Articles - Health

Hemolytic Escherichia Coli (E. coli) is a challenging pathogen due to its high morbidity and high mortality in weaned pigs. It causes severe diarrhea and sudden death. Our tools to control and reduce hemolytic E. coli are limited and unfortunately becoming less effective due to antimicrobial resistance.

Unfortunately, summer is over and the fall season is upon us, followed soon by winter. From a disease management perspective, it is also the season when major swine pathogens get a break from the sun and heat.

A fairly biosecure way to enjoy your local fairs: Everyone at the fair has a responsibility to protect pig health. Going to fairs, or anywhere else that has pigs from a different source, creates risk for your farm. There are easy and effective steps you can take to mitigate those risks.

Our vet team is frequently asked, “What’s new at PIPESTONE?” This often elicits a casual response of “Oh, not much.” But, as I sat down to write my CVO commentary it occurred to me that there has been a lot happening at PIPESTONE that we’d like to share.

A profitable pork enterprise is the goal of every pork producer.  There are many considerations when thinking of profitability in the pork production sector.  One of the most critical is that of Risk Management.

What does disease cost?  It ultimately depends on what disease (or diseases) your pig farm is challenged with – but disease has a cost and it can be measured in dollars and cents.  Dr. Adam Schelkopf described it another way when he talked about the “Health Tax”.  Every pig farmer pays this “tax”.

Time and time again as veterinarians we are asked what our highest priority need is in swine health today.  The answer is simple and unfortunately has not changed for decades now.

Why is it important in wean-to-market barns? Biosecurity. It is a big bold word but has it revolutionized the swine industry over decades? We go to extraordinary lengths to enhance sow farm biosecurity, which has historically been rewarded well.

Daily observations are not just a Pork Quality Assurance catch phrase, they are a foundational principal of proper pig care. Pig well-being and welfare starts with a daily evaluation of the animal, the environment, and the equipment. The Animal There are the obvious items we should be checking every day.

At the recent Pipestone Summit, we had an interesting exchange on pig farm biosecurity and the contrast between biosecurity measures employed at the sow farm and those effectively implemented in the wean to finish (W-F) farms.

We recognize the growing global concern over Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), its impact for human medicine, veterinary medicine, public and animal health, as well as society and the shared concern of antibiotic use’s influence on AMR. Pipestone’s commitment to Responsible Antibiotic Use and reduced AMR serves as the framework for our Pipestone Antibiotic Use Standards (PORK).

We live in the so-called “Information Age”. Data is being collected all around us. Today, the power of computing and digital technology have made collecting, analyzing and transferring data easier than ever. As a result, we have more information than ever at our fingertips.