Behind the Lines - April 2012

Monday, April 2, 2012

Two generations of the Stam family raising pork in Haldimand County exemplify how much of the province's industry has chosen to deal with Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS).

At first, Tony and Vickie Stam thought they could live with it in their barns. But, gradually, PRRS's effects became worse. Now they and partners nephew Kevin Stam and wife Christine are part of an effort to eliminate a disease that has become a scourge of the industry over more than a decade. Writer Mary Baxter tells the story of their successes and setbacks, starting on page 6.

Veterinarian Ernest Sanford writes about vitamin D deficiency as a suspect factor in Peri-weaning Failure to Thrive Syndrome (also known as Post-weaning Catabolic Syndrome). Vitamin D is thought to encourage absorption of calcium and also improve neuro-muscular function. This story starts on page 30.

The cover story on sow housing in our December 2011 issue has sparked some strong reactions. Developments in the United States, with both farm groups and major customers signing on with the activist group Humane Society of the United States, have come swiftly over the winter. We are taking a Second Look at this, literally, in our column of the same name. And we encourage readers to call and write to us about this important and apparently polarizing issue that affects how pork is produced.

And still on the subject of sow confinement, we offer the results of an interesting study on farrowing crates conducted at an experimental farm in Germany. European correspondent Norman Dunn reports that crates allowing additional sow movement reduced piglet mortality. See page 41 to learn more about the design researchers found best. BP

ROBERT IRWIN