VOL 3 ISSUE 1 | SPRING 2015

A P E R I O D I C N E W S L E T T E R P R O D U C E D B Y G R A N D V A L L E Y F O R T I F I E R S L T D .Swine GristSwine Grist

Jim Ross, Chairman

Dear friends,

Truly it has been a very long and cold winter, however over the last few days we are beginning to believe that spring will soon be with us. Tractors will till the soil, fertilizers will be spread and seeds will be sown and all will look forward with enthusiastic confidence that our fields will bring forth another year of bountiful harvest. This is all part of the life of a true farmer! And what happens if we are disappointed and the crop is considerably less than we had hoped; the weather was too dry, too wet, too hot or too cold? To the true farmers there is always next year! That is the indomitable spirit of a farmer – He is the ultimate example of a true optimist.

The year of 2014 will go down as one of the most profitable years in the hog business, ever experienced in North America. The largest contributing factor was the introduction of PED virus in the early spring of 2013 and its rapid spread across the Midwest United States. This resulted in the death of thousands of piglets as the devastating disease took its toll across the US pig raising heartland.

Week after week there were over 350 new herds becoming infected. This soon led to great concerns over the resulting reduction in the availability of slaughter hogs. To maintain efficiency some kill plants closed down as packers worked together to maintain economical efficiency of the kill floor.

Looking further into 2015, it looks like the impact of PEDv on the supply of US hogs will be substantially less than in 2014. The US breeding herd has expanded over the last 12 months, the productivity of sows has returned to its steadily increasing levels and with increased carcass weights pork supply is predicted to be similar to 2013 levels.

US pork export will be challenged by a seemingly ever strengthening US dollar and yet, with the new “fat is good” mantra which is being publicized, domestic demand for red meat and dairy products could actually grow in 2015.

With all of this in mind, pork pricing similar to 2013 levels is probable. This may seem unfortunate compared to 2014 price levels however, economists are predicting a decrease in the cost of hog production by $24 USD/cwt in 2015 vs. 2013 due to an abundance of corn and increasing of soy bean production and its carry forward. Considering this cost of production decrease and a likely rally of hog futures into the Spring, 2015 is promising to be profitable for hog producers.

We thank all our contributors to this spring issue of the Swine Grist and trust you will enjoy it. Wishing you good farming, Jim Ross

Modern sow genetics has strived to increase the number of pigs born alive/sow annually. Today’s “best in class” genetic sows give

birth to 13–16 live pigs, with the intent of weaning 12 or more pigs at 17–28 days of age. Despite attempts to wean pigs at an older age of 25–28 days, the improved farrowing rate of most sow herds has

resulted in pigs weaned between 19–24 days of age. Most of the best sows wean between 85–100 kg of pigs at 21–24 days of lactation. This is the environment into which the modern day sow has been thrust.

While sows having larger litters has resulted in an increase in total litter birth weight, there has been a reduction in average piglet birth weight. The consequence has been an increase in variation of individual pig birth weights, with a larger number of pigs being of lower critical weight. Furthermore with 14 or more pigs born alive the number of viable teats on the nursing sow becomes critical for the survival of the pigs in the litter. Previously, the management practice of first litter gilts was to reduce the number of pigs nursing to no more than 10 or 11. Today, first litter gilts are asked to suckle as many pigs as the number of viable teats allow, stimulating lifetime teat productivity.

Managing these highly productive sows for optimum performance

MODERN SOW PRODUCTIVITY by: DR. MARTIN CLUNIESMonogastric Nutritionist, Grand Valley Fortifiers

Ian Ross, President & CEO | Jim Ross, ChairmanClarke Walker, VP & COO Dr. Martin Clunies, Monogastric NutritionistDavid Ross/Patti Bobier, Publishers

Alberta 1-866-610-5770Saskatchewan 1-877-242-8882Manitoba 1-866-626-3933

is like driving a bullet train at full speed around hairpin corners while attempting not to come off the tracks. At the same time as farms are becoming larger the amount of labour input per sow is decreasing.

Nutrition, like management, plays a key role in eliciting the genetic potential of the sow, from ensuring the number of embryos ovulated, initiation and maintenance of pregnancy, increasing the viability and survival of pigs born alive, and improving the weaning weight of individual pigs. There are a number of key points involved in the optimization of sow productivity/efficiency, which could be explained as critical days in the lifetime productivity of sows. They can be regarded as follows:

1. Ovulation is initiated by a combination of female hormonal maturity and energy balance increasing levels of insulin, which subsequently stimulates the reproductive hormones (gonadotropin and follicle stimulating hormone) which stimulate the maturation of ovarian follicles. The practice of flush feeding gilts, maximizing feed intake during lactation and after weaning are critical to progression of ovarian follicle maturation and ovulation, and the subsequent heat signs.

