Fact Sheet Looks at Additives to Mitigate Risk of Virus-contaminated Swine Feed

Mar 10, 2022

Research trials have documented that viruses relevant to the swine industry can survive in feed ingredients and complete feed for transcontinental (23 day) and transoceanic (30 and 37 day) shipping. As biosecurity awareness and protocols have increased for animals, people and equipment, feed and feed ingredients may also be routes of virus transmission to be managed.

Virus-contaminated Swine Feed

A new fact sheet from Iowa Pork Industry Center, “Feed Additives to Mitigate the Risk of Virus-contaminated Feed,” focuses on three research papers that evaluated compounds to mitigate virus-contaminated feed. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach swine specialist Mark Storlie is one of the authors and helped to describe the virus-preventing additives for each paper.

"The compounds are classified into two different groups. Foreign animal disease viruses: African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease; and domestic viruses: Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus, Senecavirus A and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus are discussed," he said. "The experimental design, feed additive or compound evaluated and results for specific viruses are highlighted for each paper."

Although a specific mode of action is not identified, some products may work by mitigating the viral load and/or viability in the feed, while other products may provide additional, yet-to-be determined benefits for pig productivity.

"This is exciting research to identify tools which may help reduce or address specific viruses in swine production," Storlie said. "Each operation will need to evaluate the cost/benefit to incorporate these products into their feeding program. A source for product formulations, company contacts and relative pricing is highlighted to encourage producers to learn more."

Chris Rademacher, clinical professor for veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine and extension swine veterinarian at Iowa State University, and Scott Dee with Pipestone Research, are the other authors of this fact sheet, which is available for free online.

Source : iastate.edu

Video: Seeing the Whole Season: How Continuous Crop Modeling Is Changing Breeding

Plant breeding has long been shaped by snapshots. A walk through a plot. A single set of notes. A yield check at the end of the season. But crops do not grow in moments. They change every day.

In this conversation, Gary Nijak of AerialPLOT explains how continuous crop modeling is changing the way breeders see, measure, and select plants by capturing growth, stress, and recovery across the entire season, not just at isolated points in time.

Nijak breaks down why point-in-time observations can miss critical performance signals, how repeated, season-long data collection removes the human bottleneck in breeding, and what becomes possible when every plot is treated as a living data set. He also explores how continuous modeling allows breeding programs to move beyond vague descriptors and toward measurable, repeatable insights that connect directly to on-farm outcomes.

This conversation explores:

• What continuous crop modeling is and how it works

• Why traditional field observations fall short over a full growing season

• How scale and repeated measurement change breeding decisions

• What “digital twins” of plots mean for selection and performance

• Why data, not hardware, is driving the next shift in breeding innovation As data-driven breeding moves from research into real-world programs, this discussion offers a clear look at how seeing the whole season is reshaping value for breeders, seed companies, and farmers, and why this may be only the beginning.