• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.42 no.3
• /
• pp.223-229
• /
• 2015

This study was conducted to investigate the changes in the pig productivity after ban of antibiotics growth promoter in commercial pig farms. A total 74 pig farms that herd size is from less than 100 sows to more than 500 sows were selected for survey. Changes of pig productivity before/after ban of antibiotics were analyzed by comparing with our survey results and report of KPPA (Korean Pork Producers Association, 2013). In the results, no difference on pig productivity was observed by herd size among our survey farms. Live born piglets have been raised as time passes since 2003, and then it reach to 10.6 head per sow in 2012. The numbers of weaning piglet tended to increase, but sow turnover ratio was found to be a tendency to decrease after ban of antibiotics in our survey results. There was no effect of using antibiotics on mortality of pre- and post- weaning. Marketing per sow per year (MSY) does not be improved because the post-weaning mortality was maintained at a high level, despite live pig born and weaning piglet have increased after 2003. In conclusion, a ban of antibiotics growth promoter does not directly affect to pig productivity, but it needs the efforts to reduce the mortality of post-weaning for improvement of pig productivity. We suggest that this data will be useful to swine industry as the fundamental information.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.46-51
• /
• 2014

Objectives: The principal aim of this study was to compare the concentrations of gaseous pollutants emitted in enclosed pig buildings between different rates of general ventilation and determine the variations in the patterns of gaseous pollutants as affected by ventilation rate. Materials and Methods: The experiment was performed in the growing/finishing room($20.0m{\times}12.0m{\times}3.0m$) of a pig confinement building located on the experimental farm of Seoul National University. The conditions of the general ventilation rate for three treatments were 30%($4.12m^3s^{-1}$), 50%($6.87m^3s^{-1}$) and 70%($9.61m^3s^{-1}$). The data presented in the study were collected overa total of 45 days, 15 days for each of the three treatments from March to May 2011. A total of six air samplings were taken at 1.5m above the floor of the pig building. The environmental agents measured in the pig building were ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and odor concentration index for gaseous pollutants with temperature and hydrogen sulfide for thermal factors. Results: There were significant differences in the ammonia and odor concentration index in the pig building among the three general ventilation rate conditions(p<0.05), whereas hydrogen sulfide did not show a significant difference among three conditions of general ventilation rate(p>0.05). As the general ventilation rate applied to the pig building increases, it appears that all the indoor environmental agents measured in this study simultaneously decrease. Conclusions: The gaseous pollutants significantly affected by the general ventilation rate in pig building were ammonia and odor concentration index(p<0.05). However, it was found that hydrogen sulfide and thermal factors, temperature and relative humidity were not influenced significantly by variation in the general ventilation rate.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.420-428
• /
• 2012

Purpose: Porcine proliferative enteropathy(PPE), caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium Lawsonia intracellularis, is a widely distributed disease throughout the world causing substantial economic loss. The bacterial pathogen invades the intestinal epithelial cells which causes hyperplasia of the infected cells and leads to the process of disease pathogenesis. For diagnosing PPE in a pig farm in earlier stage, a rapid diagnosing test equipment is needed for farmers. To test the equipment appropriately, we prepare the samples and antibodies for rapid detecting the Lawsonia intracellularis in pig feces. Methods : To prepare the PPE infected samples, we sampled PPE suspected pig feces in a pig farm. To manufacture a anti-Lawsonia intracellularis antibody for capturing the Lawsonia intracellularis, the rabbit-anti LsaA synthetic peptide polyclonal antibody was inoculated to rabbits. To select the couple of antibodies which is most well sandwiched with the bacteria, ELISA test was done with PPE infected ileum samples. Finally, to verify the PPE infected feces which would be used to test the rapid kit, PCR test was done on the sampled PPE suspected feces Results : The rabbit-anti LsaA synthetic peptide polyclonal antibody is developed, and is verified to capture the bacterial well through the fluorescence antibody test. Also, we found that the monoclonal antibody and the polyclonal antibody could be used as couples for sandwiching the bacteria. Finally, through the PCR test for samples of pig feces, we could prepare the 150 PPE positive samples and 50 PPE negative samples. Conclusions : The manufactured polyclonal antibody and the imported monoclonal antibody could be used to capture the bacteria using the sandwich techniques. Also, the prepared PPE infected negative and positive samples could be used to test the performance of the rapid kit to capture the bacterium Lawsonia intracellularis.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.26.1-26.6
• /
• 2021

