April 2021 – Swine in Minnesota

Is the 2020-21 PRRS a different one?

This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.

Key points

MSHMP data shows a slight lower PRRS incidence than in previous years
There has been PRRS outbreaks clustered in time and space in specific regions where the virus has generated important losses
PRRS prevalence has been at an all-time high, contributing to the general perception of a higher burden of PRRS

Streptococcus suis: predicting pathogenicity with virulence-associated genes?

A recent publication in Porcine Health Management by April Estrada, from the Gebhart lab at the University of Minnesota, proposes new virulence-associated genes to predict the pathogenicity of US Streptococcus suis. This project continues her previous work on the classification of US S. suis strains based on pathotypes.

PRRS 2019-2021 Exponentially Weighted Moving Average by State

This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.

This week, the MSHMP team shares the 2019-2021 PRRS incidence by state and how it influenced exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA).

Reminder: What is Exponentially Weighted Moving Average?

Keypoints

We continue to observe different EWMA patterns across states.
Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska are undergoing an epidemic of larger magnitude and duration when compared to the previous year.
Even though fall and winter continue to be the seasons with overall higher incidence, sporadic cases in warmer months were observed throughout the states.

How Could Prop 12 Drive Choices?

Podcasts are a perfect way to get caught up with new swine information! We are presenting you the latest episode from “At The Meeting… Honoring Dr. Bob Morrison” in collaboration with SwineCast.

This episode shares insight from Rabo Bank’s Christine McCracken on California’s Farm Animal Confinement Initiative, also known as Prop 12. Producing pork is already complex and, if California’s Prop 12 initiative is implemented, it will force producers to choose which market segment they wish to serve.

Turnover events of animal caretakers and productivity in Ohio swine farms

This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.

This week, we are sharing the results from a recent study conducted under the direction of Dr. Andreia Arruda at Ohio State University. In this project, researchers are looking at the impact of labor turnover on farm productivity.

Key Points

The US swine industry faces critical labor supply issues and is plagued by high rates of employee turnover.
This study investigated the association between employee turnover and productivity using a sample of eleven farrow-to-wean farms in Ohio.
There was a considerable amount of variability in the turnover rate for the year among the participating farms.
The occurrence of an involuntary turnover event (employee was terminated) was significantly associated with improvements in monthly number of pigs weaned per sow and pre-weaning mortality 2-months after the event.