Teagasc has launched a fortnightly podcast called ‘The Pig Edge’ for pig producers and those working in the sector. It’s covering pig farming news, information, tips and advice for farmers. The podcast is presented by Amy Quinn, Teagasc Pigs Advisor, and she will be joined by a different guest each episode from Teagasc and the wider industry, both nationally and internationally.
The first episode of the ‘The Pig Edge’ is released today, Wednesday, April 22, with a second to be broadcast this Friday, April 24. The latest research from the Teagasc Pig Development Department, which was due to be communicated to pig producers at the two Pig Research Open Days, will now be covered in ‘The Pig Edge’ Podcast. An episode will be released fortnightly thereafter.
Head of the Teagasc Pig Development Department, Edgar Garcia Manzanilla, said: “This is an exciting development for the Teagasc Pig Development Department and we look forward to keeping pig producers up to date with the latest information and research available, through this series of regular podcasts.”
In the first episode Amy Quinn is joined by Teagasc Researcher Peadar Lawlor to discuss the WETFEED project, which is nearing completion. This project looked at optimising liquid feeding for increased growth and improved feed efficiency in grow-finisher pigs. Firstly, Peadar explains what this project was all about and outlines its main objectives. Peadar also touches on the practice of liquid feeding, in general, its popularity and why, as well as the main advantages and disadvantages of this system as he sees it. Peadar brings us through the findings of the work carried out in the Teagasc Pig Research Facility in Moorepark, where they compared dry, wet/dry and liquid feeding using a common diet in meal or pelleted form on growth, feed efficiency and carcass quality of grow-finisher pigs. This project also looked at liquid feeding on a sample of commercial Irish pig farms, Peadar gives us an interesting insight into what this study found out there on farms. Finally, Peadar gives his thoughts into what feeding system to consider and the circumstances in which to do so, if looking at refurbishing, or building a new unit.
In the second episode of ‘The Pig Edge’ to be broadcast on Friday, April 24, Amy is joined by Teagasc Researcher Maria Costa to discuss the recently completed PATHSURVPIG project. This project may be familiar to many as over 60 commercial Irish farms were involved in the project, which investigated the extent of respiratory disease on Irish pig farms, associated risk factors, and the relationship with performance, welfare and antimicrobial use. Firstly, Maria explains what was involved in this project and also discusses the true effect of respiratory diseases on farms. Maria was largely involved in the cross sectional component of this study in which biosecurity, vaccination, antimicrobial use and feeding practices from about 60 commercial farms was examined and subsequently slaughterhouse examinations looking at lung, heart and liver lesions which were collected from a large number of pigs from each of those farms. Maria takes us through the main findings from this part of the study and takes us through the results, which modelled the implications of respiratory disease on production performance.
To listen to the ‘The Pig Edge’ go to https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/pigs/the-pig-edge-podcast/
The full suite of Teagasc Podcasts can be seen here https://www.teagasc.ie/publications/podcasts/
