Swine nutritionist Jason Woodworth recently joined the Four Star Veterinary Service (FSVS) team as a consultant to help clients with swine nutrition questions. He comes with 27 years of experience in swine nutrition including a PhD in swine nutrition from Kansas State University (KSU).
Currently a research nutritionist at KSU, Woodworth has started consulting with FSVS on client cases.
“The objective of what I’ll be doing with FSVS is to support the efforts of the veterinarians to improve the health and welfare of the pigs so we can have the most efficient and productive clients possible,” he said.
KSU swine nutrition background
Woodworth grew up on a diversified crop farm at Sterling, Kansas. He went to KSU for an undergraduate degree in swine nutrition while also working and living at the university’s swine unit. He went on to earn his MS and PhD degrees in swine nutrition also at KSU. His research involved the vitamin and mineral requirements of nursery pigs and sows.
For 11 years, Woodworth worked for Lonza, a Swiss life sciences company. He was Global Product Manager for some of Lonza’s specialty feed ingredients and was responsible for the global research and development of the company’s animal nutrition portfolio for all production and companion animal species. This provided Woodworth a nutrition background in a wide variety of species, including lobsters.
He estimates he spent about 50 percent of his time traveling internationally.
In June 2013, he came back to KSU were he re-joined the Applied Swine Nutrition team and is a Research Professor. He helps line up and lead research, and mentor graduate students.
Woodworth lives in Enterprise, Kansas, with his wife Brooke and two sons, Jensen and Carson. He spends time with the family at youth sports and music events, 4-H activities, and their Angus farm.
Raising pigs without antibiotics requires extra management and different tools compared to traditional commercial hog production, reports Laura Carroll, DVM, veterinarian with Four Star Veterinary Service, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Carroll works with many hog producers who raise pigs without antibiotics for specialty markets.
“We’ve found with antibiotic-free production that the basics are much more important — feed, water and air,” she explained. Things like proper ventilation, access to feed, an adequate supply of water, the right number of nipples for pigs in the pen all become very important.
“Vaccination is another component,” Carroll said. “Commercial and autogenous vaccinations are utilized quite a bit to make sure we’re preventing these disease challenges from occurring.”
Veterinary oversight
While Carroll believes it’s important for all producers to work with their veterinarians, hog farms not using antibiotics will need a little more veterinary oversight.
“We certainly want to make sure we’re on top of any disease challenges as they arise, just because we are limited in the tools in our toolbox that we can utilize,” she explained.
“We have to be a little bit creative in terms of managing pig health and figuring out ways to produce high-quality pigs,” she added.
Adding acidifiers
One tool Carroll and her associates rely on to help baby pigs get a good start is acidifiers. The product is fed on creep feed in the farrowing house.
“We use acidifiers mostly to reduce the pH in the GI (gastrointestinal) tract to make it a more acidic environment,” she said. “Some of the harmful bacteria we deal with like to live in more alkaline, more basic environments. If we can provide an acidic environment to the pigs, then we’re reducing the growth of this potentially harmful bacteria.”
Acidifiers also help newly weaned pigs break down feed in their gut because they lack the ability to produce enough acid to do it themselves.
“If we can provide some acidifiers to the diet or through water, then we’re making digestion a lot easier on that pig,” she explained. “Weaning can be somewhat stressful, and this really helps get these pigs started.”
Prebiotics and probiotics
Carroll uses prebiotics and probiotics to maintain a balance of good and bad bacteria in the GI tract.
“Prebiotics are used to help promote the growth of that good bacteria, almost like fertilizer for the good bacteria in the GI tract,” she explained. “Probiotics are the good bacteria themselves. Lots of times these are live culture or live organisms that we are utilizing.”
Both products are used in times of stress, including enteric disease challenges and weaning, when there’s a disruption in the gut microflora.
Nutritional supplements
“We utilize nutritional supplements in many cases when pigs just aren’t feeling well,” Carroll said. “It could be from the stress of weaning, for example, or when they’re undergoing disease challenges.”
This is especially true for younger pigs who don’t have a lot of energy reserves to use when sick.
“In cases of diarrhea, there could be a lot of fluid loss,” she said. “We need to try to replace those electrolytes, replace the nutrition in these animals and keep them hydrated so we can keep them going. Nursing piglets and weaned pigs require a lot of energy to nurse and to get up to the feeder and drinker.”
Crossover to commercial
Depending on the situation, Carroll prescribes these products in commercial systems, too.
“We utilize a lot of these products, either to replace some antibiotics or in conjunction with antibiotics,” she explained. “They’re a nice supplement.
“And certainly, from an animal-welfare standpoint, I think it improves how we’re handling our pigs when they’re going through some stress.”
Veterinary oversight continues to be important to make sure these products are used correctly, Carroll added.
When a sow doesn’t reach her full potential, the cost to the farm and the income stream of the sow herd is often “grossly underestimated,” said John Deen, DVM, PhD, University of Minnesota.
US producers and veterinarians have seen an influx of different types of influenza viruses in the last 10 to 15 years, and that is a major reason why influenza is more difficult to control.
Victor Cortese, DVM, PhD, drew on his decades of field experience and expertise in immunology to offer tips for optimizing immunity in swine herds in the face of IAV-S.
DISCOVERIES, Issue 26: It’s well known that modified-live PRRS vaccines help reduce production losses in breeding herds with PRRS. But when the challenge is especially severe, how well and for how long will a PRRS vaccine perform?
