Articles

After weaning, endogenous hydrochloric acid production is still limited, which raises stomach pH and compromises pepsin activity, affecting protein digestibility and favoring pathogen growth.

This second article from the WelfarePIGnet project describes practices for improving pig access to feed and drinking water, including the costs of implementing them.

The opportunities are real, but several challenges are holding the industry back.

How does heat stress affect animal growth and meat quality?

We need a container for syringes, needles, medicine bottles, sprays, and markers. Sometimes you see improvised and inadequate containers on farms, but the one presented here is very simple and functional.

This installment focuses on the effects of heat stress on sow fertility.

Guillem Burset explains the reasons for the exceptional drop in pig prices in Spain during July.

In this installment, we will discover how heat stress affects the digestive tract of pigs.

Genetic improvement is key in livestock production, playing an essential role in achieving a modern, efficient, and sustainable pig production model.

Chronic inflammation is one of the main challenges in modern pig production, affecting intestinal health, productive performance, and feed efficiency. In light of increasing pressure to reduce antibiotic use, functional nutrition emerges as a key tool.

The good domestic crop contrasts with global uncertainty: currency, geopolitics, and funds continue to drive prices in the short and long term.

This IFIP study provides unprecedented results on methane reduction using a slurry cooling system, not previously published by other teams.

Professor Nauwynck has been researching PCV2 virus since the emergence of PCV2-associated diseases. PCV2 caused a serious crisis in global swine health that was ultimately addressed through the development and mass deployment of effective PCV2 vaccines. He is an excellent connoisseur of this small virus that continues to surprise us.

Digestive diseases in pigs that were previously addressed individually, targeting a single pathogen, now form a digestive disease complex that we must confront from various angles.

Hans Nauwynck defines himself as a veterinary virologist, a person who works in a laboratory setting, doing precise work, like a surgeon, aiming to gain a better understanding of how animal viruses interact with their target cells. But it is much more. His deep understanding of the biological behavior of viruses allows him to fluently explain many of the “whys” that are so important for a better understading of the pathogenesis of viral diseases and the development of effective control strategies.

Communication in the swine industry today faces a double challenge. On the one hand, there is a real need to transparently show the sector's work to an increasingly distrustful consumer, who is either uninformed or saturated with emotional messages. On the other hand, we must do so in a changing digital environment, which rewards the authentic, the emotional, and the useful.

One of the major challenges during weaning is post-weaning diarrhea, impacting nearly 25% of piglets in European countries. A promising strategy to boost resilience and help piglets navigate the stress of weaning can be, among others, the use of phytogenics.

Spanish slaughterhouses are between a rock and a hard place. The heat will accentuate the supply shortage. Pig prices are increasing or staying the same, pork prices are decreasing, and consequently, margins are deteriorating.

Price expectations vary by continent.

On December 6, 2024, the final trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur was signed. This agreement is considered historic due to its magnitude, creating a goods and services market of approximately 800 million consumers and representing a quarter of the global GDP.

Who talks about inflammation? We all might mention it when we exercise too much – aching joints, stiffness – or is it just we are all getting older…? But we do not really talk about inflammation much. And certainly, when we think about our livestock, we do not really mention it at all. Well…we should.

PRRS control measures also reduce the opportunities for different wild-type viruses to recombine and create more aggressive strains.

Genetic mutation and evolution of PRRSV can occur across all genes. Unlike ORF5, which only represents about 4% of the PRRSV genome, NGS can recover a whole PRRSV genome to be used in epidemiological investigations.

In this commentary, we review various issues affecting the swine market: the blackout in Spain, corporate concentration, the evolution of carcass weights, Trump's policy....

The UK ships around 7,000 tonnes of pig meat to the US annually, making it the fourth largest destination for UK product. The vast majority of this is made up of loins, fore-ends and bellies.

Fewer losses, lower medication costs, and a better feed conversion ratio result in a 100% ROI on this depopulation-repopulation project.

Two models of exoskeletons were tested on farms to evaluate whether they improved working conditions during piglet vaccination.

The market is hyper-reactive, reacting to every piece of news in one direction or another. Let's try to focus on it.

Mammals, such as pigs, have a keen attraction to sweet tastes. They are able to perceive the five basic tastes: umami, sweet, bitter, sour, and salty. Sugars such as sucrose, glucose, and lactose are especially attractive to them. This trait seems to have evolved as a natural mechanism for detecting high-calorie energy sources.

In 2024, the Latin American swine industry continued to show outstanding performance, reaffirming its potential, resilience, and capacity to adapt to the challenges facing the sector in a complex market environment. However, given the current geopolitical circumstances, reconfiguration of international pork trade flows in Latin America is expected in 2025 as a result of retaliation against the tariffs imposed by the United States.

Low-dose acidification of liquid manure is a novel approach that could be a flexible and cost-effective technology for climate action.

Guillem Burset analyzes the situation in the Spanish market and the possible effects of Trump's tariff policy on pork trade.

The use of dietary fiber in sow nutrition is rapidly evolving and is now considered a functional component in nutrition due to its effects on gut functionality, microbiota balance, and the modulation of digestion and metabolism.

The first three years of the Danish PRRS reduction strategy have shown that it is possible to control and reduce the prevalence of PRRS in Danish pig production.

Phosphorus is an essential mineral for bone mineralization, energy metabolism, and nucleic acid synthesis. Therefore, strategies to maximize the utilization of phosphorus present in cereals and legumes used in swine nutrition are important, such as the use of phytases. This data sheet describes the structure, types, mechanism of action, and application of phytases.

