Pork Research: The More You Learn, The More You Earn

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

New Projects Target a Greener Planet And Black Ink For Producers

By Geoff Geddes

Today, science is tasked with making pork production faster, easier, cheaper and greener – so, no pressure!

Fortunately, researchers are good at rising to the challenge, and for proof, look no further than two current projects aimed at safeguarding pigs and the planet.

Infection protection

As most farmers know, PED (Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea) is a highly contagious viral disease of swine, causing diarrhea and vomiting in pigs and significant mortality in nursing piglets. At its worst, the virus can result in up to 100 per cent of nursing piglets dying over three to five weeks. In the absence of an effective PED vaccine, the industry requires one that is affordable, efficient and easy to apply, and that’s the focus of the project “Development of an oral vaccine to protect piglets against infection with Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus.”

“For this study, we’re trying two different approaches in developing a PED vaccine, both using a plant-based delivery system,” says Dr. Doug Cossar, vice-president of research for PlantForm Corporation. “One involves harnessing the power of VLPs – virus-like particles that are versatile, safe, and highly effective vaccine platforms – to battle PED. The other approach uses a PED virus spike protein, which plays an important role in limiting virus attachment and fusion to target cells.”

Of course, to claim success in a project like this, there is one small requirement: the vaccine must be usable. For pork producers, that means it is affordable and easy to apply. Scientists aim to cover both bases by creating a vaccine at the lowest possible cost. Because it is contained in plant tissue, we need only to dry the plant and add it to the sows' feed. By giving one application a month before the sow gives birth and a second one two weeks later, farmers should achieve a high level of protection in the milk that sows are feeding to their piglets.

If the project succeeds, it could save producers a bundle in the event of a worst-case scenario.

“At the moment, PED infection of a swine operation forces farmers to shut the facility down, sterilize it and essentially start again from scratch,” says Cossar. “This is quite expensive, so it has a major economic impact on the business.”

In addition, the new approach would preclude the need for staff to inject every single animal in a swine operation, which is both expensive for the producer and unpleasant for the worker. Perhaps most importantly, though some producers haven’t seen PED in years, the strategy devised by this study could apply to other pathogens that infect pigs orally, such as rotavirus. In other words, it’s not just about dealing with the present; it’s about preparing for the future.

“Our method for creating this antigen is fast. If someone spots a potential problem with another pathogen on-farm, we can likely develop a vaccine for it in two to three months. If it’s a disease that could devastate the pork industry in Canada, we can produce something even sooner, which may represent a lifesaver for the industry. The approach we are taking also improves specificity, so you don’t need to vaccinate against all viruses all of the time. Instead, you can immunize against the particular threat that exists today. In essence, producers will be responding in real-time to what is actually happening on their farm rather than what they think might be there.”

Like most good research studies, this one involves collaboration.

“Dr. Rima Menassa (research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada [AAFC] at the London Research and Development Centre in London, Ont.) has played a critical role in this project. Without her participation, the study would never have occurred.”

It’s not easy being green

A livable planet is like your soon-to-be-ex-spouse: You only value them when they’re gone.

At present, Canadian agriculture accounts for about 8.1 per cent of Canada’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Nationally, swine manure in Canada is estimated to emit 1,700 kilotonnes CO2-equivalent of methane annually, which exceeds emissions from cattle or dairy manure. Clouding the picture, though, is the uncertainty around these emission estimates, thanks largely to the lack of precise Canadian-specific data.

Since you can only address what you know to be true, scientists are seeking more precise information with the project “Improving Swine Manure-Digestate Management Practices Towards Carbon Neutrality With Net Zero Emission Concepts.”

“While the management of manure can be demanding and expensive for swine operations, it may also be viewed as an opportunity for GHG mitigation, as manure storage is an emission source built and managed by swine producers,” says Dr. Rajinikanth Rajagopal, research scientist with AAFC at the Sherbrooke Research and Development Centre in Sherbrooke, Que. Rajagopal’s co-lead on the study is Dr. Andrew VanderZaag, research scientist with AAFC at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa, Ont.

Moreover, the majority of methane emissions from manure occur during a short period in the summer, which could potentially be mitigated with targeted intervention. Also, the methane potential of manure can be harnessed through anaerobic digestion (AD) systems (also known as biodigesters) to produce renewable energy that will displace fossil fuels and further reduce the carbon footprint of pork production. AD is a process where microorganisms break down organic materials in the absence of oxygen, producing biogas as a renewable energy source and nutrient-rich digestate (digested material after the AD process) for use in fertilizer.

In the course of their work, scientists will quantify baseline emissions from Canadian commercial swine operations. To do so, they plan to select 10 representative farms and manure storage tanks in Manitoba and Quebec, calculating the methane emitted from each tank. They will also determine the efficiency of manure additives in reducing methane emissions from swine manure and digestate.

Ultimately, researchers hope to identify and develop manure management strategies adapted to Canadian swine farms, helping to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and net-zero emission targets by 2050.

“This project allows the Canadian swine sector to assess the actual baseline emissions and furnish a scientific assessment of technologies that offer numerous benefits,” says Rajagopal. “These include reduced emissions from manure storage throughout the manure utilization chain through treatment (primarily by AD, digestate storage and spreading), ensured sustainability, and improved resource utilization and recycling.”

In the first year, instrumentation was installed at swine facilities in Manitoba to measure methane emissions and temperature. At the same time, researchers are collecting real- world emission data from in-barn and outdoor storages to understand actual baseline emissions and influencing factors. Laboratory analyses are ongoing, and the results will be available at the end of a 20-week study in 2024-25.

While the technology behind anaerobic digestion systems is not new, and is currently popular in tropical countries such as India, China and Brazil, as well as in parts of Europe, scientists want to see it closer to home.

“Canada currently has 60 to 65 biodigesters, and a lot of potential in terms of best management practices to reduce GHG emissions. If other nations are making the most of these opportunities, why shouldn’t we?”

Helping to tap that potential are the Swine Innovation Porc cluster that funded this project and Maple Leaf, which gave access to 10 of its farms for the study. Given the razor-thin margins in the pork sector, researchers will continue to be pressed for results that aid producers and industry.

Of course, given that pressure plays a key role in making diamonds, maybe that’s a good thing. BP