The big challenges of the future of global pig production are food safety, antibiotic use, animal welfare and the environmental impact, all aspects defined in sustainable production. The industry has very high production standards however consumers often don't value this.
Ingelheim, Germany, 13 December 2016 – Having reached the milestone of 1 billion doses sold since launch, yet another vaccine of Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health crosses a significant threshold making it one of the leading vaccines for the control of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae globally(1).
During the last fifty years or so, disease control in the pork industry has evolved mainly relying on antimicrobials, vaccines, elimination (depopulation, repopulation, eradication, modified early weaning), and/or regional control depending on the disease.
Pig production has responded to the challenge of increased global demand for pork by a process of consolidation and increased size to capture benefits of economies of scale. Over the last 25 years the swine industry has evolved in order to increase production performance, health and animal wellbeing towards age segregated or multiple site production models. In general, it can be stated that the changes in production systems have produced a positive effect in the health status of pigs by improving the way we raise pigs today.
“Reduced piglet vitality and poor sow maternal behaviour are the main causes leading to piglet mortality”
Reinstate balance by:
Reducing the risk of infection caused by stress such as regrouping/moving
Securing colostrum-intake
Applying alternatives to antibiotics: PRRS-vaccination of suckling pigs protects their immune cells
→ The reduction of bacterial load brings balance and better health
Precision is the future of all food production including pork and prevention is the foundation of precision. In this series of articles, Dr. DiPietre will look at different aspects related with pig production and precision agriculture and what economic impact could they have in our farms.
Get the latest news on Swine Health Subscribe to our newsletter