Technology, Labor Highlight 2022 NC State Swine Innovation Forum
Technology and labor were key topics discussed during the North Carolina State University Swine Innovation Forum. The 2022 event was held in person and drew a large crowd of industry enthusiasts on May 12 at the Maxwell Center in Goldsboro, N.C., as well as a limited number of participants who joined in online.
Here’s a snapshot of some quotable moments from the 2022 conference.
“I don't think we're ever going to replace the ability of a skilled person in the farrowing barn on a sow farm. I don't think there's a technology out there, but there might be things that help us direct that.”
– Billy Flowers, NCSU William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in “Five Things to Check When Sows and Gilts Don’t Get Pregnant”
“Climate trends impact swine production, including manure management. Manure management presents an opportunity to improve nutrient use efficiency. Logistics of manure transportation is a barrier facing full-valuation of manure nutrients. Composting and drying of sludge present an opportunity to support nutrient export. Lagoon covers and effluent treatment is an opportunity to reduce emissions and increase nutrient use efficiency.”
– Mahmoud Sharara, PhD, Biological and Ag Engineering Department NC State University, in Economic Recovery and Recycling of Swine Manure Nutrients”
“Reduced stillborns and reduced farrowing duration appear to be low-hanging fruit. There are current solutions out there as far as feeding multiple meals pre-farrow or topdressing Calcium Chloride pre-farrow. In the future, we’ll continue to work on how we can change our existing gestation and lactation diets that we already have to reduce stillborns. From an economic perspective and animal wellbeing perspective, improving piglet survival is a good thing.”
– Mark Knauer, NCSU associate professor and swine Extension specialist, in “Pre-Farrowing Feeding Strategies”
“We've got to utilize the information that we have from our systems and connect that data together. Going from the barn to the pen to the individual – I think it’s all possible to see that interaction between availability and possibility relative to profitability. I think those two, whenever those intersect, that’s when we will get more traction going forward.”
– Brent Frederick, innovation lead for Cargill, in “A Glimpse into the Future of Pork Production”
“Precision livestock farming is an exciting way for us to start automatically detecting lameness. So rather than having your caretakers, who typically get every single sow up in the morning when they're feeding and go behind and check for any toe tappers, the idea is we're going to figure out a way to use technology to be able to actually detect lame animals not only when they're hurt or injured, but being able to do it when it's not such a severe condition, when we do have some more successful treatment options.”
– Monique Pairis-Garcia, DVM, NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine associate professor and vet in global production animal welfare, in “Producer Perspectives on Precision Livestock Farming”
“What is the next big thing and how far away it is from being commercially viable? From the area of precision livestock farming (PLF) to me, the greatest advantage are things that address animal health and labor. With labor, there's really only one solution. I think anything that’s going to cut down on labor is our next big thing. As far as timing from development, I would love to be able to say tomorrow. I think the area of PLF is going to take off in the next two to five years.”
– Suzanne Leonard, NCSU assistant professor and swine Extension specialist, in “Applied Engineering Solutions”
“The next generation of workers in the swine industry and our employees have always been connected to the internet. They’ve always had digital technologies in their hands, so our industry needs to embrace it if we’re going to keep moving forward.”
– Jonathan Holt, NCSU assistant professor and swine Extension specialist
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