September 2016 Editor: Amy Quinn

Welcome to September’s Newsletter Ciarán Carroll Welcome to the September edition of our monthly newsletter. It’s been a busy month again for the Pig Development Department. The new QQI Course in Pig Production started at the end of last month, with over 40 students registered between Ballyhaise and Moorepark/Clonakilty. The National Ploughing Championships took place last week and once again the Teagasc Pig Development Department was well represented in the Teagasc tent for the three day event. It was a busy few days where we met with both pig producers and industry personnel. Next up is the annual Teagasc Pig Farmers’ Conference 2016 which will take place on the 18th of October in the Horse and Jockey Hotel and on the 19th of October in the Cavan Crystal Hotel, commencing both days at 1.30pm. As well as a number of presentations, including a very interesting one on managing and motivating staff by Ashley Hughes, Associate Professor from the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business,

there will also be a poster session with information updates on some current research projects at Moorepark. Make sure you put these dates in your diary as it is shaping up to be another great event. We look forward to seeing you there again this year. The article “What to expect from the Teagasc Pig Farmers’ Conference 2016” includes further details on speakers and topics at the event.

In this issue: 

What to expect from the Teagasc Pig Farmers’ Conference 2016

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Brexit & Irish pigmeat exports – Bringing economics to life

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Unwelcome guests – Keeping rodents out this winter

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Transition arrangement coming to an end

What to expect from the Teagasc Pig Farmers’ Conference 2016 Amy Quinn This year’s conference features a number of presentations covering a broad array of topics relating to nutrition, health, environment and management practices to name but a few.

for this year’s event. We look forward to seeing many of you there.

Our guest speaker this year is Ashley Hughes, associate professor at the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business, specialising in leadership and organisational behaviour. For the past number of years she has taught on the flagship executive MBA programmes where she has developed a strong reputation for blending academic learning with a practical and pragmatic approach. Her work reflects her on-going interest and enthusiasm for supporting organisational participants in their quest for excellence in managing people and relationships at work. Ashleys’ presentation at the conference will look at managing and motivating staff. Peter Duggan of Bord Bia will also join the Pig Development Department team in presenting this year with his presentation which looks the Chinese pig industry and market.

1:30 2:15

Registration/Poster session Session 1 Tackling some puzzling grower health disorders Dr. Amy Quinn & Dr. Keelin O’Driscoll Getting your finisher sales strategy right Michael McKeon Optimising pig flow for health & feed efficiency Dr. Edgar Garcia Manzanilla A new meat inspection recording system for Ireland Dr. Laura Boyle China – What’s it all about? Peter Duggan, Bord Bia

4:00

Coffee Break/ Poster session

4:45

Session 2 Investing in people – why bother? Ashley Hughes, Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School Efficient production is good for the environment Gerard McCutcheon Making your records work harder Emer McCrum & Shane Brady Is my lactation diet suitable anymore? Dr. Peadar Lawlor Close

Programme

This year once again in addition to the presentations we will also display an array of research posters. This will give our researchers and postgraduate students the opportunity to update us on their work in the Pig Development Department. We strongly urge all those involved in the sector to attend the conference. It provides a great opportunity to meet fellow producers as well as taking in the latest information that the Teagasc Pig Development Department have put together

6:00

Brexit & Irish pigmeat exports – Bringing economics to life Michael McKeon Since the shock U.K. ‘Brexit’ vote last June there has been considerable speculation on the implications of this for Irish exports. This is particularly important for the Irish pig industry as we export 60% of our pigmeat to the U.K. Do we know what effect this will have on our export volume and price? The answer is no as until the negotiations begin we can only speculate on possible outcomes. However an interesting piece of research was done a number of years ago by Professor Gerry Boyle (Director of Teagasc) looking at the effect on consumer demand arising from meat price fluctuations. In ‘economic speak’ this is called the effect of price elasticity of demand and can be defined as: measuring the sensitivity of quantity demanded to changes in price. In simple language as the price of meat rises or falls what is the effect on the consumer demand. For some items as the price rises the demand will fall accordingly however for more essential items a price rise of 10% may not give the expected 10% decrease in demand as consumers decide that they still need the item even at the higher price.

This illustrates that if the individual meat prices were to increase by 10% then the demand would fall by 9% (chicken), 10.3% (pigmeat), 14.2% (lamb) and 16.6% (beef) respectively. This indicates that while consumer demand for pigmeat would fall it would not be as great a fall when compared to beef or lamb. Further research also showed that as prices increase, demand for beef and lamb would switch to chicken and pigmeat.

So how price sensitive is the demand for meat, especially pigmeat? If the shop price for pigmeat increases what is the expected fall in demand? The research table below shows the expected U.K. changes in meat demand as the price rises.

