Page 8 of articles about management in Press releases

Pork Industry Training WA (PITWA) last week introduced 20 WA pork producers and piggery workers to the Pork Industry Skills Passport, which details and endorses a person’s workplace skills and competencies and provides an employer with verification.

Boehringer Ingelheim’s Metacam® (active ingredient: Meloxicam) 5mg/ml solution for injection obtained EU wide marketing authorization for its use as an analgesic to relieve post operative pain associated with castration in piglets.

Cleaning and disinfection are an essential part of successful disease control, preventing or reducing the transfer of infection from one batch of pigs to the next. However, drying out of pens is a frequently-neglected part of the process.

Pork CRC supported 4th year animal science honours student at Western Australia’s Murdoch University, Amy Lealiifano, has found that vaccinating boars for the second time with Improvac close to a fortnight before slaughter effectively controls boar taint, while also not blowing out fat levels.

A team of researchers from the China Agricultural University in Beijing have won an award for their evaluation of the performance of the boar taint vaccine Improvac® (Pfizer Animal Health) under Chinese production conditions.

From 16 to 19 November 2010 the international EuroTier exhibition will once again be the year’s Top Event for all involved in animal husbandry and management worldwide.

Significant increases in stocking densities have been seen in finishing pens, especially among larger pigs, as various abattoirs have ‘rolled back’ their weekly kills.

Pig producers in Brazil with TOPIGS sows achieved an average production of 28.6 weaned piglets per mated sow per year in 2008.

Following the recent hot weather, growth rates among growing and finishing pigs can be expected to slow. So stocking densities need particularly attention, says Paul Thompson, veterinary consultant to pig-breeding company, ACMC Ltd.

With good returns on finished pigs, attractive cull sow prices and a contracting EU pig herd, many producers are building up their breeding herds again, some of which have been run at below optimum capacity for a long time.

Cargill Pork announced it has achieved eight priority animal welfare assurance objectives. Advancements are in the production, handling, transportation and harvest of hogs.

The search for the top trainees in the pig and poultry industries has begun with the launch of the 2009 Pfizer Trainee of the Year Awards.

John T. Waddell, DVM, MBA, Sutton, Neb., was selected Swine Practitioner of the Year by the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. He is a food animal practitioner in Sutton, Neb., where he has practiced since 1981.