We are sharing an example of a sow card used to record basic breeding sow data, which is essential on all farms regardless of their size.

The pig industry in Africa holds great potential as a key driver for food security, income generation, and rural development. However, it faces several challenges that hinder its growth and sustainability.

The last of the three summaries by Antonio Palomo dedicated to the 2024 edition of the Allen D. Leman Conference focuses on health: biosecurity and viral and bacterial diseases.

Do we know how to communicate the main objective of correct data collection? What clues can make us suspect that the data are not being properly recorded?

For pigs to grow and be productive, their nutrition must provide the intake of energy and nutrients necessary for maintenance and production. The most important nutrients are proteins, fats, minerals, and vitamins. Ingested and recycled proteins will be used for tissue growth and repair, enzymatic and hormonal functions, transport of substances, immune responses, water and electrolyte balance, muscle contraction, cell signaling, and pH maintenance.

We analyze the two most relevant respiratory viruses in the swine population.

Although the large influx of news makes it seem otherwise, it really has only been 50 days since the new U.S. President, Donald Trump, was inaugurated.

Antonio Palomo summarizes the swine production and reproduction presentations from the latest Allen D. Leman Swine Conference 2024.

At present, the North-South divide in the EU is more evident than ever and is becoming a disparity that is strengthening and becoming chronic.

In 11 of the 15 countries analyzed, 333 users expected higher prices than were actually achieved.

This article describes some practices for improving environmental control and the costs involved in their implementation.

Uniformity and quality play a key role in the success of both the feed mill and the farm. The quality of swine feed starts with proper diet formulation, which must meet the animal's nutritional needs at every stage of its life, and a proper mixing process ensures uniform nutrient distribution and directly impacts production performance, animal health and welfare, and economic efficiency.

The relatively short but very intense lactation period is undoubtedly a key phase in pig production for both sows and piglets. The fragility of the piglets and the significant demands that sows face at this stage make early detection of problems essential. Do we understand what the animals are telling us?

In this last article in the series we discuss the main causes of “vaccine failure”, i.e. when we aren't sure that vaccines are working or they are only partially working.

In today's context of high production costs and increasing pressure from environmental regulations, swine production faces the challenge of balancing production efficiency with the environmental and economic sustainability of the industry. A key factor in this equation is feed particle size, where simple actions available to the producer can achieve significant improvements.

At the risk of being proven wrong by the end of 2025, we will try to break down what we think this year has in store. It's not about using a crystal ball, but rather analyzing the data we already have and weighing its importance. At the end of the year, you can compare and see whether we got it right or missed the mark.

Beta glucans are an excellent bioactive compounds that can help us enhance passive immunity in a profitable and practical way.

The appearance of a case of foot and mouth disease aggravated the fall in the German pig price with direct repercussions on prices in neighboring countries.

Aerosol models may open a new range of possibilities for addressing knowledge gaps concerning M. hyopneumoniae infection and disease, treatment, and control.

This first data sheet on organic acids describes their chemical structure, mechanisms of action, and the main benefits of their use in swine nutrition.

A study conducted by IFIP (France) has compared three sensor methods based on near infrared spectrometry (NIRS), electrical conductivity and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry.

This is how to assemble an "emergency" ramp using the insulation panels left over from the construction of the nursery.

The price of pork has remained well above the cost price throughout the year, with declines from the peak (1.848 euros per kilo in July) being gradual and controlled, allowing slaughterhouses to navigate the autumn with favourable positive margins.

Analyzing the swine industry's life cycle and implementing sustainable measures from feeding to processing drives a change towards a more environmentally friendly industry and better animal welfare.

The global swine industry is dynamic and constantly advancing. One of these advancements is the significant increase in sow productivity. This is evidenced by the increase in the number of piglets born and, consequently, in the number of piglets weaned. This progress also poses new challenges, especially regarding the most important superfood on the farm: porcine colostrum. This leads us to ask if improving colostrum quality is possible through specific nutritional strategies.

Histopathology can provide a strong framework to establish the real causality of a clinical problem.

Nutrition plays a major role in the immune response. The interaction of different dietary components with other factors such as environment, health status, and genetics plays an important role in modulating the immune response.

The price is not expected to change in the coming weeks, provided nothing extraordinary happens.

Our experts Sara Mazo and Francisco Ruíz review the economic policies implemented during Trump's first term: protectionism, tariffs, and deregulation of the energy and agricultural sectors.

Sánchez-Osorio describes the characteristics of the different terminal boar lines developed by Topigs Norsvin for each type of market, prioritizing lean yield or meat quality.

With current data, we will review the quantitative impact of some of the most relevant factors for sows in the lactation phase.

This farm has built a small chute to vaccinate an entire pen of piglets in record time.

IFIP provides a summary of the evolution of grain and oilseed crops.

Three different motivational drivers have been identified, each corresponding to a specific behavioral pattern: two-phase, sudden-forceful, and obsessive.

This year's edition of the Swine Conference in honor of Dr. Allen D. Leman was a special 50th Anniversary event and took place September 21-24 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre Convention Center in Minnesota, USA.

Gene editing represents a significant technological advancement that we must thoroughly understand due to its potential impact on the swine industry. Will there be animals resistant to viral diseases?

Animals tell us how they feel, but do we understand what they are telling us?

Spain has had three consecutive months of declines, which have resulted in a 14% decrease. Despite this, Spain continues to lead pig prices in the EU. The question is how far these decreases will continue.

Breaking the chain of infection from humans to pigs and from pigs to humans.