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With a ten-year long history and a lengthy background in the sector, this small farm has 80 sows in a closed cycle.

Meat production in German commercial slaughterhouses declined in the financial year 2018. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported that, compared to the previous year, productivity fell by 1.5%, reaching 8 million tonnes.

To use pig slurry as fertiliser, we must know its nutritional composition, the value and fertiliser efficiency of each of them, the specific needs of each crop in each of its growth phases and its productivity per hectare. This will allow us to calculate the dose and application period to adjust the supply of nutrients to their extraction, after which, we must use an application method to ensure a homogeneous distribution.

Swine production in Ireland comes in third place in the country’s gross agricultural production, accounting for 8% of the total.

In its efforts to continuously improve farmer’s profitability, Rotecna launches a new model of its two types of Ni-2, the covers designed to protect newborn piglets.  

With a production of more than 50,000 sows per year, this Irish breeding farm has 2,000 mothers spread over four facilities.

Understanding pig behavior and body language helps improve the relationship between caregivers and animals, contributing to reduced stress, personnel safety risks, and injuries such as skin wounds, bruises, fatigue, and even death.

In a growing sector, with increasingly prolific genetics, in which health is essential to guarantee the future, there are important differences between farms. Productivity and costs are two basic factors to assess whether a farm is doing things right. But what are the keys to being among the best? We spoke with Joan Wennberg, veterinary consultant, to learn the 6 keys to being a model farm.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is the potentially devastating disease with the greatest economic impact in the swine industry today.

Dositronic M allows on-site individualization and control of sow feeding parameters quickly and intuitively via the control panel, which helps increase feed and water intake and improve productivity.

Given the huge success of the TR2, Rotecna expands its range of dry feed hoppers to fattening with the TR3D. This is a new two-sided model with three outlet nozzles, designed to supply large pens of animals. The V-shaped design of the side nozzles means animals can be arranged diagonally, whereby they can eat peacefully without bothering each other, thus avoiding fights and feed wastage.

In 2014, the Cooperativa d’Ivars invested in a refurbishment and extension of this farm of 2,000 sows in Valfarta (Huesca), where in 2017 they installed Rotecna's Doisitronic electronic feeding system in all of their farrowing pens. After three full production cycles, the farm has achieved some excellent figures, with an average of 38 piglets weaned per sow and year. We spoke to Orlando, the manager of the farm, to learn about the work they are doing with the Dositronic.

Have a feeding system capable of supplying food to a large number of pigs per pen is a major need in markets where swine production is growing. Feed represents around 70 % of production costs. It is therefore very important to optimize its management with feeding systems that can offer both precise and effective operation, allowing the animals to eat peacefully without wasting feed.

With the aim of protecting pig farms from the major impact on the sector of the entry of serious diseases, biosecurity is gaining ground as one of the topics of greatest relevance to the future of the sector. Given this scenario, veterinarian and a biosecurity advisory Josep Casanovas analyses the main challenges and errors in the field of biosecurity. On this occasion, we'll address external biosecurity, and in a future edition we will focus on it internally.

Well-homogenised slurry is important in preparation for a good solid-liquid separation process.