Animal Science - Swine Nutrition
Impact of Finishing Facility Environment on Feed Efficiency
March 21, 2025By Suzanne Leonard
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
March 10, 2025By Andrew Bowman
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.
Swine Health - General Disease
Systematic Review of Transmission Factors, Management Interventions, and Elimination Techniques Related to Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea
March 1, 2025By Eric Neumann
The findings of this systematic review highlight that while PEDV eradication may be theoretically possible under idealized conditions, significant barriers remain. The high transmissibility, environmental resilience, and inability to achieve sterilizing immunity suggest that long-term endemic management is a more practical objective.
Swine Health - Foreign Animal Disease
Evaluation of Swine Carcass Disposal Benefits and Challenges Using Composting and Shallow Burial with Carbon
February 24, 2025By Amy Millmier Schmidt
Among the techniques analyzed – shallow burial with carbon (SBC), whole carcass composting (WCC), and ground carcass composting (GCC), each with and without the addition of biochar – SBC treatments exhibited the most favorable overall performance in terms of both biosecurity and natural resource protection.
Swine Health
Active environmental surveillance for swine pathogens using continuous sampling
February 24, 2025By Jeff Zimmerman
The long-term goal of this project is to develop a practical, cost-effective, active on-farm environmental surveillance system for swine pathogens based on continuous passive sampling. In brief, this would be achieved by placing "passive samplers" in swine production facilities and then periodically collecting and testing the samplers for targeted pathogens.
Animal Science
Creating a sustainability index for the United States swineindustry through stochastic modeling
January 20, 2025By Jeffrey Wiegert
Scientific Abstract Nutrient requirements of growing-finishing pigs are influenced by a complex interplay of factors, including feed intake, metabolism, and environmental conditions. To better...
Animal Science
Use of Hybrid Rye in Diets for Growing and Reproducing Pigs: A Literature Review and Determination of Green-House Gas Emissions.
December 20, 2024By Hans H. Stein
The objective of this project was to evaluate the nutritional value of hybrid rye as an alternative to corn in pig diets and to assess its impact on greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen (N) excretion in pig manure.
Environment
Effectiveness of Shallow Burial with Carbon with Low-Quality Carbon Material
December 10, 2024By Gary A. Flory
This research evaluates whether low-quality carbon feedstocks can be used effectively in SBC systems, providing critical information for swine producers looking for practical solutions during disease emergencies. It also investigates the impact of grinding carcasses on the SBC process, exploring whether pre-processing can accelerate decomposition and further mitigate environmental risks.
Swine Health - Foreign Animal Disease
Mass Composting of Swine Slurry
December 4, 2024By Gary A. Flory
This project will address several concerns related to composting slurry/manure.
Swine Health - Foreign Animal Disease
Evaluation of Lyophilization on Efficacy of African Swine Fever Vaccine Candidate ASFV-G-DI177L
November 20, 2024By Douglas Gladue
This study was to evaluate the ability of the vaccine to be lyophilized, and the stability of the vaccine under different storage conditions.
Swine Health - Foreign Animal Disease
Investigating the Use of Novel Antemortem and Postmortem Sample Types for Detection of African Swine Fever Virus Infection after Natural Consumption
November 19, 2024By Dr. Megan Niederwerder
Overall, this study provides data on novel diagnostic sample types in a unique natural consumption model with potential benefits towards enhanced surveillance and early ASFV detection.
