extension – Swine in Minnesota

North Star and Lone Star states get together on livestock biosecurity

This article was written by Catherine Dehdashti and originally published in the University of Minnesota Extension's Magazine Source. Since this piece has been written, the first case of H5N1 influenza has been reported in a non-commercial pig in Oregon. Read Dr. Marie Culhane's comments in this article.

Like Minnesota, the state of Texas is strong in livestock. But Minnesota, including University of Minnesota Extension’s livestock team, has long led in research and education on preventing the spread of disease among farms, especially since the 2015 outbreak of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza and the 2024 spread of avian influenza into dairy cows.

How is manure changing over time? Trends in Midwest manure sample data

This post comes from our colleagues at the University of Minnesota -College of Extension. Follow their latest news on their blog: Minnesota Crop News

This post was written by: Nancy Bohl Bormann, Graduate research assistant; Melissa Wilson, Extension manure management specialist, & Erin Cortus, Extension engineer

Key Points

Current livestock manure “book values” (the approximate amounts of various nutrients in manure) are several decades old.
Using recent data from several Midwest U.S. labs, we found that manure nutrient data have changed over time compared to previous Midwest Plan Service (MWPS) manure book values.
The University of Minnesota is creating a manure nutrient database called ManureDB to help update these values.
We are currently looking to partner with laboratories that analyze manure on this project.

Effects of reduced nocturnal temperature on pig performance and energy consumption in swine nursery rooms

The swine extension team at the University of Minnesota has a podcast available through the Apple platform. If you have additional free time these days, you may want to check their latest episode on nursery temperature settings and their impact on pig performances!