R&D keeps pig producers right at the cutting edge

Dr Mike Varley of BPEX tells Iona Walton how science is helping the pig industry.

Science is more accessible – and accountable – than ever before and farmers who keep tabs on cutting-edge research find it pays dividends to their businesses. “There’s a tremendous knowledge database available to all,” says Dr Mike Varley, head of knowledge transfer, research and development (R&D) at BPEX, the industry group that promotes business improvement. “BPEX, EBLEX and DairyCo have well-populated web-based databases from where the latest knowledge and research reports can be downloaded. At BPEX we have a technology translator who takes our research and other published items and interprets them into a highly digestible form for delivery to farms.”

Tough times have been witnessed by the pig industry and many of those who survive, and thrive, do so because they embrace R&D. “Farmers in the pig sector have always been quick to look at innovative technologies,” Dr Varley says. “New genetics, nutrition, environmental management and reproduction management have been introduced effectively in recent years.”  

But there is still much to do, he adds. “Animal health is a major focus and we’ve seen the severe effects of disease incidence in recent years with classical swine flu (CSF) outbreaks and the damaging post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) disease. We’ve survived these but must learn the hard lessons that biosecurity (at national and at individual farm level) is crucial to our sustainability as an industry.”

Collaboration and cooperation between farmers in the animal health arena is key to the survival of individual businesses. “Each farm in a close group depends on its neighbours to maintain a high health status; if they work together the benefits are significant increases in profitability and the capacity to sleep at night,” says Dr Varley.

BPEX is behind regional health programmes that aim to systematically eradicate and control the endemic diseases that prevail in the pig industry. “Success depends on clusters of farms working in harmony,” says Dr Varley.

“We’ve established a web-based map of the industry that identifies ‘where the pigs are’, ‘where the diseases are’ and ‘what those diseases are’. When this is complete we can use vaccination, depopulation and repopulation and management applications, which coupled with the British Pig Health Scheme already in place will provide a powerful tool to lift the national health status.” 

Food labelling is high on the agenda at BPEX and a programme drawing to a close will enable the identification of the source of origin of meat samples that arrive on supermarket shelves. “The natural isotope decay technique determines if a sample of meat (fresh or processed) was generated from a British pig or one from further afield,” Dr Varley explains. “We hope that this will be a useful tool for monitoring selections of meat as they move through the food chain, ultimately to the consumer.”

Climate change and environmental issues are hurdles producers are embroiled in with IPPC regulations and NVZ legislation to contend with, and BPEX is working with pig producers to realise the potential of anaerobic digesters with consequent saving costs on electricity bills.

“In the livestock (non-ruminant) sector, changes in the availability of feed raw materials will present another challenge,” Dr Varley says. “The days of cheap cereals and soya may well be over and we must work hard in our research programmes to develop new levels of feed efficiency and utilisation of resources.”

Together with a team from Bristol University, BPEX is working on a low protein project that will help pig farmers come to terms with nutritional and environmental issues, reduce the feed cost profile and the amount of nitrogen going into water.

“People will always need to eat and this gives the farming industry a bottom line and a starting point from which to plan.