Better Pork - February 2005

Highlights from Hamburg on ileitis, PRRS and PCV2 enteritis

Brief notes from the hundreds of papers present at the best-attended IPVS conference ever

by S. ERNEST SANFORD

Hamburg, Germany, was the location for the 18th International Pig Veterinary Society (IPVS) Congress, June 27-July 1, 2004. More than 2,800 people attended, exceeding the previous record of 2,004 at the 1992 IPVS at the Hague in the Netherlands. The following are brief notes from a few of the hundreds of papers presented in Hamburg and papers published in the conference proceedings.

Evaluation of PRRS virus outbreaks in negative herds. -- Torremorell M., Geiger J.O., Christianson W.T. Vol. 1: Pg 26, 2004.

The researchers investigated the causes of PRRS outbreaks in 35 PRRS-negative herds. These herds had all been established as PRRS-naïve herds or had undergone a successful PRRS eradication program. All 35 herds had been using semen derived from boar studs housing PRRS-negative boars. Summary of the findings were:

• 29 of 35 (83 per cent) were due to lateral spread.

• Six of 35 (17 per cent) were due to introduction of contaminated semen.

• One out of 35 (three per cent) was due to introduction of infected animals and one out of 35 was due to insects.

• 25 of 29 (70 per cent) of the lateral infections occurred in the cold season (October to March). Area spread was identified as the source of 15 of 29 (52 per cent) cases. Transport of cull sows, boars, slaughter or feeder pigs accounted for eight cases.

Take home. Location of the herd was considered as the single most important risk factor for a naïve herd to break with PRRS.

Lawsonia intracellularis (Ileitis).

Seroprevalence of Lawsonia intracellularis in Canadian swine -- Paradis M.A., Friendship R., Rajic A., et al. Vol. 1: Pg 302, 2004.

Using serum banks, the authors conducted Lawsonia intracellularis seroprevalence surveys in targeted swine populations in Alberta (36 herds), Ontario (34 herds) and Québec (36 herds). Approximately 30 pigs were selected from each herd. Serological tests on sows were done only in Ontario (26 herds) and Quebec (26 herds).

Results:

• 100 per cent sow herds in Ontario and Québec were positive.

• 77.1 per cent (Ontario) and 56.7 per cent (Alberta) of farrow-to-finish herds were positive.

• 29.1 per cent (Ontario) and 5.8% (Alberta) of the multi-site herds were positive.

Take home. Lawsonia intracellularis, the etiological agent of porcine proliferative enteropathy (Ileitis) is very common in Canadian swine herds. This survey indicated that a very high percentage of sow herds are exposed to the ileitis organism with the infection level approaching 100 per cent in sow herds.

Infection levels in the growing pig population are dependent on the type of operation. The infection level is high in conventional farrow-to-finish herds. Infection levels are much lower in all-in, all-out, multi-site operations, but indications are that infection does eventually occur, though later (in late finisher) in these units.

Lawsonia and Porcine Circovirus type 2 (PCV2) Enteritis.

Diarrhea, enteritis and unthrifty pigs: Lawsonia intracellularis or PCV2 type 2 infection --Jensen T.K., Vigre H., Svensmark B., et al. Vol. 1: Pg 326, 2004.

The authors investigated enteritis caused by combined Lawsonia and porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infections by examining formalin-fixed intestinal sections from 76 pigs, two to four months old. These pigs had been diagnosed as suspected ileitis cases and the researchers conducted a case-controlled study comparing the 76 suspected ileitis cases with 25 normal age-matched, Lawsonia- and PCV2-negative controls.

Results:

• Lawsonia-positive -- > 34 of 76 (44.7 per cent);

• PCV type 2-positive -- > 33 of 76 (43.4 per cent);

• Lawsonia and PCV2-positive -- > six of 34 (17.6 per cent);

• Lawsonia and PCV2-negative -- > nine of 34 (55.9 per cent)

Cases of necrotizing ileitis, necrotizing colitis & hemorrhagic enteritis were most likely to be PCV2-positive.

