1. Swine

2. o Phylum: Chordata o Subphylum: Vertebrata o Class: Mamalia o Order: Artiodactyla o Suborder: Suina o Family: Suina o Family: Suidae o Genus: Sus o Species: Domesticus

3. o Gross income is about $14 Billion o Hogs rank in the top 5 commodities in 13 states o The U.S produces 10% of the worlds pork

4. o Use surplus grain production and high- quality by-product feeds to produce meat o Swine are monogastric and can only use limited amounts of forage. o Because they are monogastric that require high-energy feed. o When they aren't being fed grain they can be fed waste. o

5. o Swine was domesticated around 8000B.C. o Columbus first brought pigs over in the year of 1493.

6. o Farrow to Wean- breeding heard 10-15 lbs. Feeder pigs 35-50 lbs. o Finishing feeder pigs are grown to full weight of about 225 lbs. o Farrow-to-finish operation are breeding herd and pigs are finished to weight on the same farm. o Purebred or seed stock op. similar to farrow finish except their stable is boars and gilts or show pigs. o Integrated corporate production farrow to finish but using their own seed stock.

7.  Biosecurity minimize transmitted diseases from outside to the inside production unit.  Swine is very similar to the poultry industry. 

8.  Swine are produced in all 50 states. The major hog farms are mainly in the corn belt. Iowa having the most hog farms with 25% of the nations.  With grain prices going up the hog belt has been moving out of the corn belt. Although large slaughter plants are in this region so the market is better and more conveniently located.  North Carolina is the #2 hog producing state

9.  The swine industry is moving west but they have to take in to account the six major factors: 1.Availibity of feed 2.State regulations and waste disposal 3.Technological advances in the industry. 4.Availibity of food 5.Labor Availibity 6. Fossil fuel Availibity

10.  The economic traits are what influence which animal needs to be bred to satisfy the public.  Genetic interval is in a herd where the average age of parents when their offspring is born.  Have a short gestation period of about 4 months.  Backfat and feed efficiency are tied together by the feed efficiency to put the correct amount of backfat on a hog.

11.  They have special breeds for anything they need. Such as if they need lots of fat they can breed a type of hog that will be fat.  The same goes for meat quality and what the public wants.  There are also breeding programs- The National Pork Board (NPB)set forth standards for pork producers.

12.  Pork Quality Assurance Plus is voluntary educational program put on by the NPB.  (TQA) Trucker Quality Assurance Program is a program for all that transport swine.  Crossbreeding is used to produce the best hog in the most economical matter  Crossbred animals exhibit hybrid vigor, or heterosis.  Purebred mainly produces seed for their buyers which are all registered. Less than 1%.

13.  Crossbred is crossing two different breeds and are referred to as maternal lines or sire lines.  Majority of swine companies are crossbred.

14.  Gilts- haven't had piglets yet and should be brought into the cycle often to replace cull sows.  Sows-Ready to be rebred 4-7 days after their latest litter, within 3-7 days after birth they come into heat again.  Estrus detection- helps detect when they are in heat, having a boar around helps detect also other signs would be swollen vulva and stiffening of their ears.

15.  Farrowing Mang.- Keep a close eye on when they are giving birth because they tend to have trouble, sign of trouble is the length of time between piglets.  If some litters are born at the same time they are equaled out by cross-fostering.  Boars- one in every ten boars have fertility problems  On average boars are sexually active at about 7 months.

16.  Artificial insemination (AI)- currently fresh semen is widely available in the U.S. this helps producers that have closed herds by reducing the risk of a new disease and lower the cost of feed as well as herd size.  The main problem with AI is the storage of semen, the fresh semen is about 3 days old and stored semen is from 10- 14 days old.

17.  Palatability of feed is very important with swine which causes them to have a complete diet :  Energy, Protein, Essential fatty acid, Mineral and vitamins, water.  The most common way of feeding hogs is ad libitum which is where they always have feed for them to get.  Creep- can be started on feeds, nursing pigs- still piglets nursing, nursery pigs- light weight weaned pigs.  Optimal growth is key, having them growing to their best ability.

18.  Biosecurity-  Assess- Vet to Vet about herd health  Isolate- New animal should be isolated before introduction, and cleanliness around the new animal is key.  Stabilize- new animal should be stable with time given for diseases to maintain itself.  People- have the least amount of people, covered body, boots and gloves, visitors should be strictally dressed and shouldn’t touch the swine.

19.  Pigs- similar or close in age should be penned together, this helps decrease the risk of transmitted diseases.  Vehicles- visitors vehicles should be parked a good distance away, also the feed trucks should be washed before they come in or the feed should be unloaded away from the plant and hauled with clean trucks.  Rendering truck shouldn’t ever be allowed onto the premises.

20.  No matter what percussions you take illness will still occur.  Scours- server scours can be life threatening because of dehydration especially in young pigs. Treatments for scours are determined by the cause of them.  Repertory- this disease is mainly in the nose and sometimes in the lungs with pneumonia. It all depends on the severity of the repertory disease if it is mild or subclinical which can lead to death or chronicle diseases. Endemic widespread desease within a herd.

21.  Gastric ulcers- area which the inner lining of the stomach is lost and damaged by stomach acid.  50% of pigs wont die from bleeding ulcers but will have them. You cant cure them but you can prevent them by not crowding, stressing out, or putting them with unfamiliar others.

22.  Pork is a nutrient dense food meaning that it has lots of nutrition per calorie.  Low in fats which is a good thing for everyone's diet.

23.  For the past years pork consumption has stayed the same. Pork is a very functional food which means that it is food enriched with nutrients that may not be inherent to the food.  Health and consciousness plays a role in food, pork is a very lean meat which fits into other health conscious peoples diet. Pork is considered as “the other white meat.” Pork is a healthy food!  The main reason people don’t eat much pork is because they don’t know how to cook it correctly.

24.  Food safety concerns, you must cook pork fully to kill all the pathogens in the meat.  95% of hog farms have 1000+ hogs on it.  Smaller hog farms will continue to go out of business because they are being bought out by the larger corporations.

25.  Facility location is a big deal when it comes to where they are going to put the waste.  The new technology is very beneficial to the farms because they can filter out the bad waste from the good waste.

26.  Faster ways to do things and diagnose problems and fix them.  Helps with the breeding part to telling us when to breed the hogs  Pork can stave off heart disease

27.  Us exports $4.4 billion in hog per year. Which is about 20% of our production.  Labor  Any kind of people can handle helping on a hog farm, skilled or unskilled.