Agriculture Business Week

Here’s an in-depth look at the world of swine raising and the potential business you can get out of it.

Mastitis-metritis-agalactia, syndrome or MMA syndrome, also known as post-partum dysgalactia, is commonly caused by nonspecific or unknown sources. Mastitis and agalactia is the absence or lack of milk in sows.

MMA syndrome may be caused by infection or stress from excitement or difficulty in farrowing. This condition may also be caused by digestive difficulty or by environmental factors.

Metritis is referred as the nonspecific inflammation of the uterus and is associated with abortion, difficult delivery, or retained placenta.

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Posted on October 10th, 2009 under Livestock. Tags: Disease, Pigs, Pigs/Hogs. Comments: None

Hog raising is a very popular enterprise in the Philippines such that there is a proliferation of backyard producers, which dominates the swine industry and a healthy viable commercial sector.

Despite the crises facing the swine industry, still many people are venturing in this enterprise. This manual hopes to bring appropriate technology to the interested farmers and would-be swine producers in order that they may realize profitable production and improve their quality of life.

Kinds of Swine

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Posted on October 9th, 2009 under Livestock. Tags: Hogs, Pigs/Hogs, Swine. Comments: 2

In the banana producing areas in Mindanao, the growers have a problem with their so-called “rejects” which are either too small or too big for the export market.

One big plantation alone may have 15 tons of rejects every day. There are some businessmen who buy the rejects dirt cheap (P500 per truckload) but they can buy just a small fraction.

One company that is taking advantage of the availability of cheap off-size bananas is Perfect Milling, a feedmill in Tagum City, Davao del Norte, managed by Aerol Conde. Thanks to the off-size bananas, Aerol can produce high quality feeds at a lower price than the competition. He said that his feeds (for swine and poultry) are at least P40 per bag cheaper than the leading brand in the market.

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Posted on September 9th, 2009 under Fruits, Livestock. Tags: Banana, Feeds, Fruits, Pigs/Hogs, Swine. Comments: 1

Here’s an in-depth look at the world of swine raising and the potential business you can get out of it.

Another biosecurity measure is, regular monitoring of animals for diseases. All incoming livestock must be tested and quarantined before transporting them to the hog house.

Waste management is a key biosecurity measure. Improper waste management in the hog house can inevitably lead to profit losses. Sanitation in the pens may be performed by dry cleaning or by using a power sprayer to minimize water usage in cleaning the pens. The use of slatted flooring also lessens water usage in cleaning. Pens should be built to maintain the pigs’ temperature levels to minimize the need to wash them. Trees and foliage may be planted in the vicinity of the hog house to keep the animals cool in hot weather.

An anaerobic process called biogas production may be used to extract methane gas from the animal wastes. This greatly reduces waste odor in the hog house. Another anaerobic process that can be adapted is the use of a septic tank, commonly known as the poso negro. A lagoon may be built with aerators as an aerobic process of waste management. Solid wastes may also be mixed with plant residues with effective microorganisms like Trichoderma and Azotobacter to produce organic fertilizer within a month.

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Posted on August 31st, 2009 under Livestock. Tags: Disease, Meat, Pigs/Hogs, Swine. Comments: None

Over the years, retired Police Major Avelino Peralta of Dauis Nome, Carmen, Cebu City has earned citations for his exemplary performance in law enforcement. Now he is again recognized for his outstanding performance, not in maintaining peace and order; but in animal raising.

He is recently named most outstanding smallhold animal raiser in Central Visayas Region. Good for this 65-years-old retired police that his childhood dream of having a profitable farm has come true at last. “Major P,” as his friends in the force fondly call him, used his retirement pay to acquire and establish 1.5-hectare farm. Here he raises 100 head of free-range native chicken and a number of sows and imported and native goats.

“Tiyo Bill,” as his neighbors call him, started with a few head of native goats. Then when he got his retirement pay five years ago he bought his first pair of Anglo Nubian breeders at P75,000 and crossed these with his natives. To further upgrade his ruminants, he bought a Boer by availing of the boar loan program of the Department of Agriculture Region 7.

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Posted on August 23rd, 2009 under Livestock, Poultry. Tags: Chicken, Goat, Pigs/Hogs. Comments: None

Here’s an in-depth look at the world of swine raising and the potential business you can get out of it.

Sows and gilts should be full-fed with a high-energy ration for fourteen days prior to mating to ensure a maximum ovulation rate.

Mating should be done at the most appropriate time for the sow to guarantee the maximum litter size. Signs that a sow is in heat should be closely observed before mating. These include exhibiting restlessness and frequent grunts, mounting other pigs, frequent urination, swelling and reddening of the vulva with possible discharge.

Sows and gilts should be mated to the same boar in one heat period with an interval of 12 to 25 hours. An ideal boar to sow ratio is 1.25 to 30.

Sows should be settled in the furrowing house seven days before expected date of furrowing to give the sow ample time to adjust to her new environment. Sows and gilts should be de-wormed and protected from internal parasites and should be treated for external parasites two weeks before expected furrowing date.

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Posted on August 4th, 2009 under Livestock. Tags: Artificial Insemination, Business, Meat, Pigs/Hogs, Swine. Comments: None

Researchers from Ireland found that treatment with probiotic bacteria reduced Salmonella infection in pigs and may have potential human applications. They report their findings in the March 2007 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Salmonella spp. is one of the major causes of food-borne gastroenteritis worldwide, with an estimated 160,000 cases reported annually in the European Union alone.

