🇨🇦 The Swine it Podcast Show Canada

The increasing global population demands pork production to address food security concerns. The pig industry produces nutritious and economical protein sources and efficiently uses feedstuffs that humans cannot use. A combination of such sustainable practices and efficient and biologically secure farming could prevent significant starvation scenarios in the future. So, in this episode, Rick Bergma...

Understanding the behavior of pigs not only enhances how we manage livestock, but also aids in creating better-informed practices that can revolutionize the swine industry. In this episode, Dr. Jennifer Brown unravels the intricate details of ethology studies that help govern swine welfare practices, especially in Canada. Emphasizing the incredible influence of understanding animal behavior on liv...

The belly of the pig has become substantially crucial in recent years, mainly due to increased global demand. Countries like South Korea and Japan favor these cuts for their traditional cooking methods and are willing to pay a premium for high-quality bellies. Moreover, the popularity and frequent use of bacon in North American recipes have increased demand for premium-quality pork bellies. So, in...

It is imperative to have excellent reproductive capacity within a swine herd in order to enjoy the farm's success and profitability in the future. In this episode, Dan Bussieres provides practical tips and takeaways on critical topics like semen extenders, reduced semen doses, post-cervical artificial insemination techniques, and strategic breeding protocols that he's successfully implemen...

Innovative strategies for disease prevention and management are needed for the Canadian - and global - swine industry. Currently, a lot of attention is being paid to understanding Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2) and determining its implications for our pig production. For effective control and prevention of swine diseases, such as PCV2, it is critical to review all available information and tools...

Swineherd health is a pressing concern across the globe, and stringent biosecurity measures have been implemented to maintain the robustness and productivity of pig populations. In this episode, I spoke with Dr. Luc Dufresne. Our conversation highlights the shift towards biocontainment for a more dynamic approach, emphasizing a two-way disease prevention strategy—addressing both incoming and outgo...

Robust biosecurity compliance is imperative for the Canadian and global swine industry. Aligning rigorous biosecurity protocols with employees' varied routines and habits poses challenges. Also, quantifying impact continues to be a daunting task, as does supplanting unfruitful practices with innovative approaches. Amidst these intricacies, cost-effectiveness remains paramount, with an emphasis...

Phosphorus and calcium are vital minerals for swine nutrition and health. As such, research efforts have been intensified to refine their role, aiming for sustainable practices. With that in mind, I interview Dr. Marie-Pierre Létourneau Montminy, an expert in calcium and phosphorus nutrition, to discuss new findings on the subject and the importance of sustainability. Dr. Montminy shares insights...

Introducing the Pig Paradigm Project! Have you ever heard of it? It's a groundbreaking initiative funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation in Denmark with a whopping €20 million investment. To shed light on this project and discuss gut health, I talk with Dr. Élisabeth Chassé, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at Aarhus University. Dr. Chassé explains her d...

Ensuring biosecurity in the swine industry is crucial for the health of our animals and communities – and biocontainment is a key part of it. In this episode, we focus our conversation on the revolutionary software of geofencing and its profound impact on enhancing biosecurity in the pork production sector by establishing protective boundaries around farms. Our guest, Dr. Karine Talbot, discusses...

During gestation and lactation, it is crucial to provide sows with the appropriate amount of amino acids and proteins. These vital nutrients support significant metabolic processes that directly impact fetal growth, mammary gland development, and milk production. To shed light on the subject, I talk with Dr. Lee Anne Huber, an expert in swine nutrition and metabolism. Dr. Huber shares with us the...

The Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) virus is a highly contagious and devastating pathogen. While it particularly impacts piglets under the age of 10 and other animals do recover from the diarrhea, it is still a threat to the whole swine sector. To prevent infection, effective farm cleanup is crucial – and it demands thoroughness and caution. To gain valuable insights into that, I speak with Janell...

Precision feeding optimizes pig health and performance by tailoring diets to meet individual requirements, minimize waste, and maximize efficiency. In other words, it improves feed efficiency through targeted interventions, the management of nutritional imbalances, cost savings, and the promotion of sustainability in swine operations. To discuss the application of and research on precision feeding...

Newly emerging pathogens in the swine industry, such as Streptococcus zooepidemicus ( Strep zoo ) and Porcine Astrovirus 4 (PoAstV4), have been raising concerns among swine producers and veterinarians. Their existence emphasizes the continuous need for vigilance and proactive measures to monitor and control disease outbreaks in swine herds. With that in mind and to gain further insights into these...

Recently, the US Supreme Court has upheld California's Proposition 12, which will come into effect on July 1, 2023 and will ban, within the state, the trade of pork coming from any farms, both inside and outside its borders, that confine pregnant sows to gestation crates. This resolution directly affects North American pork trades and will influence market prices until producers are able to co...

One of the biggest challenges of our industry is, undoubtedly, ensuring successful food provision for the global population while incorporating more sustainable practices. To achieve its goals, the swine industry must reshape and adapt itself – and technology is available to help us get there. With that in mind, how should we approach feeding and raising pigs in the future? What changes are necess...

Both the professionals and the consumers of the swine industry must agree that pork carcass is a complex topic. Firstly, because its quality is influenced by several factors, beginning with the selection of the pigs that exhibit the characteristics we want in the final product. Secondly, because the agents along our supply chain may view quality from different perspectives and focus on different a...

Functional food has been gathering more attention by the year. Originating from human nutrition studies, functional foods are those that can offer health benefits beyond their nutritional value. However, how can they be helpful and useful to swine producers and nutritionists? To discuss that, we have a conversation with Dr. Alison Duncan, who has built an outstanding and recognizable career in fun...

It's not new that the global swine industry is currently facing a worldwide issue regarding the high prices of crucial ingredients, such as corn and soybean meal. In that scenario, research focusing on the impacts of including co-products and by-products in swine feed gets a lot of (justified) attention. Also, as today's guest puts it, it is part of our job as swine nutritionists to transf...

Most people shiver at the very thought of creating or operating a checklist – they know that, more often than not, it is either used incorrectly or not at all. However, as today's guest puts it, if we want consistency and accuracy in order to survive the complex problems of day-to-day production, staff rollover, and health challenges in the swine industry, we must have a simplified checklist....

It is a fact that trace minerals and vitamins – such as zinc, copper, iron, manganese, iodine, and selenium – play a critical role in pig performance and health, as they serve various structural and metabolic functions. However, it is also a fact that, when compared with other ingredients in the diet, we need more information about the mode of action of trace minerals as well as their requirements...

It’s clear as day that it's hard to build a robust swine industry without technology, especially with the challenges we face today at our barns. Among the different tools we have available, there is one that raises a lot of attention: precision feeding. That's because it seems to play a major role when it comes to feeding pigs more efficiently, minimizing feeding costs, and decreasing the ...

We must all agree that vaccines play an important role in building a robust and productive global swine industry – the vaccination programs conducted by most pig farms are crucial for protecting animals from diseases and boosting their immune systems. As it is such an important topic, we analyze the very root of its process in this episode: the way vaccines are developed. I have a pleasant talk wi...

Environmental conditions and dietary components profoundly impact the immune system of piglets, especially at an early age. In turn, their microbiota and immune system interact to maintain gut homeostasis and functions, including nutrient absorption. In that matter, the industry has observed over the years that feeding piglets with different functional foods can improve post-weaning growth and gut...

We ask a lot from our sows and put great effort into improving their performance. However, in many cases, they don't produce enough milk and colostrum in order to sustain the maximum growth of the piglets. That's why optimizing the milking capacity of sows and stimulating their mammary development is so essential – that’s also why we have invited one of the pioneers in that topic for today...