Summary Report Life Cycle Assessment for U.S. Pig Production
Manure management contributed 50% of the GWP impact of pig production in the U.S., based on the allocation of different manure management systems in the regions.
Pork Checkoff Research
Research is at the heart of the National Pork Board’s mission and is funded by your Pork Checkoff dollars. Research is administered in all areas of pork production, processing, and human nutrition to develop a higher quality and more profitable product in the competitive meat protein market.
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2023-2025 NPB Industry Research Compendium
Pork Checkoff-Funded Research in Swine Health and Sustainability, 2023–2025
Swine Health
Evaluation of Scavenger Mitigations for Animal Mortality Management
Scientific Abstract Animal mortality management continues to pose a significant challenge during the response to animal disease outbreaks. Specifically, scavenger activity around mortality management...
Swine Health
African Swine Fever Research in Vietnam
This research aimed to determine the viability of ASFv in compost using Real-time PCR (qPCR), cell culture, and bioassays.
Environment - Environmental Footprint
Production Analysis Summary for U.S. Pork Industry: 2020-2024
The purpose of this analysis is to help the pork industry improve efficiency. Using anonymous production data, standardized business logic, and consistent calculation methods, the study reports on production trends and provides benchmarks for comparison.
Animal Well-being
Refining sample size recommendations for PQA Plus and CSIA audit tool
The objective of this study was to compare and contrast differences in the occurrence of animal-based measures when using the Common Swine Industry Audit (CSIA) sampling method to the total farm inventory (observing all pigs). Pigs were evaluated across 60 farms between October 2022 and July 2023.
Swine Health - Foreign Animal Disease
Participatory regional surveillance to establish regional FAD status within the U.S. and improve swine movement decisions
The extensive movement of animals, personnel, and materials facilitates the spread of infectious agents within and between countries, e.g., PEDV, ASFV, and others. Thus, an effective national surveillance system is crucial to the early detection, control, and elimination of notifiable pathogens.
Environment
Best Practices in Reducing Feed Waste in Swine Production
The swine industry is focusing on improvements in environmental stewardship practices
with a goal of a 40% reduction in carbon footprint by 2030.
Evaluation of face masks as a means to decrease the risk of influenza transmission between pigs and swine farm workers
• Influenza exposure to farm workers is common in endemically infected farms
• Use of face masks decreased influenza detection in swine workers
• N-95 respirators, surgical masks and dust masks offered protection against influenza aerosols with the N-95 masks providing the highest numerical protection
• Swine workers preferred wearing surgical masks over dust masks and N-95 respirators
Swine Health
Facilitating the U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan Feed Biosecurity Working Group
The objective of this project was to determine appropriate application of best practices for responsible import of feed and ingredients from ASF/CSF affected countries and to develop industry standards for feed biosecurity that can be rapidly implemented across the swine and feed industry in the event that ASFV or CSFV enters the US domestic and/or feral swine population.
Animal Science - Swine Nutrition
Impact of Finishing Facility Environment on Feed Efficiency
Mortality, feed efficiency, and growth rates vary between groups of wean-to-finish pigs. It is broadly understood that indoor environment and management factors impact pig performance, but there is a lack of empirical, farm-based data to quantify the impact of each factor under commercial production conditions. To address this need, sensor technologies not commonly found in commercial finishing barns were deployed to monitor barn environmental conditions.
Animal Well-being - Depopulation
Use of water-based foam to achieve rapid depopulation of swine: Assess physiological and behavioral effects in swine exposed to 5 different water-based foam products
Swine herds in the United States are susceptible to introductions of catastrophic diseases that may require mass depopulation for timely disease containment. Current options for depopulating swine, as outlined in the AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals face logistic constraints, pose significant worker safety risks, and may not be practical at large scales.
