A veterinarian with Davidson Swine Health Services says the design and condition of production facilities and management will play a key role in the potential for success under antibiotic free pork production programs.
“Raised Without Antibiotics, Pork Production” will be discussed as part of Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2015 scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Saskatoon.
Dr. Shawn Davidson, with Davidson Swine Health Services, says, despite alternatives such as improved disease diagnosis, wider use of vaccination and new feed additives to improve digestibility, antibiotic free production is challenging.
Paying attention to the little things is so critical. Sanitation, proper pig flows, air quality, temperature management, moisture, humidity, noxious gas management in the barns, all of those little things that we all think that we’re doing right, I see producers make little mistakes every day that can make a world of difference.
When we get into antibiotic free production, all those little details really get amplified and there really becomes a lot less room for error on those key management things that can really make the difference whether an antibiotic free program will work or won’t for an individual farm. Some of that depends on their facilities too.
Certainly some of the older facilities that maybe don’t have as high a quality ventilation systems or don’t have as appropriate a pig flows or things like that certainly makes antibiotic free pork production much more difficult than in a facility that’s more set up for it, more allowing for sanitation and breaks in disease cycles with all in all out management and things like that. There’s certainly limitations that are inherent to facilities that will affect how a program like this will work.
Dr. Davidson says producers are willing and able to produce antibiotic free pork but production costs will be higher and production levels will decrease so the product will be more expensive.