DISCOVERIES, Issue 28: Vaccination as early as 1 day of age with Fostera® PRRS coupled with the vaccine’s long duration of immunity can help pork producers stem the significant economic losses in growing pigs caused by PRRS.
Producers and veterinarians should “begin with the end in mind” when it comes to diagnosing disease and planning control strategies, according to Eric Burrough, DVM, PhD, associate professor and diagnostic pathologist at the Iowa State Diagnostic Laboratory.
Farm staff should be mindful of the role they play in controlling influenza. A University of Minnesota study showed that more than a quarter of farm staff tested influenza-positive at work during peak influenza season.
Eliminating porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) from pigs might not yet be possible, but monitoring tools could help refine a herd’s PRRSV stability.
TOOLBOX, Issue 22: David A. Baumert, DVM, Senior Area Veterinarian, Pork Technical Services, Zoetis, recently talked with editors of Pig Health Today about Mycoplasma elimination vs control.
On the farm, swine caregivers tend to lump umbilical hernias and umbilical abscesses under the single category of umbilical defects. What are the risk factors for these defects?
DISCOVERIES, Issue 29: IAV-S continues to frustrate US pork producers. From respiratory problems to reproductive challenges, this rapidly changing virus negatively impacts productivity and profitability.
Searching for strategies to alter the course of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in sows has been a long, slow climb with progress coming little by little. At the heart of the effort is the Sow Survivability project
Colostrum is vital to piglet survival but managing intake may benefit from some fresh thinking, according to Kara Stewart, associate professor of animal science at Purdue University.
Challenges associated with controlling porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) have resulted in the increased use of molecular diagnostic tests and sequencing.
DISCOVERIES, Issue 12: The efficacy of Draxxin® (tulathromycin) against key swine respiratory disease (SRD) pathogens is largely due to the antimicrobial’s ability to reach and sustain high concentrations in lung tissue.
The upward trendline of sow mortality needs to be addressed. But until farms have a clearer understanding of why a gilt or sow leaves the breeding herd, progress will be limited.
The system used to classify breeding herds according to their PRRSV status has long helped swine veterinarians around the world to track the pathogen’s progress.
It’s not unrealistic to say that if you checked the nasal cavities or tonsils of any group of pigs, you would find Strep suis. It is on virtually every hog farm.
In spite of advanced biosecurity protocols, the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) continues to plague global pork producers with unpredictable, seasonal outbreaks.
Water doesn’t get the attention it deserves because it is abundant, easy to access and inexpensive, but that will change in the future, said John Patience, PhD, professor at Iowa State University.
Keeping sow mortality rates in check is critical to a farm’s productivity and cost structure. Yet in recent years, the US pork industry has seen sow mortality rise.
Establishing effective internal biosecurity protocols is critical to breaking the circular spread of influenza and other pathogens between sow farms and growing sites, according to Montserrat Torremorell, DVM, PhD, University of Minnesota.
US producers have seen the devastating impact of African swine fever (ASF) in other countries. The ultimate goal is to keep it out of this country, so industry groups are ramping up preparedness and prevention protocols.
Effective PCV2 control relies on vaccination of healthy pigs before they become infected. This goal cannot be accomplished in unstable herds whose sows give birth to viremic pigs.
A special report from Pig Health Today, “Integrated Flu Management: New Strategies for Control,” reports on key presentations by experts in influenza A virus in swine (IAV-S) and features highlights of a roundtable involving swine practitioners.
DISCOVERIES, Issue 20: Pigs with swine respiratory disease due to Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae were treated with Excede® for Swine (ceftiofur crystallinefree acid) or enrofloxacin in a comparative challenge study.
Multi-disciplinary collaboration by academia, industry partners and the veterinary community is improving the diagnostics for and management of S. suis.
According to research, swine influenza A viruses have become more complicated in recent years. There is a great deal of diversity within the influenza virus.
The “Five Freedoms” have been the foundation for establishing sound animal welfare practices since they were developed in 1965. Now, more than 50 years later, researchers have additional tools and technologies to take that basic knowledge a step further.
In the end, raising hogs is about producing pork, and continuous success depends on building customers’ trust, listening to expectations and meeting their needs.
Biosecurity protocols are critical to keeping the US hog herd healthy, and one of the regular tasks is to disinfect a wide range of supplies entering the farm, but how effective are those protocols?
A romanticized view of the veterinary profession, gleaned from sources like the famous Brit, James Herriot’s novel “All Creatures Great and Small,” doesn’t always mesh with the reality.
Pain management for pigs has always been a challenge, partly because it’s difficult to measure levels of pain and partly because there are no FDA-approved drugs labeled for pain management in pigs.
Piglet processing fluids have been shown to be a practical, time-efficient and affordable diagnostic tool for PRRS, and some indications suggest that PCV2 offers promise as well.
US pork producers should strive to produce influenza-negative pigs if they want to see the benefits of increased productivity, reduced secondary infections and antibiotic use, reduced influenza dissemination, decreased influenza diversity and reduced risk of zoonotic infections.
The farrowing room is a demanding place — one that needs to accommodate the divergent needs of a 500+-pound sow and her 10, 15 or 20 piglets weighing anywhere from 1.5 to 3 pounds.
COVID-19’s global-altering tentacles reached the 2020 Allen D. Leman Swine Conference scheduled Sept. 19-22. This year’s conference will be held virtually.
