USDA awards $11 million for animal genomics

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack awarded more than $11 million in grants to 15 states to support research, education and outreach in animal genomics, which is expected to enhance the protection and safety of agriculture and the food supply.

“President Obama understands that to remain globally competitive in the livestock business and to continue to produce safe, nutritious products from livestock requires the application of cutting-edge genetics and breeding programs,” Vilsack said. “Investing in good basic and applied research will help pinpoint genetic differences that result in superior animal products of the best quality for the consumer.”

Successful application of this research will reduce the number and severity of animal disease outbreaks and decrease dependence on the widespread use of antibiotics, said Vilsack.

For a list of universities receiving the grants, click here.

Piglet feed supplements support immune systems

As feed costs rise and the production of ethanol from corn grain increases, swine producers have ramped up their search for new feed supplements for younger swine. According to studies by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists, feeding dried distiller’s grains (DDGS) to piglets can give their immune systems an extra boost.

The U.S. ethanol industry generates an estimated 10-14 million metric tons of DDGS annually from the milling of corn grain that yields fermentable sugars for conversion into fuel alcohol. The majority of DDGS are fed to beef and dairy cattle.

But livestock producers also use DDGS to supplement the diet of older pigs. So Tom Weber, a physiologist at the ARS Swine Odor and Manure Management Research Unit in Ames, Iowa, partnered with research leader Brian Kerr and microbiologist Cherie Ziemer to study the effects of feeding DDGS to young pigs.

For their research on piglets, the team divided weanling pigs into four groups and fed them either a standard control diet or diets supplemented with DDGS, soybean hulls or citrus pulp. After one week, the researchers observed an increase in cytokine expression in the pigs’ small intestine, which they linked to DDGS consumption. Cytokines are chemical messengers that are essential for proper immune function.

This response reinforced findings of previous DDGS studies showing that pigs consuming diets supplemented with DDGS exhibited reduced levels of ileitis, a common inflammation of the small intestine.

Kerr and others have found that adult pigs can be fed with a corn and soy-meal feed that is up to 40% DDGS. However, piglets are given feed with a maximum DDG content of 7.5%, because their growth may be reduced when they consume too much fiber.

Read more about this research in the February 2009 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

U.S. pork exports increase 50% in 2008

United States (U.S.) exports of fresh and frozen pork increased by more than 50% in 2008, compared with exports in 2007, according to the European Market Survey.

The largest destination for U.S. exports in 2008 continued to be Japan, reportedly accounting for over a quarter of all shipments. Mexico, China, Hong Kong and Russia also showed an increase in fresh and frozen pork year-on-year.

Imported pork, according to the European Market Survey, was less competitively priced compared with domestic pork in 2008. The weakening value of the U.S. dollar against the Euro resulted in imports from Denmark to the U.S. becoming less attractive.

Imports from Canada were 18% lower year-on-year. U.S. finishers imported 7% fewer pigs from Canada during 2008, reportedly as a result of unfavorable exchange rates early in the year, ongoing herd reductions in Canada, and uncertainty created by the U.S. country of origin labeling (COOL) requirements that went into effect September 30, 2008.