Annual/Termination Reports:

[03/26/2003] [11/02/2003] [08/31/2005] [02/10/2006]

Report Information

Participants

Gary Apgar  Illinois, Mike Brumm  Nebraska, Marcia Carlson  Missouri, Ron Christenson  Nebraska, Robert Goodband  Kansas, Lee Johnston  Minnesota, Don Jones  Indiana, Steve Moeller  Ohio, Dale Rozeboom  Michigan, Ken Stalder  Tennessee.

Brief Summary of Minutes

Accomplishments

1. Conducted at least two studies a year on more than 4 different university sites to evaluate the effect of swine management on performance.<br /> <br><br /> <br><br /> <br>2. Host annual meetings at universities allowing for interaction with those faculty and industry.<br /> <br><br /> <br><br /> <br>3. Present the research data at scientific meetings and conferences.

Publications

Brumm, M.C., M. Ellis, L.J. Johnston, D.W. Rozeboom, D.R. Zimmerman, and the NCR-89 Committee on Swine Management. 2001. Interaction of swine nursery and grow-finish space allocations on performance. J. Anim. Sci. 79:1967-1972.<br /> <br><br /> <br> <br /> <br>Brumm, M.C., M. Ellis, L.J. Johnston, D.W. Rozeboom, D.R. Zimmerman, and the NCR-89 Committee on Swine Management. 2002. Effect of removal and remixing of lightweight pigs on performance to slaughter weights. J. Anim. Sci. 80:1166-1172.

Impact Statements

1. The committee's work on floor space allowances for nursery and grow/finish pigs was favorable by pork producers and equipment/building manufacturers and has influenced housing recommendations for pigs.
2. The committee's work on variability of pig weights within groups and ways to manage that variability has impacted pork production systems.

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Report Information

Participants

Apgar,Gary  Illinois; Baas, Tom  Iowa State; Brumm, Mike  Nebraska, USDA MARC; Christenson, Ron  Nebraska; Christianson, Les  Illinois; Goodband, Robert  Kansas; Goodwin, Rodney  National Pork Board; Harmon, Jay  Iowa State; Johnston, Lee  Minnesota; Jones, Don  Indiana; Kim, Jong  Nebraska, USDA MARC; Moeller, Steve  Ohio; Richert, Brian  Indiana; Shannon, Marcia  Missouri; Spoolder, Hans  Wageningen UR Netherlands; Stalder, Ken  Iowa State; Stromberg, Bert - Administrative Advisor

Brief Summary of Minutes

The annual meeting of NCR-89 was held at Premium Standard Farms, Princeton, MO on October 22-24th, 2003. The meeting site was selected to allow members to learn about Premium Standard Farms, develop working interactions, discuss research needs, and tour their facilities (production farms and processing plant). Marcia Shannon, University of Missouri, coordinated the meeting.



The NCR-89 committee met with Dr. John Gardner, University of Missouri, Associate Dean of Research and Outreach to discuss the experiment stations mission and research efforts. Several employees of Premium Standard Farms (Gordon Becton, Lisa Becton, Wayne Cast, Brian Paulsen, Collette Schultz-Kaster, Calvin Held, and Bill Homann) meet with the group to discuss nutrient management, production practices, and meat processing. In addition, Dr. Hans Spoolder gave presentation on applied swine research in the Netherlands.



Dr. Goodband called the NCR-89 business meeting to order at 8:35 a.m. The agenda was reviewed.



A motion was made and seconded to approve the agenda. The motion was unanimously approved. Reading of the 2002 NCR-89 minutes was approved as written unanimously.



Dr. Bert Stromberg, NCR-89 Administrative Advisor, addressed the group and discussed the importance of committee members making sure they are listed on Appendix E of the NIMS report. He mentioned that we will need a midterm report and that our committee does an excellent job collaborating. He also stated that having an annual meeting outside the USA was not a problem. There was a discussion about funding for the committee and the possibility of becoming an NC committee. The consensus of the committee was that why change what works.



There was some discussion about inviting other swine specialists from outside the North Central Region of the United States to be committee members. Ken Stalder moved to invite additional committee members and Mike Brumm second the motion. Motion was unanimous. Ken Stalder volunteered to contact Todd See at North Carolina. Steve Moeller volunteered to contact Mark Crenshaw at Mississippi. Brian Richert volunteered to contact folks at Kentucky.