This increased cost is presumably going to be passed by the supermarkets onto the consumer. However the good news is that the pigmeat price rise will cause less of a drop in demand when compared to beef and lamb and the substitution effect from these to poultry and pigmeat may ease the situation further. In conclusion while the ‘Brexit’ is not positive news for our biggest export market it may not be as detrimental to pigmeat demand when compared to beef and lamb.

Table 1: UK Demand Elasticities

Meat Chicken Pigmeat Mutton / Lamb Beef

Demand Elasticity -0.9 -1.03 -1.42 -1.66

So will U.K. meat prices rise? The U.K. is a net importer of meat (Table 2) so therefore it will become more expensive for wholesalers to import meat if the value of sterling continues to fall against the euro. Table 2: UK Self Sufficiency

Type UK Self Sufficiency % Beef 77.4 Mutton/Lamb 99.6 Pigmeat 52.6 Poultry 81.1 (AHDB, 2014)

Unwelcome guests David Clarke

It’s that time of year again, no not Christmas just yet, winter is coming! As the temperatures begin to drop, a warm piggery is like a 5-star hotel for our furry little friends, with meals included and the bill is on you. The two most common species we expect to find among our pigs are the house mouse and the brown rat. Both species originally originated from Asia and spread world-wide with the development of agriculture, which provided shelter and food. These pests can breed yearround. Females can breed between 10 and 14 times a year producing 3–12 puppies per year. Mice are active all day long and our easily spotted compared to rats which are more active during night time What are the risks? These wild animals although small and some might say cute can contribute to livestock and even human infection. This can significantly affect the herd health by infection caused by pathogens transmitted from animals which in turn can cause high mortality rates and loss of income, not to mention the cost for the implementation of control and prevention measures, such as culling and vaccination.

Along with biosecurity risks damage to buildings will also occur. Mice and rats damage wood, electrical wiring and insulation, along with being a fire hazard there can be a nasty bill after a few years. Costs for re-insulation, increased energy costs and poorer feed conversions are just some of the affects you should expect. For instance, a colony of 100 rats will roughly consume about one tonne of feed in a year, rats also contaminate about 10 times the amount of feed it will eats through its droppings, urine and hair. A rat produces 25,000 droppings per year, a mouse 17,000. Rodents carry approximately 45 diseases, including salmonellosis, pasteurellosis, leptospirosis, swine dysentery, trichinosis, toxoplasmosis and rabies. The most common pathogens wild animals carry and have been shown to introduce to farms are, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp, and Staphylococcus aureus. The source of infection of Salmonella from wild to farm animals, can be introduced by a broad range of wild animals such as birds and rodents, to cats, feed, and the environment. Once introduced Salmonella persists for years in suitable conditions and has shown to survive both

freezing and warm conditions. It has also been shown that rats found on pig farms were carriers of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Parasites are also transmitted from wild animals to pigs; it has been shown in several studies rodents carrying T. gondii have infected pigs. Brachyspira is a genus of bacteria that are found routinely in the intestines of rodents and birds. These bacteria can cause swine dysentery a disease that causes severe diarrhoea in all groups of pigs except for new-borns. Rodent Control Rodent control unfortunately is not easy, requiring an integrated pest-management approach. A pig farmer’s first approach should be to prevent or greatly reduce rodent numbers entering the farm by eliminating accessibility to the facility. Appropriate construction along with routine maintenance will help prevent rodents from entering. Examine your buildings at least once a year for possible entry ways keeping in mind a mouse needs only a 0.6-cm opening to gain access and a rat needs a 1-cm opening. Most common sources of entry include cracks, under doors, broken windows, water and utility pipes and vents. Using steel wool or sheet metal is a cheap and effective way to cover any entrances. Using plastic, wood or insulation will only slow down rodents as they will simply gnaw their way through. Sanitation is also key to prevention. Cleaning up spilled feed and removing waste helps attracting rodents from nearby fields entering your facility in the first place. Trapping methods such as installing glue boards can also be effective against mice and they are non-toxic. Although dust can be an issue with glue boards if not frequently replaced.

Rodenticides are pesticides designed to kill rodents. They can be very effective for rodent control. Baits using an anti-coagulant as it active ingredient are commonly used as part of an integrated pest management approach on Irish farms. Initially first-generation anti-coagulants (e.g. warfarin, difenacoum) were used. However these required multiple feeds over several days for a lethal dose to rodents. Second-generation anti-coagulants have now been developed which require much lower intakes for a lethal dose. A single feed can be lethal for rats (2g) and mice (1g). Bait containers should be large enough so several rodents can be accommodated at any one time, should have a separate entrance and exit and should be designed so that the bait can’t be carried away by rats or other non-target animals. It should also be completely inaccessible for pigs and easily identifiable for humans. In saying this abundant food supplies make baited traps less effective. Using sound and ultrasound devices have been proven not to be effective as rodents may be frightened by strange noises in the first few days but then quickly become used to them. Another limited method for controlling pests is to introduce a predator; cats may limit low-level mouse or rat populations. However there is a danger cats may introduce disease into a facility by bringing in rodents caught in fields and will cats be able to catch mice as quickly as they multiply. To conclude it is very difficult to eliminate or prevent wildlife from entering your facility, following the above steps can help solve the problem and may reduce your risk of introducing unwanted disease to your unit.