Fourteen African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks occurred in the pig farms in the northwestern region of South Korea, near the border with North Korea, from September 16, 2019 to October 9, 2019. Active and passive surveillance on the ASF-infected farms indicated that the infection was limited only to pigsties where the infected pigs were detected on the farm for the first time before further transmission to other pigsties and farms. This early detection could be one of the pivotal factors for the prompt eradication of ASF in domestic pig farms within 1 month in the northwestern region of South Korea.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.37 no.4_spc
• /
• pp.755-774
• /
• 2024

The main objective of this study was to present data on the current situation and future trends of pig meat production in the European Union-27 (EU). Pig production has played an important social and economic role for centuries in many states of the EU. In 2022, pig meat production in the EU reached 23 M tons, which represented 21% of total production worldwide. The two key reasons that justify such amount of pork produced, are the acceptance and high consumption of the meat by the local population and the high quality of the meat produced which facilitated pork export. However, current data show a reduction in pork production for the last three years, as a consequence of a series of events that include i) problems with the chain of ingredients supply, ii) uncontrolled increase in African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreaks, iii) fast recovery of pig production in China, iv) increasing concerns by the rural population on the high cost to meet future requirements of the EU legislation on farm management, environmental sustainability and animal welfare, v) increased cost of all inputs involved in pig production and vi) limited interest of the new farmer generation to work on the pig sector. Consequently, pork production is expected to decrease in the EU for the next years, although sales will be maintained at a relative high level because pork is the meat preferred by local consumers in most EU countries. In order to maintain the favourable position of the pork industry in the near future, strategies to implement include: i) maintain the quality of the meat destinated to export markets, ii) improve the control of outbreaks of ASF and other swine diseases, iii) implementation of technological innovations to improve working conditions making more attractive to work in the pork sector of the food chain to the new generation of farmers and workers.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.32 no.12
• /
• pp.987-990
• /
• 2023

This study exploded the correlation between feed and livestock manure characteristics across different livestock species. The selected farms included laying hen, fattening pig, and Hanwoo farms, with visits conducted to each farm at 1-day intervals. In the experiment, feed was provided to each livestock species every day at the same scheduled time, and samples of both feed and livestock manure were collected from each farm after 1 month. The correlation analysis revealed no significant effect on the crude protein content of the feed for each livestock species and the respective livestock manure characteristics. This could be attributed to the fact that the difference in nitrogen content of each feed did not have a substantial effect on the content of the livestock manure components or the differences in individual components were similar. Based on these results, it is crucial to conduct environmental impact assessments on farms using diverse feeding management approaches for each farm.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.223-230
• /
• 1994

A practical study on a drying and fermentation system equipped with a stirring machine operated mechanically, of pig manure was conducted to prove the efficiency of and practicability to an ordinary pig farm. The type of the drying bed was a round-shaped (r=3m) concrete structure and the stirring machine was adopted to stir and transfer dried pig manure to the fermentation tank. The dried pig manure was put into a fermentation tank ($V=18m^3$), which was aerated from pipe lines installed at the bottom. While water content of pig manure passing through a drying bed was remarkably reduced than before drying, the drying efficiency of this system decreased in winter. However, the temperature of pig manure piled up in the fermentation room in winter reached over $60^{\circ}C$ and excess water of pig manure was removed during the fermentation process. The reduction rate of water content of pig manure, to which dried pig manure was added as bulking material on the drying bed, was 52.1%, but when dried without bulking material it was only 19.7%. Although the content of $P_2O_5$ of dried pig manure was slightly higher than that of fresh pig manure, progressive changes in chemical composition between fresh and dried pig manure made no great difference. Among the contents of minerals of fresh and dried pig manure, CaO was the highest and the rest were in the decreasing order of $K_2O$, MgO, and $Na_2O$. Population density of E. coli and Streptococci of dried pig manure was reduced by 142 and 236 times that of fresh pig manure, respectively. The installation cost of this drying and fermentation system was 4,185,630 won (approximately 5,232 US $) and operating cost per year was 190,000 won (237.5US $) on the basis of self-labor condition.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.643-651
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this study was to analyze the purpose, effectiveness and problems of HACCP system implementation for small, medium and large scale of swine farms implementing HACCP. Small and medium scale swine farms stated that the primary purpose of HACCP implementation was to receive government funding, but large scale swine farm was answered to improve the farm's competitiveness. In the case of small farms, the effect of HACCP implementation responded to systematic farm management as the top priority, while mid-scale and large-scale swine farms were said to improve farm sanitation. In addition, the biggest problems caused by the implementation of HACCP were the difficulty of improving the consciousness of the employees (small farm) and the records management (medium scale, large farm) by HACCP implementation. In order to solve these problems, it is necessary to adjust the number of HACCP evaluation items of pig farm and HACCP education for employees.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.627-641
• /
• 2020

