Ultimately, technology can help pork producers make better decisions, but determining its cost-effectiveness is still the challenge.
Three speakers at the 2024 World Pork Expo see the benefits of new innovations and make a strong case during a session called, “The Future of Everything Pork.”
“If we can monitor animals throughout the day, then we can highlight when things are changing,” says Tammi Brown-Brandell. She works in precision animal management at the University of Nebraska. “We’re looking for that anomaly, and you really have to look at individual animals.
“Some animals spend more time than others at the feeder,” she continues. We look at gestation through finishing…and try to find those one or two things that it would be hard for the producer to notice. We look at lameness, grow-finish weight changes and well-being issues.”
For example, Brown-Brandell says with technology, her team can identify a drop in feed consumption about three days before an experienced caretaker notices it and gives producers a jump on potential issues. Low-frequency radio identification and depth cameras change the way researchers and eventually producers can look at animals.
DNA Technology
Dan Carlson, chief scientific officer at Recombinetics, says gene-editing technology can change an animal from being susceptible to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome to being resistant to the expensive disease.
“It would take years and years of breeding to do this on the farm,” says Carlson. “This is a fairly long process but there are several traits that have high impact. Animal health and disease traits are near the top but ultimately, we want to introduce traits that are good for consumers as well.”
Carlson says a researcher in Oregon is working to develop a pig with a short tail through DNA technology, but “the question is how much is it worth and will the industry pay for it?” That’s the overriding question on a lot of new innovations.
Biosecurity Implications
David Rosaro, assistant professor at Iowa State University, and other researchers are focusing on feed intake during the first two days after weaning to learn how a pig will thrive in the future. Security and new methods to enforce biosecurity are also high priorities. Knowing who enters a barn and when someone come onto a farm are important parameters to preventing disease. On the other hand, if disease has already entered the herd, tracking the growth or feeding habits of pigs can help identify it within a few days when it might normally take nearly a week, explains Rosaro.
“When we put new technology in barns we can look at new management strategies,” adds Brown-Brandell. “We can start evaluating the space that the pigs are in. We’ve installed active RFID sensors to track pigs around the pen and know when they’re using the cooling areas.”
Time and Money
Nearly all new technologies go through a process of research, development, use by early adopters, fine-tuning, value determination and industry acceptance. If the cost doesn’t justify the expected return, some of those technologies go by the wayside. But researchers are excited about the potential of the innovations they shared with producers. Before the decade is over, it’s likely the industry will be employing many of them.
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