed mill.

This award recognizes farms that excel in the areas of quality, biosecurity, health, animal welfare, and reducing environmental impact.

This article presents the main characteristics of the vaccines that can be found on the market.

Slaughterhouses will suffer a very complicated summer; in addition to the normal lack of pigs, there will be the absence of hundreds of thousands of piglets, victims of PRRS. Sooner rather than later, we will only be able to slaughter just four days a week.

To ensure that each piglet intakes enough colostrum and to help the smallest piglets get it, split suckling should be used.

In this article, we focus on the key aspects of management to optimize performance from this genetic line of sows. We talked with Carlos Martins.

Do we really comply with the order of farm visits as indicated by the biosecurity protocols?

Farrowing induction is needed to improve the ability of farm staff to supervise farrowing, but you need to be strategic; do not induce unless evidence says it is needed.

This article provides an example of the cost per ton of CO₂ saved by reducing direct greenhouse gas emissions through daily slurry removal and anaerobic digestion.

You can also facilitate your work using our Water Medication Calculator to perform the calculations.

Quality is essential for the sustainability, reliability, and profitability of any company. In pig production, we can also apply the integral concept of quality starting with the purchase of raw materials and feed.

European and American users are optimistic and forecast prices even higher than current levels, while in Asia the forecasts are lower.

What laboratory diagnostic methods can I use to diagnose atrophic rhinitis? Which one should I choose according to the situation? How do I interpret the results?

The self-sufficiency rate of pig production in the EU will tend to decrease, approaching 110% instead of 125% as it has been until recently. Burset reviews the situation in the leading countries.

We often talk about costs in swine production, especially feed costs, but little is said about the impact that the feed mill can have on the farm's performance and profitability.

Are you aware that using certain medications in acidified water may limit their efficacy? Do you know the pH of the water before starting a medication in water?

The collection of tongues from stillborn piglets as a system to monitor the stability at farrowing serves to improve PRRS virus detection.

Javier Lorente tells us how to make newly weaned piglets comfortable and, above all, how to get them to start drinking and eating as soon as possible.

The concept of precision feeding and the goal of improving the efficiency of essential nutrient utilization is considered an innovative technique in swine research in recent years.

The key problem is that much of the profit reduction (lost opportunity) is caused by a subset (often relatively small) of the total barn population.