Vaccine innovation helps swine producers stay ahead of PCV2

Jan 23, 2023

Since emerging as a major pathogen 20 years ago, porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) has become a fact of life for swine producers. “Virtually every farm is infected,” says Dr. James “Jamie” Lehman, DVM, MS, swine technical services veterinarian for Merck Animal Health. “It’s just a challenge of managing your immunity both in the sow herd and among your piglets.”

A large part of Dr. Lehman’s job is working with producers and veterinarians to troubleshoot PCV2 health problems. He sees pigs with PCV2 infections exhibiting poor growth rates, lethargy and skin lesions.1 Understanding the dynamics of each herd helps Merck Animal Health recommend PCV2 vaccine protocols that create the most positive outcome.

“We support customers with diagnostic plans and herd visits as needed, getting to know the operation and help plan the investigation.” Dr. Lehman says. “Every case is different, depending on the age of pig affected.”

Click here to see more...

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER AND GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to hit 10,000 subscribers, and when we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn. Sign up for exclusive access to tickets and details.