There was no CSREES Report.



Dr. Thaler  South Dakota was nominated for secretary and Dr. Shannon  Missouri was nominated for Chairman of NCR-89 in 2004. A motion was made (Brumm-NE) and seconded to accept their nominations. The motion was accepted unanimously.



The committee determined that the 2004 NCR-89 committee meeting will be held at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN on November 3-5th. Drs. Brian Richert and Don Jones will serve as hosts for this meeting.



Members of NCR-89 presented written and oral station reports. A synopsis of each report can be found in Appendix A.



Members discussed current research projects. Dr. Bob Goodband reported the Dale Rozeboom is currently working on data entry for the sow step-up project and possibly submitted as an abstract for the 2004 National Animal Science Meetings. Tennessee, Michigan and Kansas are participating. Dr. Mike Brumm updated the group on the project involving removal and remixing of heavy weight pigs on performance and method of statistical analysis. An abstract will be submitted for the 2004 Midwest Animal Science Meetings. Dr. Brumm will also look at submitting the manuscript to Professional Animal Scientist, Swine Health and Production or Livestock Production Science.



Dr. Goodband updated the progress of the experiment to evaluate the effects of maintaining pen integrity on growth performance and space requirements of pigs. Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska are participating. Nebraska will be conducting the project in a wean-to-finish building using 2 replications. Therefore, more stations are necessary for statistical analysis. Dr. Goodband will email the protocol again out to the committee to try and get more participants.



A new research project was discussed related to feed withdrawal (feeders going empty throughout the growth phase) and the impact on growth performance, animal welfare, and carcass composition. Discussion focused on protocol, data collection, videotaping, treatments, pen size, weighing frequency, ultra sounding, and submission for a National Pork Board Animal Welfare grant. Kansas, Nebraska, Purdue, and Missouri indicated interest in participating. Brian Richert will lead the project.



The entire committee thanked Marcia Shannon, University of Missouri, for her time and effort in hosting and organizing the 2003 NCR-89 Committee Meeting in Princeton, MO.



No further business was discussed and the meeting was adjourned.



Members in Attendance:

Gary Apgar  Illinois, Mike Brumm  Nebraska, Marcia Shannon  Missouri, Ron Christenson  Nebraska, Robert Goodband  Kansas, Lee Johnston  Minnesota, Don Jones  Indiana, Brian Richert  Indiana, Steve Moeller  Ohio, Ken Stalder  Iowa State, Les Christianson  Illinois, Jay Harmon  Iowa



Members Absent:

Dale Rozeboom  Michigan, Mike Ellis  Illinois, Harold Gonyou  Saskatchewan, Robert Thaler  South Dakota



Special Guests:

Hans Spoolder  Wageningen UR Netherlands, Rodney Goodwin  National Pork Board, Tom Baas  Iowa State, Jong Kim  US MARC

Accomplishments

Current research projects developed and conducted by the NCR-89 members has focused on management stratgies to improve pig performance and welfare. These research projects have focused on all aspects of the swine industry from the sow to the finishing pig. In additon, this committee conducts their annual meetings at various locations around the United States and hopefully the world to obtain hands-on observations of the pork industry. <br /> <br><br /> <br>The final statisitical analysis of a sow step-up feed management study involving more than 200 sows is getting wrapped up and data will be submitted as an abstract for the 2004 National Animal Science Meetings in July. Tennessee, Michigan and Kansas are participating. This data will enable swine producers to better manage sow body condition and reproductive performance through nutrition management.<br /> <br><br /> <br>A research project involving removal and remixing of heavy weight finishing pigs is currently being analyzed. An abstract will be submitted for the 2004 Midwest Animal Science Meetings. This data has a huge impact on the pork industry related to marketing strategies to ensure maximum profits can be obtained through the management of finishing barns allowing for uniform groups of pigs to be marketed. This issue also related to animal welfare and the social behaviors of mixing or removing animals from a group, which may affect growth performance.<br /> <br><br /> <br>All the research projects conducted by the NCR-89 committee have the potential to improve management strategies of swine producers and ensure proper swine care is provided in order to optimize performance. <br /> <br><br /> <br>Future projects for the next year, will focus on evaluating the effects of maintaining pen integrity on growth performance and space requirements of pigs; and feed withdrawal (feeders going empty throughout the growth phase) and the impact on growth performance, animal welfare, and carcass composition. A grant will be submitted to National Pork Board as an Animal Welfare Proposal.