2. Implantation of fertile embryos is dependent on the uterus being in suitable condition to accept the developing embryo. Being free of infection and of the correct pH ensures successful implantation.

3. Piglet birth weight is thought to be determined by growth during the last third of gestation. During this period the piglet which is primarily composed of muscle and bone at birth increases tremendously in weight before birth. At this point the protein requirement of the developing fetus increases. As a result we typically “bump” feed towards the end of gestation to meet these nutrient demands. Despite this practice, research has a difficult time showing a piglet benefit to bump feeding. Some research however, has shown a response to feeding a higher protein level toward the end of gestation, with increased pigs born alive and slight improvements in birth weight. At the present time, the mechanism of the benefits of feeding higher protein diets versus “bump” feeding is not understood.

4. During farrowing, the mobilization of calcium is critical to muscle contraction. Critical to this period is acid-base balance of the blood, which affects the mobilization of bone minerals and increases sow’s calcium metabolic state. Often overlooked is the caloric status of the sow at farrowing, as we reduce the feed allocation in the days before farrowing.

5. Initiation of lactation is stimulated by the same calcium metabolic conditions which makes farrowing possible. Less critical during this period of early lactation is the energy, protein and mineral content of the diet.

6. Increasing lactation output is determined by the quality of the lactation feed. The quality of the diet determines the feed intake by affecting gut health resulting in greater peak milk production. Energy, amino acids (specifically lysine) and fat provide the nutrients for milk production, with increased intake.

7. Rebreeding following weaning is dependent on hormonal signals that begin during the second week of lactation. During the first week of lactation the sow is in a ketotic state as milk production increases faster than feed intake. As lactation proceeds and feed and nutrient intake increases insulin surges in the blood, along with an increased metabolic sensitivity to insulin, this signals the reproductive hormones to initiate the maturation of ovarian follicles.

While each of these seven phases requires a different set of nutritional strategies, this is typically accomplished with the use of two feeds (gestation and lactation), used in commercial pig production systems. In subsequent articles we will discuss each of these critical points in much greater deal. n

The pig industry and science have had a highly successful and profitable partnership and so science is one of the most productive

places to look for the next ‘Big Idea’. The idea that dietary manipulation of the intestinal environment of young piglets has epigenomic (long-term programming) effects which can deliver improvements in performance is just one of those ideas.

SOME BACKGROUNDThe understanding of new ideas is often hindered by scientific jargon and epigenetics is a prime example of this. The old belief that genes (genome) are ‘set in stone’ and that growth and development is dictated by genes in a predictable and straightforward way has been proven to be wrong. The new understanding is that the genome is much more like computer hardware and cannot work without an operating system. It is the operating system which determines which activities a computer undertakes and in a similar way, it is the epigenome that controls which activities the genome does or does not perform.

Unlike the genome, which is fixed, the epigenome can be changed and these changes to the epigenome can change the function of the genome in a temporary or enduring way. Some of these changes are even thought to be passed on to subsequent generations.

The epigenome is involved in regulating gene expression, development, tissue differentiation, and suppression of DNA sequences that can change position (so called jumping genes). Unlike the underlying genome, which is largely static within an individual, the epigenome can be dynamically altered by environmental conditions including the diet directly and indirectly through the gut microbe populations (microflora). The field of epigenetics is still relatively new and at the cutting edge of biological sciences. This new area of study has particularly motivated medical research in humans where the epigenome is a prime suspect in the search for causes of some of our major diseases and in the search for ways to reverse them. As agriculture has less research funding available it is understandable for

EPIGENETICS AND THE IMPACT ON RAISING PIGLETSby: PAUL TOPLISTechnical Director – SwinePrimary Diets

THE IMPACT OF IRON ON POTENTIAL NURSERY PIG GROWTHby: BRUCE SCHUMANNB.Sc. (Agric.), M.Sc., Monogastric Nutritionist, Grand Valley Fortifiers

www.grandvalley.com

Swine Grist

Haemoglobin is a protein contained within red blood cells. Each molecule of haemoglobin has four “heme” groups, or chelated iron

groups. These chelated iron groups are the molecules responsible for transporting oxygen from the lungs and delivering the oxygen to the tissues.

Iron (also known as Fe) is critical for the synthesis of red blood cells. Without sufficient iron, the number of red blood cells that can be generated is limited, resulting in low haemoglobin or hematocrit levels. If the number of circulating red blood cells falls too low, piglets will become anemic.

