2007 Proceedings

Sponsors Midwest Swine Nutrition Conference 2007 ADM Animal Nutrition Agri-King Ajinomoto Heartland LLC Akey Alltech Alpharma Animal Health APC Company, Inc. BASF Corporation Cooper Farms Danisco Animal Nutrition Degussa Corporation Diamond V Mills Distributors Processing DSM Nutritional Products, Inc. Elanco Animal Health Fats and Proteins Research Foundation Hubbard Feeds, Inc. International Ingredient Corporation JBS United, Inc. Kemin Land O’Lakes/Purina Mills Monsanto National Pork Board Newsham Genetics Novartis Animal Health Novus International, Inc. Pig Improvement Company Pioneer, A Dupont Company Prince Agri Products, Inc. Ralco Nutrition Zinpro Corporation Appreciation is expressed to the Indiana Farm Bureau and their staff for hosting the Midwest Swine Nutrition Conference and providing the facilities for this function. CONTENTS Animal sciences in academia: What does the future hold? Robert A. Easter; University of Illinois ......................................................... 3 Managing grouped sows Janeen L. Salak-Johnson and Stanley E. Curtis; University of Illinois ............................................................................................................ 6 Are antioxidants associated with pig and sow mortalities? D. C. Mahan, J. C. Peters, and G. M. Hill; The Ohio State University, and Michigan State University ................................................................... 13 PCVAD: When immunology goes wrong, life on the farm becomes very expensive Thomas G. Gillespie; DVM, Rensselaer Swine Services .......................... 22 Where are the ingredient and hog prices going in the coming months? Ronald L. Plain, University of Missouri ..................................................... 25 Energy sources for pigs ---- How do we cope? Merlin D. Lindemann; University of Kentucky .......................................... 29 Feeding DDGS to pigs: What is new? Hans Stein, University of Illinois ................................................................ 37 The impact of added diet fat on carcass fat quality Heather M. White and Mickey A. Latour, Purdue University .................... 42 Animal Sciences in Academia: What Does the Future Hold? Robert A. Easter, Ph.D. Department of Animal Sciences University of Illinois 1301 West Gregory Drive Urbana, Illinois 61801 217-333-0460 [email protected] Introduction The enactment of the Morrill Land-Grant Act by the U.S. Congress in 1862 catalyzed the establishment of public universities mandated to give particular attention to the “agricultural and engineering” arts. In the post-Civil War era the nation was in rapid transition to an industrial economy characterized by large factories that employed large numbers of people in non-agricultural pursuits. There was a pressing need to significant- ly improve the efficiency with which a dwindling rural population could produce food and fiber to provision the growing urban population. The U.S. Department of Agriculture established an in-house research capacity and with the passage of the Hatch Act in 1887 individual states were encouraged to establish Agricultural Experiment Stations in partnership with the federal government. Establishment of Animal Sciences Recipients of degrees in animal sciences have Early efforts in instruction and research were de- enjoyed successful careers in private industry, gov- voted largely to “farming” and “animal husbandry.” ernment and academia. Many used their technical Many departments of animal, dairy and/or poultry background to lead in on-farm innovations that were science trace their origins to the first decade of the the basis for what has become the most efficient and 20th Century. The National Association of Dairy safe system for producing, processing and marketing Instructors and Investigators (now the American meat, milk and eggs in the world. Academic pro- Dairy Science Association) was formed in 1906. The grams in the animal sciences have a rich history of American Society of Animal Nutrition, the anteced- accomplishment BUT, past success is no guarantee of ent organization to the present American Society the future. of Animal Science, was constituted in 1908. The Poultry Science Association will celebrate its centen- Emerging Issues nial in 2008. Students: Undergraduate enrollment should be During the past century academic programs in a good indicator of the interest and by extension the the animal sciences have quite literally changed the “health” of the field. Each year colleges are asked world through research, classroom instruction and to submit enrollment data to the U.S. Department of extension education. And, in the process, scholars Agriculture and that data is published through the have contributed very substantially to fundamental Food and Agricultural Education Information System understanding in the disciplines of nutrition, repro- on the USDA website: www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/edu- ductive biology, endocrinology, breeding and genet- cation/part/education_part_faeis.html Enrollments in ics, animal physiology and environmental manage- “Animal Sciences, General” were 10,062, 14,620, ment, animal behavior, and genomics. Additionally, 15,380, 15,786 and 16,208 in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 new fields of study, such as veterinary medicine, food and 2006, respectively. science, dairy manufacturing, meat and meat science, With an acknowledgement that data submitted have emerged from animal sciences programs. voluntarily will never be complete, the figures seem to indicate student interest is not only strong, but funding for agricultural research and educational growing. What these data do not indicate is the areas programs, the administrator has little choice but to of student interest within the rather broad field of first define the areas where there will be significant animal science. Many are undoubtedly interested in federal or private funding available to support the in- companion animals, some in wildlife biology and a dividual’s program. The consequence over the past significant number are enrolled in animal science as a decade has been to shift faculty capacity into areas point of entry into veterinary medicine. of fundamental biology and biomedical research and Fortunately, there are more specific data available away from the type of production animal research in some areas of animal science. The U.S. National that defined the field of animal science for more than Pork Center of Excellence (NPCE) http://www.us- 100 years. Fundamental research is both appropriate porkcenter.org/ was established in 2005 at Iowa State and essential to a strong department of animal sci- University. It is a joint venture between the National ence. The issue is the lack of support for the research Pork Board, USDA and about 20 Land-Grant Uni- that translates fundamental discoveries into practical versities. The goal is to address the growing lack of application. In sum, this is the type of research that local extension and educational programs in swine is reported at conferences of this nature. science across the country. But, it is more than just the kind of research that The NPCE has carefully collected data on enroll- is done. The next generation of extension specialists, ments in “swine production” courses at four-year swine production teachers and translational research- universities. In the academic year defined as fall ers are being trained in laboratories where application 1998-Spring 1999 there were 914 students enrolled research is being done today. As those laboratories in 37 swine production courses nationally. By fall decline in number there will inevitably be fewer 2004-Spring 2005 that number had dropped to 663 graduates prepared in the next generation. students in 30 courses. These figures are somewhat Facilities: Historically, animal teaching and re- misleading because of large enrollments at the Cali- search “farms” were constructed with state funds and fornia Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo; staff, maintenance and utility needs were provided Iowa State University and North Carolina State Uni- for by an annual appropriation to the university. versity. Thirteen courses were taught to fewer than Income from livestock sales were generally used 10 students. In Fall 2004-Spring 2005 a total of 66 to cover feed costs and other incidental expenses. students enrolled in swine production at Purdue, The That is changing rapidly as many universities move Ohio State University, Michigan State University and to a full cost-recovery model. The livestock unit is the University of Illinois. viewed as a research lab and all costs for operating Why are students not pursuing education in that lab must come from grants that fund the research swine production science today? There are many rea- that is done. sons—image of the industry, lack of understanding of This reality is leading to a growing level of real- the opportunity and a general lack of enthusiasm by ization that each university cannot be “all things to young Americans today in fields that require in-depth all people” and with that comes quiet acknowledge- understanding of math, chemistry and biology. ment that a likely outcome will be increasing region- Will there be enough technically-prepared gradu- alization of programs. ates to meet the staffing needs of a swine industry producing in excess of 100 million head per annum? It is doubtful, and these trends are evident in other Animal Sciences Whither? applied areas of animal science—beef cattle, dairy In the 1960’s balladeer Tom T.

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