Publications

Brumm, M.C., M. Ellis, L.J. Johnston, D.W. Rozeboom, D.R. Zimmerman, and the NCR-89 Committee on Swine Management. 2002. Effect of removal and remixing of lightweight pigs on performance to slaughter weights. J. Anim. Sci. 80:1166-1172.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Brumm, M.C., M. Ellis, L.J. Johnston, D.W. Rozeboom, D.R. Zimmerman, and the NCR-89 Committee on Swine Management. 2001. Interaction of swine nursery and grow-finish space allocations on performance. J. Anim. Sci. 79:1967-1972.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Leibbrandt, V.D., L.J. Johnston, G.C. Shurson, J.D. Crenshaw, G/W. Libal, R.D. Arthur, and the NCR-89 Committee on Swine Management. 2001. Effect of nipple drinker water flow rate and season on performance of lactating swine. J. Anim. Sci. 79:2770-2775.

Impact Statements

1. Nutrition management enables swine producers to better manage sow body condition and reproductive performance.
2. Removal and remixing of heavy weight finishing pigs results in uniform groups that will maximize profits.
3. Removal and remixing of heavy weight finishing pigs also improves the social interactions within groups, which may also affect growth performance.
4. Effective management assures animal care and optimizes performance.

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Report Information

Participants

Apgar, Gary - Illinois;
Brumm, Mike - Nebraska;
Carlson-Shannon, Marcia - Missouri;
Christianson, Les - Illinois;
Goodband, Bob - Kansas;
Harmon, Jay - Iowa;
Jones, Don - Indiana;
Richert, Brian - Indiana;
Roseboom, Dale - Michigan;
Stromberg. Bert - Minnesota - Administrative Advisor;
Thaler, Bob - South Dakota

Brief Summary of Minutes

The meeting was held at Purdue University with initial comments being given by Dr. Randy Woodson, Acting Dean of Agriculture and Dr. Alan Grant, Dept. Head of Animal Sciences the afternoon of November 3rd. After comments, the group toured Dr. Al Hebers Odor Lab, and then adjourned for the day.


On the morning of November 4th, the meeting was called to order, the agenda adopted, and minutes of the 2003 meeting were approved. Dr. Bert Stromberg, Administrative Advisor gave opening comments, and then brought up the issue of changing the committees name. The options were NCERA or NCCCC. After a discussion, it was decided to delay a vote until later in the year so the members could think about it more. (Official votes were 6 for ERA and 1 for CCC reported on January 19, 2005). Dr. Stromberg also discussed the importance of getting all committee members to attend the annual meeting. If individuals consistently miss the meetings, consideration should be given to removing them from the committee since poor attendance reflects negatively on the future of the committee.


Election of officers was held and Bob Thaler was elected Chair and Marcia Carlson-Shannon elected as Secretary. Dr. Bert Stromberg will continue as Administrative Advisor.


Plans for the 2005 meeting were discussed. The options were to meet on the campus of South Dakota State University at Brookings on November 2-4, or to go to Utrecht, the Netherlands in 2005 and hold it in conjunction with an international livestock convention. Also there would be the opportunity to tour with Dr. Hans Spooler  Wageningen UR the Netherlands. Considering that more people could attend the meeting if it was held in South Dakota and the concern with getting Experiment Station Directors to fund the international trip, it was decided to hold the 2005 Annual Meeting in Brookings, SD on November 2-4.


Station reports were given by all the scientists present and discussion followed. When the station reports were completed, discussion began on future research topics. Dr. Ed Pajor, Purdue University, and Dr. Jeremy Marchant-Forde, USDA-ARS, joined the group and gave a summary of the animal behavior research they were doing. Their presentation stimulated several proposals, and the committee then decided to focus on a study to determine the space requirements for grow-finish pigs under current environmental and weight parameters. Both traditional production parameters and animal well-being indices will be measured. Drs. Richert and Brumm volunteered to put together a grant to the National Pork Board to get funding to do the animal well-being measurements. The title was Using measures of behavior, physiology, and performance to determine the effects of space allocation on grow-finish pig welfare and the amount requested was $79,849. (the grant was submitted but was not funded. However, the committee will still pursue the project measuring mainly the growth and production parameters). The committee then adjourned for the day.