Piglets are born with relatively low iron stores. It is estimated that each piglet needs ~ 21 mg of Fe/kg of body weight gain in order to meet their requirements for iron and haemoglobin production (Venn et al. 1947; Braude et al., 1962). Yet sow’s milk, which is the main source of iron for suckling piglets in modern production systems, is extremely low in iron, providing only 10–20% of the piglet’s requirements (Brady et al. 1978). This puts piglets in a potentially anemic state quite quickly. In early pig production this was not an issue as growth rate was low compared to modern day production. Piglets also had access to the outdoors where, even from an early age, they could root and consume iron from iron-rich soil, while still nursing on the sow.

In commercial swine production, the standard practice to prevent anemia is to provide either an injectable or oral dose(s) of approximately 200 mg/piglet of supplemental iron, usually within the first 3–5 days

livestock researchers to lag behind. One can see however, how Cancer researchers are keen to understand how epigenetic changes to the genome can turn on genes that increase cell growth and turn off genes that suppress cell growth and we recognize that this knowledge would have enormous value in livestock research. In this case, an apparent negative impact of epigenetics in medical terms may be a positive breakthrough in livestock nutrition where we seek to exploit genetic potential.

SOME SCIENCEThere is a growing awareness of the importance of the commensal microbiota as a key player capable of modifying the epigenome through the complex mechanisms of host-bacterial crosstalk.

Recent epigenomic based studies are beginning to provide insights into how gut microbe populations (including probiotics) sense and regulate gene expression and post-translation modification of gene-determined final products in and outside the host intestinal tract. Indigenous microbe populations produce multiple low-molecular weight (LMW) substances that can quickly be distributed throughout the body and interact with different targets in the cells, tissue, organs, and organism as a whole. It is these LMW substances that are thought to alter epigenomic processes in the host metabolism with some regulation of gene expression throughout life. Some researchers believe nutrients can act in a similar way to LMW molecules of indigenous microbe populations to affect gene expression in the host and post-translation modification of gene products via various epigenetically controlled biochemical mechanisms.

Medical researchers believe stress is another key player acting in the human to determine which human genes could be susceptible to epigenomic influence of gut microflora as medical understanding develops further, this is another area livestock production may benefit in the future.

SOME POTENTIAL FOR FARM IMPACTAt this stage, it is difficult for us to understand the impact of epigenomics on livestock performance.

The importance of the microbe populations is seen most clearly when animals are devoid of these important microorganisms. Germ free animals have poorly developed immune systems and many organs fail to develop fully and function properly. Work with germ free mice reveals the immune system requires high doses of bacteria to stimulate normal development. In the germ free piglet there is little development of the mucosal immune system and also limited development of intraepithelial lymphocytes. In livestock, microbial colonisation simultaneously drives both innate and adaptive gut immune responses. We only have to think how immune activation depresses performance indirectly through appetite suppression and adverse nutrient partitioning to begin to see how altering the immune system epigentically could be highly beneficial to performance and profit margins.

We used to think that knowing the type and size of microbe populations was all we needed to know and sooner or later we would identify one or more key microbes which we could simply add as a probiotic to create a gut ecosystem that would act maximally for the benefit of the host. What is now emerging is that it is not necessarily the different microbes but the genetic make-up of the different strains of the same bacteria that is most important. Whilst two human beings have a genome varying by 0.1%, two strains of the same bacteria can vary by 30% in their genome (the sort of difference between human

and mice genomes). This is important because bacterial genomes are involved in metabolism of digestion. Knowing what microbes are present in the gut offers little insight compared to knowing what genes are present within the microbes and what role they play is essential to understand the gut microflora’s influence on the host.

SOME PRIMARY DIETS THOUGHTSPrimary Diets believe they have already developed a first generation product (Accelerator) to improve performance through epigenetic changes driven through neonatal piglets. To date their evidence is empirical (animal performance based) rather than mechanistic (nutrigenomics) as it is gained through university and farm trials which have resulted in lower pre-weaning mortality, extra body weight upon exit from the nursery and at slaughter.

Primary Diets believes mechanistic research is now necessary to understand the action of accelerators and has embarked on some aspects of this research already.