Take home. PCV2 infection must be considered in cases of thickened small intestines resembling ileitis. Both etiological agents (Lawsonia and PCV2) target the ileum. PCV2 enteric infections are indistinguishable from cases of ileitis on gross postmortem examination. Fortunately, the lesions are very easily differentiated on histological examination.

(Note: PCV2 is the virus that causes postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) and has not usually been associated with scour problems in pigs. The findings by these researchers will alert diagnosticians to consider the possibility of PCV2 infection in cases that look like ileitis.)

ELISA serology tests for L. intracellularis.

Two papers were presented on this, one from Denmark, the other from Germany.

Evaluation of an ELISA as a serological test for Lawsonia intracellularis, the agent of PPE --Boesen H.T., Jensen T.K., Møller K., et al. Vol. 1: Pg 251, 2004. Herd profiles of Abs against Lawsonia intracellularis in German farms using a new blocking ELISA -- Keller C., Ohlinger V.F., Wilms-Schulze Kump A., et al. Vol. 1: Pg 253, 2004.

Take home. ELISA serology for L. intracellularis will likely soon be available commercially. Since ELISA testing will be automated, it will mean that the number of samples that can be tested will increase and results will be obtained more quickly since the turnaround time to get results will be reduced. This should also reduce the cost for these tests. BP

S. Ernest Sanford, DVM, Dip. Path., Diplomate ACVP, is a swine specialist with Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (Canada) Ltd. in Burlington.

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Better Pork - February 2005

Does the higher cost of a high-energy diet exceed the value of improved animal performance?

by DENISE BEAULIEU, JOHM PATIENCE, RUURD ZIJLSTRA, and RYAN MOHR

Variability in growth and performance is a concern to pork producers because of the negative impact it can have on revenues and expenditures. Two options are available to deal with this problem. The first is to reduce variability and the second is to manage it. If variability is considered to be excessive, using management practices to reduce it is a reasonable approach.

This experiment was designed to determine the effect of a starter program on the variability in animal weights at nursery exit. Treatments consisted of four starter programs, formulated and fed according to manufacturers' specifications from weaning (day 0) to nursery exit (day 50).

The starter program has the potential to influence the relative growth of individual pigs within a group by allowing the smaller and younger pigs to excel relative to the older and larger contemporaries. Variability will be reduced if the feeding regimen allows the smaller pigs to "catch-up" or meet the performance of the larger animals in their cohort. It is recognized that the impact nursery diet has on variability is complex; but determining whether a feeding program can reduce the impact of variability was considered a first step.

A total of 560 pigs were used in this experiment, this representing all the available pigs from two consecutive weeks of weaning at PSC Research Farm near Elstow Saskatchewan. The only pigs excluded from the experiment were those suffering from an obvious medical or physical problem.

The experimental group represents a typical and complete weaning group. Animals were blocked into one of four weight groups. The treatments consisted of four commercial programs currently in use in Western Canada, which were fed according to the manufacturers' directions. The only restriction on the program was the medication -- all diets were required to include LS20 at the recommended level.

Piglets were weighed individually when they were placed on test (day 0) and on day 4, day 7, day 13, day 20, day 34 and day 50 (nursery exit). The Coefficient of variability was computed within a pen and analyzed as a variable across pens. To ensure confidentiality for the participating companies, the performance data from one company was arbitrarily assigned a value of 100, and the data from the other companies is expressed relative to this. Significance was declared at the P < 0.05 level.

Table 1. The effect of starter program on the performance of nursery pigs. The data were indexed to diet A which was arbitrarily assigned a value of 100.
Treatment
	A	B	C	D	Meana	SEMa
Initial weight, kg	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	6.26	0.018
Final weightb, kg	100.00	100.31	104.37	101.92	32.36	0.341
ADG, kg/d	100.00	100.00	103.15	102.95	0.52	0.008
ADFIb, kg/d	100.00	99.31	105.82	105.13	0.74	0.009
FCEb	100.00	100.57	97.30	99.29	0.70	0.004
Feed cost/kg gainb	100.00	104.92	109.84	101.64	0.64	0.006
Feed cost/pigb	100.00	104.74	113.89	105.39	16.34	0.193
aCalculated from untransformed data. b Significant effect due to treatment (Feed Conversion Efficiency) (P<0.05).