The committee reconvened on Friday morning and finalized plans for the space requirement proposal. After that, a tour was given of the new 12-room, swine environmental research facility, hosted by Drs. Hebert and Richert. The group then toured the USDA Behavior facility and closing comments were made.


The NCERA 89 Committee also expressed their thanks to Dr. Wayne Singleton, Purdue University, for his many dedicated years of outstanding service to the swine industry upon his retirement.

Accomplishments

The main accomplishment was the expansion of the Ventilation Workshop series. It grew from a 2-state effort between SD and NE to educating producers from MN, IA, ND, KS, MO, and WI. This program was so successful it won the 1994 National Pork Boards Excellence in Extension award. Plans were also discussed to create a similar series for IN, OH, IL, and NC.

Publications

Brumm, M.C., M. Ellis, L.J. Johnston, D.W. Rozeboom, D.R. Zimmerman and NCR-89 Committee on Swine Management. 2002. Effect of removal and remixing of lightweight pigs on performance to slaughter weights. J. Anim. Sci. 80:1166-1172.

Impact Statements

1. The ventilation workshop reached over 1,000 producers and was estimated to have impacted over 20% of all hogs produced.
2. The ventilation workshop was so successful it was awarded the National Pork Board&lsquo;s 2004 Excellence in Extension Award.

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Report Information

Participants

Mike Brumm - Nebraska
Goodband, Robert - Kansas;
Johnston, Lee - Minnesota;
Moeller, Steve - Ohio;
Richert, Brian - Indiana;
Shannon, Marcia - Missouri;
Stromberg, Bert - Minnesota, Administrative Advisor;
Thaler, Robert - South Dakota

Brief Summary of Minutes

The annual meeting of NCERA-89 was held at South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD on November 2-4th, 2005. The meeting took place at the SDSU Alumni Center on the campus of South Dakota State University. Robert Thaler, South Dakota State University, coordinated the meeting.

The NCERA-89 committee met with College of Agriculture Dean, Gary Lemme, to discuss the future of South Dakota State University. Several SDSU Animal and Range Science faculty members discussed their research programs. Robert Thaler gave an update on the agriculture industry in South Dakota and the demographics of the Animal and Range Science Department.

Dr. Thaler called the NCERA-89 business meeting to order at 8:10 a.m. The agenda was reviewed.

- Approve agenda;
- Approval of minutes from 2004 NCERA-89 meeting;
- CSREES Report;
- NCERA-89 Administrative Advisor Report;
- Distribution and Discussion of Station Reports;
- Election of 2006 NCERA-89 Committee Chairman and Secretary;
- Plans for the 2006 NCERA-89 meeting site and date;
- Research Project Results;
- Discussion of On-going Research;
- Discussion of Published, Planned and Future Publications;
- Brain storming on Future Projects;
- Closing Remarks;
- Adjourn;

A motion was made and seconded to approve the agenda. The motion was unanimously approved. The 2004 NCERA-89 minutes were approved as written unanimously.

Dr. Bert Stromberg, NCERA-89 Administrative Advisor, addressed the group and discussed the importance of committee members making sure they are listed on Appendix E of the NIMSS report. He mentioned that the committee will be up for renewal in March and the report is due in December. Dr. Stromberg mentioned that our committee does an excellent job collaborating on research and extension activities. The committee needs to list all research and extension efforts for impacts associated with the NCERA-89 objectives.

There was some discussion about inviting other swine specialists to be committee members. Dr. Goodband moved to invite additional committee members and Dr. Thaler second the motion. Motion was unanimous. Mike Brumm volunteered to contact Peter Braunsen, Ken Kephart, and Rick Stowell. Robert Thaler volunteered to contact Dick Nicolai and Allen Harper. Marcia Shannon volunteered to contact Tom Fangman and Jeff Carroll.

There was no CSREES Report. Dr. Gary Cromwell was unable to attend due to a meeting in Korea. A written report from him is attached.

Dr. Shannon  Missouri was nominated for secretary and Dr. Stalder  Iowa was nominated for Chairman of NCERA-89 in 2006. A motion was made (Brumm-NE) and seconded to accept their nominations. The motion was accepted unanimously.

The committee determined that the 2006 NCERA-89 committee meeting will be held at the University of Minnesota in Waseca, MN on October 18-20th. Dr. Lee Johnston will serve as host for this meeting. A motion was made (Moeller-Ohio) and seconded (Richert-IN). The motion was accepted unanimously. A motion was made (Thaler-SD) to have Steve Moeller at the Ohio State University hosts the 2007 meetings and seconded (Richert-IN). The motion was accepted unanimously.

