The Rural Voice, 1991-03, Page 34SWINE UPDATE
From Swedish hog producers getting help from consumers with animal
welfare, to problems in the rendering industry, there was plenty of in-
formation at Centralia's 10th annual swine update.
reports by Adrian Vos
Animal welfare doesn't come with-
out costs, the Swedes found out.
Cathy McNaughton DVM, who
studied pork production in Sweden re-
cently, told the 10th annual swine up-
date at Centralia that the prescribed
use of straw for all pigs adds to the
labour costs. But Swedish consumers
carry the extra cost, so Swedish hog
farmers do not complain. Total
subsidies in Sweden are higher than in
the rest of Europe, she said, which
makes Swedes leery of joining the
European Community.
There are definite benefits to strict
rules as well as costs. All medication
and vaccination must be done by, or
under the supervision of, veterinari-
ans, whose fees are also subsidized.
The law also forbids routine feed
medication. The only feed additives
are used as a treatment, and here too,
it requires supervision by a veterinar-
ian. Lack of antibiotics in weaner
feed causes widespread scour prob-
lems. Now they have the contradic-
tion that piglets get more than three
times the antibiotics as treatment that
they would have received as preven-
tion. This happens in 30 per cent of
herds in some parts of the country.
The extra cost to farmers,
McNaughton said, induces farmers to
be better managers and give better
health care. They allow no tail
cropping or needle tooth clipping, yet,
according to McNaughton, they have
no tail biting problems.
No pig may be held in a crate or
stall for more than one week, but,
again, the number crushed is no higher
there than it is here.
Swedish and Norwegian subsidies
are very similar but the Danes must
rely on the world market price. Den-
mark does not require the use of straw.
There is pressure in Sweden to run
sows on pasture. This is possible be-
cause the winters are less harsh and
the summers less hot than in Canada.
But few run sows outside because
those who tried it found problems with
round worms.
PST AND BETA AGONISTS
Because it is not practical to inject
all marketing hogs daily with PST, re-
searchers are looking at other ways to
administer the protein hormone. At
Ridgetown College, 90 pigs received
implants of PST behind the ear, said
Adrienne De Schutter who, with Dr.
Roger Hacker of the University of
Guelph, did the experimentation. The
results were very encouraging, unlike
those from PST in feed.
The most significant results were
in higher index points. A single
implant caused 1.5 higher index points
and a double implant 3.9 points
higher. Put into money, De Schutter
said that a single implant netted $2.31
a pig and two implants $5.89, minus
the cost of the implants, figured on a
1990 pool price of $1.62/kg.
A VACCINE AGAINST
ENZOOTIC PNEUMONIA
A long-time researcher into the
causes and cures of enzootic pneumo-
nia, Dr. Soren Rosendal, told pork
producers that there is now a vaccine
to prevent enzootic pneumonia. He
said that mild forms of the disease do
not significantly affect growth rates,
but as it gets more severe it costs
producers money. Medication is
doubtful, he stressed, and cannot
replace good management such as a
closed herd.
Laboratories use biotechnology in
the development of new vaccines.
One vaccine, soon the be marketed in
Canada, is effective and costs about $1
an injection.
ATHROPIC RHINITIS VACCINE
A Danish DVM from the National
Laboratory in Copenhagen, and now
spending time at the OVC at the Uni-
versity of Guelph, Jens Peter Nielsen,
said that the cause of athropic rhinitis
has been found. Based on the finding,
scientists have developed new
vaccines which have proved very effi-
cient.
ONTARIO NEEDS A.I.
If Ontario farmers want to stay
ahead in pork quality, the artificial in-
semination unit is indispensable, ac-
cording to a prominent pork producer.
John Gough said that this is not the
only reason he uses A.I. extensively.
It also saves considerable money, is
simple to use, and continually im-
proves index.
Other benefits are less injury to
sows, and time saving. Gough says to
bring a boar to a sow and wait till
breeding is done costs at least 15 min-
utes. With A.I. it takes no more than
five.
It saves money because he doesn't
have to buy expensive purebred boars
and feed them. It returns money
because the space saved can be used to
house five sows.
PIGS, LIPSTICK AND
MOUTHWASH
The problem with what to do with
dead stock has been in the minds of
farmers who had animals die. Dead
stock retrieval services don't pick up
carcasses any more and there are fears
that some farmers may simply dump
them in the woodlot instead of burying
them four feet deep.
Robert Rusk, who works for the
rendering division of Canada Packers,
explained why this service died. The
cost of processing exceeds the retum
on the product, he said. The price of
oil, made from tallow, has dropped
from 38¢ to 120/lb. because the price
is determined by the price of vegetable
oil, and the world is awash in it.
Renderers make many things from
carcasses, such as pet food, poultry
feed, and tallow. They change tallow
into such diverse products as paints,
lubricants, rubber tires, medicines, ex-
plosives, lipstick, mouthwash, tooth-
paste, shampoo, cleansing creams, and
much more, but many of these can
also be made from vegetable oils.0
28 THE RURAL VOICE