Table 2. The effect of grouping by weaning weight on the performance of nursery pigs.
Weight Group
	Lightest	Light	Heavy	Heaviest	SEM
Initial weight, kg	4.93	5.80	6.55	7.76	0.018
Final weight, kg	29.19	31.74	32.94	35.55	0.341
ADG, kg/d	0.479	0.519	0.521	0.545	0.008
ADFI, kg/d	0.665	0.730	0.756	0.800	0.009
FCEa	0.719	0.711	0.689	0.681	0.004
Feed cost/kg gain	0.64	0.63	0.64	0.64	0.006
Feed cost/piga	15.29	16.24	16.49	17.33	0.193
aSignificant effect of weight group (P<0.05).

Table 3. The effect of starter programs on the coefficient of variation (CV, %), calculated from body weighta within pens. Pigs had been blocked by weight at weaning. The data were indexed to diet A which was arbitrarily assigned a value of 100.
TREATMENT
Phase	A	B	C	D	Meanb	SEMb
day 4	100.00	98.77	101.97	95.08	8.05	0.42
day 7	100.00	89.81	97.98	92.04	8.94	0.65
day 20	100.00	91.37	94.34	95.21	13.13	1.16
day 34	100.00	104.43	83.14	97.59	12.39	0.84
day 50	100.00	94.13	85.43	99.36	10.33	0.68
aCalculated from pen data, averaged for each treatment. The overall CV for each nursery room averaged 17.8 per cent at day 0 and 12.6 per cent at day 50. bCalculated from untransformed data.

Table 4. The effect of grouping by weaning weight on the coefficient of variation (CV, per cent) calculated from body weighta.
WEIGHT GROUP
Phase	Lightest	Light	Heavy	Heaviest	SEM
day 4b	8.13	8.03	8.29	7.73	0.42
day 7	9.42	8.46	9.23	8.67	0.65
day 20	13.79	12.60	13.01	13.13	1.16
day 34b	12.87	13.44	10.70	12.56	0.84
day 50b	10.91	10.27	9.32	10.84	0.68
aCalculated from pen data, averaged for each weight group. The overall CV for each nursery room averaged 17.8 per cent at day 0 and 12.6 per cent at day 50. bSignificant effect due to weight group (P<0.05).

The results showed that the starter program had a modest effect on performance (Table 1). However, when examined within specific phases (data not shown), no one program outperformed the others. Nor did any starter program elicit an improvement within specific weight groups. Feed cost per pig or per kilogram of gain did differ between feeding program. Feed costs were based on information provided by the collaborating feed companies and was intended to reflect the price charged to a customer for this program.

As mentioned above, the objective of this experiment was to determine if differences exist among commercial starter programs in terms of their impact on variability at nursery exit rather than to determine the "best" commercial starter program or to examine specific nutrients which affect pig growth during the nursery phase.

Although weight group had an effect on CV at nursery exit, starter program had no effect on uniformity. Moreover, no starter program consistently improved uniformity within a specific weight group.

Within every weaning group there are some very lightweight pigs. Uniformity at nursery exit will be improved if we can specifically increase the growth rate of these pigs. The effect of starter program was not specific for any weight group, and therefore will not affect overall variability.

Overall, Average Daily Gain ADG was similar between programs. However, the Average Daily Feed Intake differed, thus feed efficiency was affected by the program used. Variability in pig growth, determined as the coefficient of variation, was not affected by starter program. This was true regardless of the starting weight of the group of pigs.