Members of NCERA-89 presented written and oral station reports.

Members discussed current research projects. Dr. Goodband updated the progress of the experiment to evaluate the effects of maintaining pen integrity on growth performance and space requirements of pigs. Minnesota has 2 reps, Kansas, Iowa has 3 reps, and Nebraska has 2 reps were the participating stations. A motion was made and seconded (Shannon-MO and Thaler-SD) to submit an abstract for the 2005 National Animal Science Meetings with Goodband writing the abstract and Brumm as the presenter. The motion passed unanimously.
Dr. Richert discussed the space study associated with the k constant in order to validate the breakpoint submitted to the National Pork Board last year. Discussion focused on protocol, data collection, videotaping, treatments, pen size, weighing frequency, conducting two separate studies with nursery, and the resubmission for a National Pork Board Animal Welfare grant. Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio and Missouri indicated participating in the nursery study. South Dakota, Purdue, and Kansas indicated interest in participating in the grow-finish study. Brian Richert (Purdue) will lead the project and resubmit the grant to National Pork Board Animal Welfare Section 4 Bullet 2. The project will be submitted as 2 separate proposals with one being only performance for nursery and grow-finish and the second proposal will be performance with blood parameters for nursery and grow-finish. The committee did agree to conduct the project without funding.

Other research topics were discussed such as using hemp mats; sow longevity associated with gilt development and space requirements; switching ingredients in and out of rations affect on growth performance; and lowering energy costs with reduced temperatures in nursery buildings. The committee agreed to pursue research associated with reduced nocturnal temperatures affect on growth performance. Dr. Thaler-SD will send out a protocol.

The committee showed their appreciation of Mike Brumm  NE participation in the NCERA-89 projects and celebrated his approaching retirement by giving him a desk clock with an engraved plaque. Discussion was to keep Brumm-NE on the committee as a consultant.

The entire committee thanked Robert Thaler, South Dakota State University, for his time and effort in hosting and organizing the 2005 NCERA-89 Committee Meeting in Brookings, SD.

No further business was discussed and the meeting was adjourned.

Accomplishments

- Pig and product uniformity have value at the production, packer, processor and retail sectors. Strategies to manage variation in pig weight throughout the finishing stage of production and in particular at the time of sale for harvest are needed at the production level. The NCR-89 committee conducted multi-state research focused on removal and remixing of heavy weight market hogs to understand the impact on overall growth, efficiency and uniformity measures. Results suggests that variation in growth within a pen is normally distributed and variation as a proportion of the mean (CV statistic) regardless of management practices implemented to reduce within pen variation, and there appears to be a biological constraint that does not allow variation to be reduced under 10%. Additional research to better understand the biological and physiological complexity of growth and maturation may allow the identification of new management approaches to enhance uniformity and ultimately increase opportunities for profit throughout the pork chain. <br /> <br /> - Solicitation of extramural funding has been a priority of the NCERA-89 committee in an effort to enhance the research opportunities and effectiveness. Several grants have been written and submitted to various organizations. Unfortunately, while no direct grant funding has been secured, the ideas and research sponsoring agencies have suggested continued efforts to secure funds in upcoming calls for research.<br /> <br /> - Ventilation Short Courses have been conducted in 6 states representing over 80% of the hogs marketed in the United States with plans to build a module ventilation house for states east of the Mississippi River and North Carolina. These courses were developed and conducted by NCERA-89 committee members. Evaluations filled out by producers attending the course indicate that management practices learned would save them more the at least $2.00 per head marketed.<br /> <br /> - Recent NCR-89 data (JAS 79:1967-1972) indicated that when pigs are mixed into new social groups following the nursery phase, space restrictions during the grow-finish phase result in a decrease in daily feed and daily gain. However, if the social group remained intact during the move from nursery to grow-finish, space restrictions during the grow-finish phase had no effect on daily feed or daily gain. If maintaining social hierarchy (pen integrity) during the move from nursery to grow-finish alters the response to space allocation, this could have a tremendous impact on producer profitability, as well as redefining animal welfare implications and recommendations. Wean-to-finish production systems rely on maintenance of pen integrity from weaning to slaughter. Currently, space allocation recommendations for wean-to-finish are based on data sets derived from nursery moved to grow-finish data sets. Its possible that the maintenance of social hierarchy common to wean-to-finish production systems alters the response to space allocation in a similar manner to that hypothesized for nursery moved to grow-finish. Therefore the objective of the research project entitled Maintaining Pen Integrity on response to Grow-Finish Space Allocation was to determine the effect of maintaining social hierarchy (pen integrity) on space requirements for growing-finishing pigs reared in conventional nurseries and moved to grow-finish facilities.<br /> <br /> - Currently, committee researchers are progressing on an experiment associated with out-of-feed events that occur in the finishing stage of production and monitoring the effects of the events on pig performance, physiological status and social interactions. Purdue University and USDA collaborators (Pajor and Marchant-Ford) described research findings in an abstract presented in the Summer of 2005 and the Annual ASAS meetings. The abstract reported the impact of out-of-feed events on blood parameters of the pigs and was a direct result of planning efforts conducted at the annual meeting of the NCERA-89 group in the Fall of 2004.<br /> <br /> - Annual meetings of the NCERA-89 committee are hosted by member universities in an effort to increase the awareness of facilities, availability of new technologies, develop industry contacts, meet potential research collaborators, and obtain hands-on observations of the pork industry. However, the committee has not ignored the global nature of swine production and applied research, and has also included Canadian counterparts in both research planning and implementation. These international approaches and collaborative efforts strengthen the position of the U.S. and Canadian researchers as they strive to meet the needs of their clientele. <br /> <br />