Transition arrangement coming to an end Gerard McCutcheon The spreading of pig slurry is regulated under the Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Water Regulations (SI 31 of 2014). Under these regulations the “transition” arrangement comes to an end at the end of this year. This arrangement allowed farmers exceed the crop requirement for phosphorus by 3kg/ha if the excess arose from the application of pig or poultry manure or spent mushroom compost. This will have serious implications for the ability of farmers to import pig slurry from 2017 onwards. It is now more important than ever that farmers who import pig slurry know at the start of the year how much slurry they can use without exceeding the restrictions on organic nitrogen (170 kg/ha) and the phosphorus limits that apply to their farm. The only way they can do this is by having the calculations done early in the year. The second issue is that they can save themselves money by using pig slurry to replace chemical P fertiliser if they do the calculations early and reduce the costly P fertiliser purchases. This needs to be highlighted more to farmers using pig slurry. I did a little work looking at farmers who took in pig slurry in the past few years and one point that comes out from the farms is that the use of chemical P is greatly reducing the level of pig slurry that some farmers can use. These farmers are most likely using the 0:7:30 or 10:10:20 or other P fertiliser because they have always done it rather than trying to see how much fertiliser their crops need and using the maximum quantity of a locally produced organic fertiliser such as pig

slurry. These farmers need to do (or get their agri-consultant to do it) the calculations early in the year to make maximum savings. The value of pig manure as a fertiliser depends on how much chemical fertiliser is replaced as well as the cost of the chemical nutrients replaced. The fertiliser value of pig manure at 4.3% solids is €5.59 per m3 when there is a requirement for N, P and K (see Table 1 below). This translates into €25.37 per 1,000 gallons. A reasonable rule of thumb is that a thousand gallons of pig slurry is equivalent to a bag of 19:7:20. A lorry tanker conveying 25m3 or 5,500 gallons will contain nutrients to the value €145 based on 4.3% solids.

Table 1: Nutrient content and value of pig slurry (4.3% solids):

Nutrient content kg / m3 Nutrient availability % *Fertiliser cost per kg € Value € of each nutrient

Nitrogen (N)

Phosphorus (P)

Potassium (K)

4.2

0.8

2.2

50

100

100

0.96

2.31

0.78

2.02

1.85

1.72

Note: 1 m3 equals 220 gallons. *Based upon Chemical Fertiliser prices in February 2016

1,000 gallons is equivalent to a bag of 19:7:20.

Arrival

Hazardous Waste Collection

The Pig Development Department would like to welcome Hazel Rooney to the Department. Hazel began her PhD in September, joining the OPTIPIG project, and will investigate nutritional strategies for gestating sows to optimise output per year. Hazel has recently completed her BSc in Agricultural Science at UCD. She will be supervised by Dr. Peadar Lawlor and Dr. Keelin O’Driscoll of Teagasc, and Prof. John O’Doherty of UCD.

Teagasc in collaboration with the relevant government departments and the EPA will assist at Hazardous Waste collection centres throughout the country to help make farms a safer place to work on and operate. The venues will run from 21st of October to 30th of November throughout the country. The centres will be manned on specific dates from 9.30am to 3.30pm. This is an ideal opportunity to manage the hazardous waste that may accumulate on your premises in a safe and proper manner. Check the Teagasc pig website for more information or talk to your local specialist advisor.

Pigs will fly…….. to Rwanda On Monday 10th October, VIVA (Volunteers in Irish Veterinary Assistance) will fly 260 pregnant gilts from Shannon Airport to 130 impoverished families in Rwanda. Each family will get two gilts each and each family is obliged to “pass on” a piglet from the first litters of these gilts to another farmer in the group. The gilts are supplied by Hermitage Genetics and many pig farmers have sponsored gilts for families. Irish pig farmers will receive updates on how the gilts changed the lives of the families they have sponsored. Further information can be found on the page set up by Shane McAuliffe https://www.gofundme.com/flyronnietorwanda or from VIVA CEO Mike Burke on 0862568357. The Pig Development Department would like to wish VIVA the best of luck with this great initiative.

Connect with us on Twitter This month the Teagasc Pig Development Department created its own Twitter account, @TeagascPig, to keep people more up-to-date with our activities. Follow us on Twitter to receive updates on the latest Teagasc pig news, events and photographs.

Dates for your Diary 2016 The Teagasc Pig Conference will take place Tuesday the 18th (Horse & Jockey Hotel) and Wednesday the 19th (Cavan Crystal Hotel) of October.