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.
Learn more about how you can help advance the pork industry through ongoing research.
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 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.
This study was conducted to explore the distributions of class A water-based foam and high-expansion nitrogen foam within the respiratory tract of pigs using computed tomography (CT), which is a real-time imaging technology. Through this, the goal was to further describe how foam-based swine depopulation methods, specifically water-based foam and high-expansion nitrogen foam, work in depopulated pigs.
The completed study provided information on the ability of foamed pig carcasses to be rendered. We obtained three foams, Foams A, B, and C, used for the humane killing of groups of animals in emergencies, i.e., foams used for depopulation activities. We evaluated the foams for components that could be potential residues in rendered products using mass spectrophotometry and light chromatography (MS/LC) since MS/LC is an accepted method used in food production/food safety laboratories to detect and characterize contaminants and residues, such as antibiotics and chemical growth-promoting agents. After optimizing the LC/MS method for the foam components, we humanely killed three groups of pigs with nitrogen-gas-filled foam, one group for each Foam A, B, and C, n=3 pigs per group. An additional pig (n=1) was humanely killed by captive bolt and served as a negative (no foam, i.e., no residues) control. After confirmed death and transportation to the rendering laboratory, we collected, measured, and weighed sections of skin, snouts, ears, and legs (external tissues/areas of the pig carcass in contact with the foam) from all carcasses. We determined if cooking at temperatures, times, and conditions that mirror the rendering process eliminated the residues from the collected tissues in contact with the foam. There were no detectable foam residues after rendering tissues from carcasses exposed to two of the foams (Foam A, plant-based; Foam C, Green-certified, Class A/B firefighting foam) and only minimal levels detectable for Foam C (a class A firefighting foam). Having rendering as a disposal option will not only help in the adoption of using foam-based humane killing and depopulation methods in the U.S. but also provide a cost-recovery option for producers that have depopulated pigs via foam methods by allowing the carcasses to be rendered rather than composted.
The objective of this study was to determine if a tailored swine euthanasia training tool based on the Predictive Index (PI) Behavioral Assessment improves caretaker euthanasia attitudes, perceptions, and supports improved caretaker mental welfare.
This study used an 83-item survey instrument developed to identify caretakers' attitudes toward pig euthanasia.
This study aimed to assess a novel strategy for pain management of piglets after routine processing procedures. By providing the sow an analgesic drug that is able to cross the blood-milk barrier in the mammary gland, nursing piglets can be noninvasively provided pain relief transmammary prior to surgical castration and tail docking.
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