Publications

Referred Publications<br /> <br /> o Brumm, M.C., M. Ellis, L.J. Johnston, D.W. Rozeboom, D.R. Zimmerman, and the NCR-89 Committee on Swine Management. 2002. Effect of removal and remixing of lightweight pigs on performance to slaughter weights. J. Anim. Sci. 80:1166-1172.<br /> <br /> o Brumm, M.C., M. Ellis, L.J. Johnston, D.W. Rozeboom, D.R. Zimmerman, and the NCR-89 Committee on Swine Management. 2001. Interaction of swine nursery and grow-finish space allocations on performance. J. Anim. Sci. 79:1967-1972.<br /> <br /> o Leibbrandt, V.D., L.J. Johnston, G.C. Shurson, J.D. Crenshaw, G.W. Libal, R.D. Arthur and the NCR-89 Committee on Swine Management. 2001. Effect of nipple drinker water flow rate and season on performance of lactating swine. J. Anim. Sci. 79:2770-2775.<br /> <br /> o Gessel, P.D., N.C. Hansen, S.M. Goyal, L.J. Johnston, and J. Webb. 2004. Persistence of zoonotic pathogens in surface soil treated with different rates of liquid pig manure. Appl. Soil Ecology 25:237-243.<br /> <br /> <br /> Abstracts<br /> <br /> o Brumm, M.C., L.J. Johnston, D.W. Rozeboom, and the NCR-89 Committee on Swine Management. 2003. Effect of sorting, removal and remixing of heavy pigs on finishing pig performance. J. Anim. Sci. 81(Suppl. 1):(Abstr.).<br /> <br /> o Brumm, M.C., L.J. Johnston, D.W. Rozeboom, and NCR-89 Committee on Swine Management. 2004. Effect of sorting, removal, and remixing of heavy pigs on finishing pig performance. J. Anim. Sci. 82(Suppl. 2):34(Abstr.).<br /> <br /> o Pohl, S., R. Thaler, M. Brumm, R. Stowell, J. Harmon, D. Stender, J. <br /> Weiss, L. Johnston, and L. Jacobson. 2004. Use of a mobile ventilation laboratory (VL) for hands-on training of pork producers in building ventilation. J. Anim. Sci. 82(Suppl. 2):46(Abstr.).<br />

Impact Statements

1. Effective nutritional management approaches have enabled swine producers to better manage sow body condition resulting in improved reproductive performance and a greater return on their investment.
2. Strategies for removal and remixing of heavy weight finishing pigs have resulted in greater pig uniformity and allowed for optimization of pig performance and greater returns on pigs marketed.
3. Heavy weight finishing pigs sorting strategies involving removal and remixing have improved social interactions within production groups resulting in enhanced growth performance.
4. Proper, well-organized management of personnel and pigs assures appropriate animal care and optimizes performance.

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