Better Pork - April 2007

Research

Your swine research dollars at work to strengthen your future

Silencing one of the key genes responsible for muscle mass could help improve efficiency in the swine industry and even have some benefits for human health

by KATHY ZURBRIGG

Each year, the Ontario Pork Producers Marketing Board publishes a magazine called Pigs, Pork and Progress, which highlights the research projects that they have recently funded.

Other sources of information describing swine research funded by the Ontario Pork Research fund include meetings such as the Centralia Swine Research Update and the London Swine Conference, the Ontario Swine Research Review and the Ontario Pork website. Each of these sources takes a different approach, but all play a role in informing members of the Ontario swine industry how research money is spent.

It is easy to forget that findings which were once cutting edge in the swine industry eventually become common practice on swine farms. For example, the Porcine Stress Syndrome (PSS) test is used to eliminate this genetic defect from breeding stock, resulting in a reduction of PSS-related problems throughout the industry.

The test was developed at the University of Guelph and funded by the Ontario Pork swine research program. Similarly, routine practices in swine nutrition came about in part because of research funded by Ontario Pork and performed at the University of Guelph.

Those of us not working with the micro-components of bacteria and viruses may wonder how studying them has any application on the farm. One product of this type of research was the creation of rapid-response tests for PRRS and mycoplasma  which are routinely used today to identify these diseases in tissues, blood or semen.

In fact, if you use a hormone protocol to bring sows into heat, employ liquid feeding, have ever had trouble with PRRS or circovirus, or thought about finishing pigs in the United States, you have or soon will benefit from Ontario swine research. All of this work has been funded with research dollars that producers contribute to the Ontario Pork Swine Research Program.

Funding from Ontario Pork allows internationally recognized researchers at the University of Guelph, such as Robert Friendship, Kees De Lange and Cate Dewey to hire graduate students to expand the amount of research they can perform. Research projects also serve to introduce university students to the swine industry, many of whom continue working with pigs after their degrees are completed.

As an example, two Ontario swine vets, Drs. Kevin Vilaca and Christa Arsenault, both spent their summers as students at the University of Guelph working on projects funded by Ontario Pork. Several major pharmaceutical companies also have swine veterinarians on staff who did graduate work on projects funded by Ontario Pork.  These examples demonstrate that Ontario Pork swine research funding helps to infuse the swine industry with keen, new members. 

Strong, well-funded, research centres, such as the University of Guelph, draw some of the best researchers from around the world. The large number (approximately 40 swine researchers at U of G) and high calibre of people working on Ontario swine research greatly benefits our industry.

Recently, the research program mounted by the University of Guelph in conjunction with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) changed its funding structure. Under the new program, researchers in all animal species and crops compete for the total research budget. In 2006, the research office ranked the U of G swine proposals first, second and third to receive funding from the newly restructured program. This was due in large part to the consistent commitment to swine research that Ontario Pork has demonstrated over the years. 

When Ontario Pork funds a research project, the money does more than just solve a particular industry problem. With Ontario Pork research money in place, researchers can receive matching funds from other sources such as OMAFRA or the National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). To producers this means a huge increase in the dollars dedicated to swine research beyond what they contribute directly. And the more money invested in research, the faster and more appropriate a response can be generated to industry issues.  

The financial contribution made by swine producers to research that will help keep their industry on the cutting edge is not unique to Ontario. Other provinces and some U.S. states have similar programs. What makes the Ontario system unique is the scale. For approximately the last 10 years, swine producers have been contributing $0.20 per hog marketed to swine research. In addition, the Canadian-Ontario Research and Development program (CORD) has contributed approximately $400,000 a year in matching funds to Ontario Pork Research. This brings the Ontario Pork Swine Research budget to well over $1 million annually. The funding program is well recognized as a major source of swine research dollars by researchers from Ontario.

There is a standard procedure for selecting which research projects will be funded. Each year, a call for proposals is sent out to researchers. All the written proposals are reviewed by the swine research committee, composed of Ontario Pork staff, Ontario Pork Board members and industry representatives.

After a vote, the principal researchers of those projects with potential are asked to make a presentation to the board. Then the research committee makes recommendations to the Ontario Pork Board of Directors, who make the final selection of projects to be funded.
To compete in the global market place, Ontario pork producers need a strong infrastructure, which includes a well-funded centre for swine research. Thanks to the progressive attitude of Ontario swine producers and their research dollars, the University of Guelph can maintain its status as a world leader in swine research.

Kathy Zurbrigg is animal health and welfare specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, based in Fergus.