Intensive farming methods that do not guarantee animal welfare can induce stress in pigs. Stress, in turn, can reduce their disease resistance and influence their hormones and metabolites in such a manner that productivity is negatively affected. This study was conducted to compare the stress related factors and blood characteristics of pigs raised on conventional farms and those raised on animal welfare farms. We measured the levels of cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine, biochemical parameters in blood and glycogen, L-lactate and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in muscle, as physiological markers of indicating the stress in conventional farm pigs (Control, n=10) and animal welfare farm pigs (Welfare, n=10). We found that there was a significant difference in the albumin-globulin ratio (A/G ratio), as well as the albumin (ALB), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels between the two farms. Epinephrine was significantly higher in conventional farm, while level of norepinephrine was higher in animal welfare farm. There was no significant difference in cortisol, which is known as a stress hormone, across the two groups of farms. Muscular glycogen content was significantly high in animal welfare farm pigs. While L-lactate tended to be low in the animal welfare farm pigs, the difference between them and the conventional farm cohorts was not significant. HSP70 showed high levels of expression in conventional farm. Thus, we suggested that blood parameter results showed a stress response in the livers of conventional farm, and that catecholamine hormones, glycogen, L-lactate and HSP70 can be used as physiological factors of assessing animal welfare.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.140-145
• /
• 2017

The goal of this study was to investigate risk factors associated with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) in pig farms in the Republic of Korea using logistic regression and a multilevel model. A cross-sectional study was applied to 305 pig farms with a questionnaire-based interview by veterinarians between March 2014 and February 2015. The questionnaire comprised eight categories: proximity to neighbors, disinfection, visitors, vehicles, insecticides, wild animals, gilts, and feeding. In total, 61 questions in eight categories related to pig farm biosecurity were investigated. Farms were classified as PRRS stable or unstable based on the results of an antibody test and PCR. For univariate analysis, keeping production records with computers (OR = 0.283, 95% CI = 0.056 - 1.425), accredited farm with no use of antibiotics (OR = 0.412, 95% CI = 0.134 - 1.269), reviewing health record of semen prior to purchasing (OR = 0.492, 95% CI = 0.152 - 1.589), complete isolation of runt pigs (OR = 0.264, 95% CI = 0.084 - 0.829), compulsory registering for visitors (OR = 0.424, 95% CI = 0.111 - 1.612), keeping records of insecticide history (OR = 0.406, 95% CI = 0.089 - 1.846), routine on-farm monitoring by veterinarians (OR = 0.314, 95% CI = 0.069 - 1.423), and use of on-farm checklist for biosecurity monitoring (OR = 0.313, 95% CI = 0.063 - 1.553) were found to decrease the probability of PRRS infection. Multivariate and multilevel analysis revealed only two factors, complete isolation of runt pigs (OR = 0.165, 95% CI = 0.045 - 0.602 and OR = 0.208, 95% CI = 0.055 - 0.782) and compulsory registering for visitors (OR = 0.106, 95% CI = 0.017 - 0.655 and OR = 0.119, 95% CI = 0.017 - 0.809) were found to decrease the probability of PRRS infection. The intracluster correlation coefficient of a province for multilevel model was 0.05. The results of this study might facilitate biosecurity measures for individual farms to reduce the probability of PRRS infection.