Nutritional approaches to controlling Salmonella
The ability of Salmonella to survive in a variety of environments for prolonged periods of time makes eradication of this bacterium very difficult once it has entered the farm. Therefore, only integrated management strategies that take into account many factors can result in a reduction of Salmonella at farm level.

Saving on feed costs: Part 2. Improve feeding management
Feeding management is a delicate zone for saving feed costs. The extra labour involved, the risk of reducing performance beyond a non-acceptable level, and the sophistication in labour demanded might not make up for the reduction in cost due to lower feed use. Still, when thinking things through properly, the following suggestions could be viable.

Danish pig industry struggling with market
The Danish pig and meat industry is struggling with a handful of adverse market circumstances. Less credit, lower export prices as well as environmental and welfare rules make it a serious challenge to survive in one of Europe’s top producing countries.

Biogas: more profit from heat and cooling power
EuroTier 2008, held in Hanover, Germany, last November, did not only feature a lot of innovations in animal husbandry. Several halls were occupied by BioEnergy Europe, where the latest developments on biogas in agriculture could be learnt. An important show, since growing numbers of European pork producers are moving into the renewable energy market.

Maternally Derived Antibodies: Background, function and importance
‘Maternally Derived Antibodies’ (MDA) is a term which appears in more than one immunological context. These antibodies are induced by both the exposure to natural disease and by the active immunisation of gilts or sows, and can confer passive immunity to newborn piglets. But in doing so, they are also capable of interfering with the piglets’ own immune response to vaccines.

Taking control of feed conversion ratio
Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) is a reflection of performance in pig units. Feed intake and weight gain are the integral components but what influences these factors is more complex. And for this reason, FCR performance within a group of pigs can vary widely. More careful monitoring of the factors affecting FCR and means of improving it could be justified on most modern pig units.

“One of the best decisions I ever made”
What if you have a multi-site pig production operation but your location is nowhere near a larger town? Ordering your feed further away is one option, but mixing and milling on-site is another. One that turns out to have some extra benefits, this Danish pig producer found out.

North American 'pork wars' continue
Continuing uncertainty about the requirements of US Country of Origin Labelling (COOL), together with a massive increase in the volume of pork exported from the US into Canada, are two of the many issues facing a beleaguered Canadian pork industry, which has seen 20% of its producers wiped out over the past two years.

German market waking up to Danish genetics
German pig producers used to be crazy about producing meaty pigs. However, as the competition on the German market increases, an growing number of German breeders are looking abroad for alternatives, to improve their output. German pig producer Wilfried Gerdes is one of them and discovered there was much to gain.

What makes a good pig manager?
How do well-known and successful managers, both in pig farming and of the high street retailing chains, approach their different management tasks? In fact, they turn out to be very similar in how they manage their businesses. Here’s the summarising result of ten interviews from experienced persons from both sides.