Progress Reported in Genetic Selection for Disease Resilience

Research aimed at identifying factors that will allow scientists to predict the resilience of swine used for breeding to disease continues to make steady progress. Since 2015 an international team of scientists has been contributing to a natural disease challenge model, established at the CDPQ wean to finish commercial research facilities in Quebec, for evaluating the resilience of swine to disease.

 

Dr. John Harding, a Professor with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, says a number of phenotypic traits and immune measures have been identified that are very promising.

 

 

One of the very interesting findings that we've identified is that variation in daily feed intake is a good measure of disease resilience. Animals that continue to eat the same amount without a lot of daily fluctuation tend to be more resilient animals. We can select for that and that's a trait that is not easily measured but it is certainly measured.

 

That's one of the outcomes and it's genetically correlated and it's a heritable trait so I think we could easily make some genetic progress. Another one on the health side is high immune response technology. This is a tool or technique that's come out of the University of Guelph and it is a measure of both the antibody and the cell mediated immune responses. We've got some early data that is suggesting that it is potentially predictive of how those animals will face when they face disease challenge down the road.

 

But there are a number of other immune traits that we still are interested in. There's an antibody level test, a natural antibody test, there's some mitogen stimulation assays that we're looking at. We've got an interesting piece where we've looked at some enrichment and behavior monitoring in the barn as well so there's a number of things that are still ongoing.

Video: Swine Industry Advances: Biodigesters Lower Emissions and Increase Profits

Analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG emissions) in the Canadian swine sector found that CH4 emissions from manure were the largest contributor to the overall emissions, followed by emissions from energy use and crop production.

This innovative project, "Improving Swine Manure-Digestate Management Practices Towards Carbon Neutrality With Net Zero Emission Concepts," from Dr. Rajinikanth Rajagopal, under Swine Cluster 4, seeks to develop strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

While the management of manure can be very demanding and expensive for swine operations, it can also be viewed as an opportunity for GHG mitigation, as manure storage is an emission source built and managed by swine producers. Moreover, the majority of CH4 emissions from manure occur during a short period of time in the summer, which can potentially be mitigated with targeted intervention.

In tandem with understanding baseline emissions, Dr. Rajagopal's work focuses on evaluating emission mitigation options. Manure additives have the potential of reducing manure methane emissions. Additives can be deployed relatively quickly, enabling near-term emission reductions while biodigesters are being built. Furthermore, additives can be a long-term solution at farms where biogas is not feasible (e.g., when it’s too far from a central digester). Similarly, after biodigestion, additives can also be used to further reduce emissions from storage to minimize the carbon intensity of the bioenergy.