Probiotics, described as live microorganisms believed to promote a health benefit in the host when administered in controlled amounts, have emerged in recent years as an alternative method to counteract bacterial infections. Previous studies have focused largely on the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) group and many have shown beneficial effects in small animal models challenged with gastrointestinal infection.

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Posted on July 30th, 2009 under Livestock. Tags: Pigs/Hogs, Probiotics, Salmonella. Comments: None

Here’s an in-depth look at the world of swine raising and the potential business you can get out of it.

Housing facilities play an important role in raising profitable hogs. The swine house should be constructed to aid in the maximum performance of the stock. Poorly constructed hog houses unquestionably facilitate health management problems that should be avoided.

Hog houses are ideally built on a slightly sloping area to facilitate proper drainage. This prevents the house from getting too muddy and allows convenience.

Concrete floors should be built for permanent hog houses. This facilitates ease in cleaning and minimizes parasite and disease incidents. Concrete floors should not be too abrasive to cause leg and feet problems. However it should not also be too smooth to be slippery when wet.

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Posted on June 18th, 2009 under Livestock. Tags: Breeding, Hogs, Pigs, Pigs/Hogs, Swine. Comments: None

Here’s an in-depth look at the world of swine raising and the potential business you can get out of it.

Swine is believed to be the earliest animal to be domesticated, proven by paintings and carvings of pigs that date back to 25,000 years have been found. Swine is one of agriculture’s best sources of income and a very good source of protein.

The Philippine swine industry is dominated by backyard hog farming, which claims 76% of total swine stocks while 24% come from commercial farms. The swine industry contributed to 80% of the total Philippine livestock output in 2004.

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Posted on June 8th, 2009 under Livestock. Tags: Duroc, Landrace, Pig, Pigs/Hogs, Swine, Yorkshire. Comments: 2

Prospects have remained bright for our hog industry as two major initiatives are being worked out to boost export and domestic markets of our local pork products.

First is the impending entry of the Philippine pork products to export markets particularly Singapore. Second is the re-launching of the “Pork-in-a-Box” which aims to provide accessible and affordable meat products to Filipino consumers.

GEARING FOR EXPORT MARKET
Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Arthur Yap is optimistic that Philippine meat products can make it in the export markets. Yap who recently visited the Nenita Quality Foods (NQF), a local meat producer in Davao City, was informed that the company is just awaiting for the final accreditation from the Singaporean government for its meat products to enter the Singapore market this year.

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Posted on May 18th, 2009 under Livestock. Tags: Meat, Pigs/Hogs, Pork. Comments: None

Here’s an update on the latest virus that have hit our local swine industry late last year.

0ur local swine industry was muddled up late last year when a virus that was first found in tissue samples taken from crab eating monkeys was discovered in products of two hog farms in Luzon.

The public was alarmed after news reports about an outbreak of a certain kind of Ebola virus was detected in hogs being raised in two farms in Luzon. This prompted animal and health authorities to impose necessary measures that include tapping the assistance of international experts who conducted further investigations on the matter.

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Posted on April 27th, 2009 under Livestock. Tags: Disease, Ebola, Ebola Reston, Pigs/Hogs, Virus. Comments: None

Imagine a pigpen that does not emit foul odor, and a household that enjoys free cooking gas and robust crops grown without chemical fertilizer. These are among the many benefits that Felimon “Boy” O Santander of Mandug, Davao City is enjoying nowadays, thanks to biogas technology that he has adopted.

Santander is one of the Magsasaka Siyentista, a part of the Farmer Scientist Bureau under the Techno Gabay Program which is one of the banner programs of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology.

In 1997, Santander, a Political Science graduate, has ventured into his own full-time hog project after being employed at the city government for 11 years. Today, he is concentrating in providing breeding services in his community and in neighboring towns and provinces. He maintains four boars that serve as a source of quality semen for use in artificial insemination services, and few heads for fattening. He is also into piglet and sow dispersal.

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Posted on April 17th, 2009 under Livestock, Technology. Tags: Biogas, Digesters, Pigs, Pigs/Hogs. Comments: 12

Here’s a good news for people who love to eat pork: A farmer in Rosario, Batangas has raised organic pigs whose pork is less in fat and cholesterol.

He’s Ed Limon, a triple-heart-bypassed balikbayan from U.S. With his health condition, this 49-year-old businessman and former executive vice president of Delta Motors in the mid-’70s and Columbia Motors in the ’90s, has always been interested in organic foods. So when he retired early at 40, he established a 7-hectare farm on top of a hill in Rosario, Batangas.

He grows organic vegetables, fruit trees and rice, but he has concentrated on native chicken and swine production. And since he knows very well that chickens can he grown organically, he has contemplated on the possibility of raising organic pigs.

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Posted on April 16th, 2009 under Livestock, Organic. Tags: Cholesterol, Fat, Organic, Pigs/Hogs. Comments: 3

Researchers led by Dr. Tara C. Smith, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Iowa College of Public Health, have reported finding methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) in pigs and farm workers in the United States.

The investigators found a strain of MRSA, known as ST398 in swine production, in swine production system in the Midwest, according to the new study.

“Our results show that colonization of swine by MRSA was very common in one of two corporate production systems we studied,” said Smith. Because ST398 was found in both animals and humans, it suggests transmission between the two.

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Posted on April 8th, 2009 under Livestock. Tags: Disease, MSRA, Pigs/Hogs, Swine, USA. Comments: None