The Pig Edge Podcast
The Pig Edge is Teagasc’s fortnightly Pig podcast for farmers. Presented by Amy Quinn the podcasts will cover the latest news, information and advice to improve your pig farm performance.
Episode 4
The topical area of antimicrobial use and resistance in pig production is covered by Amy Quinn on the latest Pig Edge podcast with Teagasc PhD student Lorcan O’Neill.
Firstly Lorcan gives an overview of his study which looked at antimicrobial usage on Irish pig farms. He then discusses where the Irish pig industry stands in comparison to other countries in terms of measuring antimicrobial usage at farm level.
Lorcan also touches on the new EU regulations governing antibiotic use which will be coming into effect in 2022.
He then takes us through his study looking at antimicrobial resistance. Lorcan shares some of the main considerations for farmers looking to reduce their use of antibiotics on farm.
To finish up Lorcan briefly discusses the new Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM) antimicrobial database for pig producers.
Episode 3
Teagasc Specialised Pig Advisor Ger McCutcheon joins Amy Quinn on the latest episode of the Pig Edge to discuss the newly released Teagasc National Pig Herd Performance Report which outlines the key performance indicators and their trends for the 2019 year.
Ger firstly introduces us to the eProfit Monitor system (ePM) and how it can be used as a useful management tool on pig farms. Ger then highlights the main results and trends, taking us through the 2019 averages for the main key performance indicators for both sow and grower productivity.
He also discusses some of the key differences between the national average figures for 2019 and those of the top 25% and top 10% of herds in relation to sow and grower performance. In addition to the productivity figures, Ger details the main production costs and the differences observed in 2019.
To access the report click here and for the infographic click here
Episode 2
Teagasc Researcher Maria Costa joins Amy Quinn on this episode of the Pig Edge to discuss the completed PATHSURVPIG project.
This project may be familiar to many as over 60 commercial Irish farms were involved in the project which investigated the extent of respiratory disease on Irish pig farms, associated risk factors, and the relationship with performance, welfare and antimicrobial use.
Firstly, Maria explains what was involved in this project and also discusses the true effect of respiratory diseases on farms.
Maria was largely involved in the cross-sectional component of this study in which biosecurity, vaccination, antimicrobial use and feeding practices from about 60 commercial farms was examined and subsequently slaughterhouse examinations looking and lung, heart and liver lesions were collected from a large number of pigs from each of those farms.
Maria takes us through the main findings from this part of the study and takes us through the results which modelled the implications of respiratory disease on production performance.
Episode 1
Teagasc Researcher Peadar Lawlor joins Amy Quinn on the first episode of the Pig Edge to discuss the WET-FEED project which is nearing completion, this project looked at optimising liquid feeding for increased growth and improved feed efficiency in grow-finisher pigs.
Firstly, Peadar explains what this project was all about and outlines its main objectives. Peadar also touches on the practice of liquid feeding, in general, its popularity, as well as the main advantages and disadvantages of this system as he sees it.
Peadar brings us through the findings of the work carried out in the Teagasc Pig Research Facility where they compared dry, wet/dry and liquid feeding using a common diet in meal or pelleted form on growth, feed efficiency and carcass quality of grow-finisher pigs.
This project also looked at liquid feeding on a sample of commercial Irish pig farms and Peadar gives us an interesting insight into what this study found on farms. Finally, Peadar gives his thoughts into what feeding system to consider and the circumstances in which to do so if looking at refurbishing or building a new unit.