As scientific analysis continues to develop and our understanding of not just the structure of DNA but also its functionality and ability to be adaptive due to environment, diet and stressors we are confident that there will be on-going breakthroughs which will have significant impact on livestock production in the future. n

of life. However, a study recently completed on 20 commercial swine herds across Ontario by the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph (Kubik et al. 2015) concluded that the common practice of a 200mg dose of injectable iron in the first week of life is not sufficient to prevent anemia or iron deficiency, especially in larger, faster growing pigs. This is not surprising, as the largest piglets also have the highest blood volume and greatest demand for iron for growth. Since their only source of iron before weaning is the same iron deficient milk from their mother as their smaller littermates, the bigger and faster growing piglets would have the lowest haemoglobin but the highest requirement, so iron levels would be expected to fall at a faster rate than their smaller littermates. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that enough iron is provided to these higher iron demanding animals.

Besides iron injection, there are a number of strategies to improve the iron status of piglets. We can impact the iron status of the piglet both by what we feed the sow during gestation and lactation as well as what we feed the piglet in the nursery. Wei et al. (2005) demonstrated that they could significantly increase the milk iron content of the milk

when gestation and lactation sows were fed iron amino acid complex (chelated iron) in their diet. The same result was not achieved using additional ferrous sulphate. The chelated minerals appeared to have a more efficient absorption and delivery to the mammary gland, compared to that of ferrous sulphate. Providing iron amino acid chelate to sows in gestation and lactation, equipped the piglets with significantly higher levels of haemoglobin at birth. However, despite these increases, it still did not prevent the onset of anemia in some piglets.

It may be surprising that the weaned pig has decreased hematocrit and haemoglobin levels in the period even after weaning despite nursery diets being fortified with iron. However iron absorption is poor in the gut of the pig and it competes with other minerals, namely calcium, manganese, copper and zinc for absorption sites. So, if any of these minerals are in excess (such as the case with pharmacological doses of zinc oxide, often used in the industry, or high levels of calcium from high inclusions of milk and milk products) in nursery feeds, the ability for iron to be absorbed can be severely compromised.

In conclusion, it is inevitable that pigs will have declining haemoglobin from the moment they are born. Larger and faster growing piglets are most susceptible. This can significantly reduce performance as shown by Kubik et al. (2015), where anemic piglets at weaning were 810 grams lighter than their littermates with normal haemoglobin levels 3 weeks post-weaning. This has a significant impact on lifetime performance out of the nursery through to the end of the grow-finish period. Ultimately the on-farm strategy is to attain the highest hematocrit and haemoglobin levels possible at wean as this will directly impact the growth rate and performance of those pigs.

Administering injectable iron, providing iron amino acid complex in sow and nursery diets and keeping competing minerals balanced during these critical times all improve the iron status of the piglet. If these measures are still not sufficient to prevent low haemoglobin or anemia, and you’re seeing pigs that are pale in colour, have a very rough hair coat and show signs of laboured breathing contact your veterinarian to see if there are some husbandry changes that need to be made on your operation to further improve the iron status of your piglets. n

Thought for the Day He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32 NKJV

If you ever feel that you are so insignificant that God does not care about you or that he does not want to listen to your prayers you will be encouraged by Romans 8:32. There you are assured that your heavenly Father loves you unconditionally. There was nothing so precious to Him that He would not give it up in order to provide for your salvation. When the Father gave His precious Son to save you he proved once and for all that His love is boundless. – Henry T. & Richard Blackaby

Wishing you a happy Easter, From all of us at Grand Valley Fortifiers

COMMODITY OUTLOOKby: STEVE MCGUFFIN

The USDA Grain Stocks in all positions report along with the Prospective Plantings report

released on March 31st considered soybeans bullish as March 1 stocks came in at 1.334 billion

bushels vs. average trade expectations of 1.346 billion bushels (last year was 994 million bushels) and planting intentions were projected at 84.635 million acres vs. average trade expectations of 85.92 million acres. US soybean exports continue at a good pace as this week’s US export inspections were at the high end of trade expectations. This may limit the downside potential but North America shouldn’t run out of beans this crop year. With firm SBM demand keeping meal prices strong throughout North America and more soybeans this year looking for a home I encourage you to look at alternate protein sources such as roasted or extruded soy’s to reduce your meal and oil usage and bring you further savings.

The corn reports were considered bearish against trade expectations as March 1 stocks were called 7.745 billion bushels vs. expectations of 7.609 and last year at 7.008. Intended corn acres were called 89.199 million vs. expectations at 88.7. US barley stocks were reported down slightly from a year ago but December to February disappearance was also reported down 20% from the same period a year ago. Barley planting intentions in Minnesota, Montana and North Dakota are forecasted at 118% of last year’s acres and 104% of 2013 acres.

Wheat was called neutral and followed US corn futures lower following the report’s release. n

Scott Walker, Swine Sales Manager, Grand Valley Fortifiers and Ryan O’Shea in nursery barn reviewing piglet performance.