Articles - Health

What does disease cost?  It ultimately depends on what disease (or diseases) your pig farm is challenged with – but disease has a cost and it can be measured in dollars and cents.  Dr. Adam Schelkopf described it another way when he talked about the “Health Tax”.  Every pig farmer pays this “tax”.

Time and time again as veterinarians we are asked what our highest priority need is in swine health today.  The answer is simple and unfortunately has not changed for decades now.

Why is it important in wean-to-market barns? Biosecurity. It is a big bold word but has it revolutionized the swine industry over decades? We go to extraordinary lengths to enhance sow farm biosecurity, which has historically been rewarded well.

Daily observations are not just a Pork Quality Assurance catch phrase, they are a foundational principal of proper pig care. Pig well-being and welfare starts with a daily evaluation of the animal, the environment, and the equipment. The Animal There are the obvious items we should be checking every day.

At the recent Pipestone Summit, we had an interesting exchange on pig farm biosecurity and the contrast between biosecurity measures employed at the sow farm and those effectively implemented in the wean to finish (W-F) farms.

We recognize the growing global concern over Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), its impact for human medicine, veterinary medicine, public and animal health, as well as society and the shared concern of antibiotic use’s influence on AMR. Pipestone’s commitment to Responsible Antibiotic Use and reduced AMR serves as the framework for our Pipestone Antibiotic Use Standards (PORK).

We live in the so-called “Information Age”. Data is being collected all around us. Today, the power of computing and digital technology have made collecting, analyzing and transferring data easier than ever. As a result, we have more information than ever at our fingertips.

As swine producers, you all pay a health tax at the end of the year, whether you know it or not. This tax is paid on every pig and reflects the cost of less-than-perfect health in an operation.

Pork is the most consumed meat in the world. As a result, pig farming is a global pursuit. While the USA exports a significant portion of the pork we raise (nearly 30%), most pork is consumed within the country where the pigs were raised.

There are many items to remember as winter ventilation is upon us of how we want barns to operate. Here are a few to think of as you are braving the cold. Set Points: This is what you are telling the barn to maintain temperature at.

African swine fever (ASF) was diagnosed on Hispaniola in the Caribbean this summer, the Dominican Republic in July 2021, and in Haiti in September 2021. This is the first time since the 1980s that the virus has been found in the Western Hemisphere. It has never been diagnosed in the United States.

I am old enough now to have seen a significant arc of attitude regarding antibiotic use. Our attitude. Public attitude. Government attitude. At one time, antibiotic use would have been a very quick decision for me or my clients. Problem?… Solution! But the landscape is different today, and for several valid reasons.