Therefore, although performance may be affected slightly by the use of a specific starter program, the change in performance is uniform across a group; and the variability in body weight at nursery exit will not be affected. The authors acknowledge with gratitude the collaboration of the participating feed companies in Western Canada. Strategic program funding is provided to the Prairie Swine Centre by Sask Pork, Alberta Pork, the Manitoba Pork Council and the Saskatchewan Agricultural Development Fund.BP

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Better Pork - February 2005

Ontario swine employees' biggest complaint - low wages (and long hours hurt too)

A recent Ridgetown College survey shows that swine farm employees are paid less and work longer hours than comparable jobs in the construction industry. And turnover was lower on the farms offering better pay and benefits

by KEN McEWEN

As Ontario swine farms have grown in size, more labour is often required than family members can provide, which means these farms have come to rely on hired labour. Many farms report that it is a challenge to attract, keep and motivate employees who have many other employment opportunities.

Added to this is the perception that agriculture is low-paying, requires long hours of work and may not have ideal working conditions. We at Ridgetown College undertook a survey to get a better understanding of the issues facing human resource management in the industry.

We saw when the survey was done that swine farm employees worked about 45 hours per week. For general labour, this is about three hours a week more than for jobs in other industries that require similar skills, such as construction trades helpers (source: Statistics Canada). Swine farm employees also receive lower compensation than some other industries. General and skilled swine farm labour received wages up to $6 an hour less than, for example, full-time truck drivers and construction trades helpers. Cash wages ranged from $10.93 an hour for general swine farm labour to $18.65 an hour for supervisors and managers. The biggest complaint heard from employees in the survey was regarding wages.

TABLE 1. HOURS WORKED PER WEEK AND COMPENSATION FOR SWINE FARM
	General labour	Skilled labour	Supervisor/manager
Average hours worked/wk	44.8	47.0	48.2
Cash wage $/hr	10.93	15.00	18.65
Additional benefits $/hr	0.80	1.92	2.85
Total compensation $/hr	11.73	16.92	21.50

Swine farm employers indicated that they provide a wide range of additional benefits. These included medical or dental coverage, housing, paid utilities, use of a farm vehicle, the provision of pork and so on. These benefits increased the value of the compensation package by $0.80/hour for general labour up to $2.85/hour for supervisors and managers.

We attempted to analyze why employee turnover was low on some farms and high on others. Participants were divided into groups with low employee turnover (i.e. no employee turnover in last two years) and high turnover (70 per cent or greater employee turnover in last two years). It was found that employees on low turnover farms work slightly fewer hours and receive higher wages than similar employees on high turnover farms. (See Table 2.) Employees on low turnover farms also receive more weekends off each month and more paid vacation days.

	Low turnover farms	High turnover farms
General labour:
Average hours/wk	45.7	44.7
Wages $/hr	10.10	10.08
Skilled labour:
Average hours/wk	44.8	51.6
Wages $/hr	15.21	14.61
Supervisor/manager:
Average hours/wk	47.0	49.3
Wages $/hr	18.25	16.75

Staff turnover can be costly. Costs related to the time for an exit interview for a departing employee and record-keeping associated with their leaving were estimated at $252. Replacement costs totalling $1,138 included advertising and the salaries of individuals who discuss and interview candidates. Training costs involve manuals provided to new employees, training workshops, the salary of another employee who works with and trains the new employee and the salary of the new employee until they are fully productive. Training costs totalled $7,018. In summary, the average total cost of turnover is $8,408 each time an employee leaves the business. It was also reported that the average beginning salary and benefits of a new employee amount to $26,653 depending on the job and that it takes about 52 days for a new employee to become fully productive.

Many of the following recommendations are not unique to the swine industry. Most employees simply want to feel valued and respected for their skills and for their time working.

Hours of work. Indicate at time of hire what the typical hours of work are and whether flexible hours are offered.

Compensation. Pay should be fair for the work done. Offering benefits such as dental and health insurance, housing, provision of pork all help to increase the total value of the compensation package.

Employee interaction. Let employees know when they are doing a good job and when improvements can be made. Interaction amongst employees may prove beneficial.

Statutory holidays and weekends. Trying to establish a mutually agreeable and acceptable schedule ahead of time shows consideration for employees. The provision of additional money or time off on another day may be incentive to work holidays/weekends.

Vacation time. Providing paid vacation time off is a way to reward employees for the work they have done.

Special thanks go to Ontario Pork for providing funding for this study. Recognition and appreciation is extended to the employers and employees that participated in the survey.BP

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