Benchmarking in Animal Agriculture : Concepts and Applications

Evolution of Sow Productivity and Evaluation Parameters: Spanish Farms as a Benchmark

This study examines the global evolution of sow productivity, with a particular focus on Spain. The analysis is based on key performance metrics such as piglets weaned per sow per year (PWSY), prolificacy, and pre-weaning mortality, utilizing data from literature reviews, the InterPIG, and BDporc® databases. Globally, significant advancements in genetic selection and management practices have led to productivity increases across major pig-producing countries, with notable improvements in prolificacy. However, higher prolificacy has been accompanied by rising piglet mortality rates during lactation, posing sustainability challenges. In Spain, the average productivity of commercial sows increased from 23.78 PWSY in 2009 to 29.45 PWSY in 2023, while Iberian sows reached an average of 17.44 PWSY. Despite these gains, Spain's figures remain slightly below the European Union average. The study highlights the need for new benchmarks, such as non-productive days, piglet survival, and sow longevity, to more accurately assess farm efficiency. These indicators, combined with considerations for animal welfare and environmental sustainability, are crucial for addressing current challenges such as piglet mortality, sow culling, and the carbon footprint. The findings emphasize the importance of adopting comprehensive management strategies that balance productivity with growing social and environmental demands on the swine industry.

ASAS-NANP symposium: mathematical modeling in animal nutrition: limitations and potential next steps for modeling and modelers in the animal sciences

The field of animal science, and especially animal nutrition, relies heavily on modeling to accomplish its day-to-day objectives. New data streams ("big data") and the exponential increase in computing power have allowed the appearance of "new" modeling methodologies, under the umbrella of artificial intelligence (AI). However, many of these modeling methodologies have been around for decades. According to Gartner, technological innovation follows five distinct phases: technology trigger, peak of inflated expectations, trough of disillusionment, slope of enlightenment, and plateau of productivity. The appearance of AI certainly elicited much hype within agriculture leading to overpromised plug-and-play solutions in a field heavily dependent on custom solutions. The threat of failure can become real when advertising a disruptive innovation as sustainable. This does not mean that we need to abandon AI models. What is most necessary is to demystify the field and place a lesser emphasis on the technology and more on business application. As AI becomes increasingly more powerful and applications start to diverge, new research fields are introduced, and opportunities arise to combine "old" and "new" modeling technologies into hybrids. However, sustainable application is still many years away, and companies and universities alike do well to remain at the forefront. This requires investment in hardware, software, and analytical talent. It also requires a strong connection to the outside world to test, that which does, and does not work in practice and a close view of when the field of agriculture is ready to take its next big steps. Other research fields, such as engineering and automotive, have shown that the application power of AI can be far reaching but only if a realistic view of models as whole is maintained. In this review, we share our view on the current and future limitations of modeling and potential next steps for modelers in the animal sciences. First, we discuss the inherent dependencies and limitations of modeling as a human process. Then, we highlight how models, fueled by AI, can play an enhanced sustainable role in the animal sciences ecosystem. Lastly, we provide recommendations for future animal scientists on how to support themselves, the farmers, and their field, considering the opportunities and challenges the technological innovation brings.

Productivity analysis of 70 farrow-to-finish swine farms in Japan from 2013 to 2018

Improving productivity is an urgent issue in the swine industry if it is to compete internationally. However, lack of data about recent productivity transition obstructs stakeholder planning. This study investigated the yearly productivity trends among farrow-to-finish swine farms in Japan using annual productivity data from 2013–2018 obtained for 70 farms in Japan. The productivity parameters analyzed were pigs born alive per litter (PBA), preweaning mortality (PRWM), pigs weaned per litter (PWL), litters per mated female per year (LMFY), pigs weaned per mated female per year (PWMFY), post-weaning mortality (POWM) and marketed pigs per mated female per year (MP). Data were classified into three groups based on the size of the average female inventory and compared among groups. Results presented the mean PBA increased continuously over the 6-year period (P<0.001), and the PWL, PWMFY, and MP means began increasing after 2015 (P<0.001). These upward trends were particularly remarkable on large farms. The mean PRWM increased sharply in 2014, thus inhibiting the increases in PWL, PWMFY, and MP for the same year. The LMFY and POWM means did not change during the study period. Altogether, productivity in Japan improved markedly during the study period, indicating highly prolific sows were well utilized with suitable breeding techniques among farmers these days. Continued genetic improvement and sow management would aid further development in Japan.

Fertility risk factors in transferring Japanese Black embryos into dairy heifers: An epidemiological study

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Epidemiological study of embryo transfers of japanese black (JB) embryos.

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JB's bloodline combination was also found to be a risk factor for embryo fertility.

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Success of JB embryo transfer may depend on differences in genetic background.

The aims of this study were 1) to summarize the current status of Japanese Black (JB) embryo transfer into Holstein heifers, which is carried out on a commercial basis in Japan, and 2) to reveal fertility risk factors, including those from the environment (year and season of transfer), recipient (age, number of transfers, clinical status of the ovaries) and embryo (quality, stage, state, genetic background). We used data from 4467 JB fresh or frozen embryo transfers into Holstein heifers conducted by Zen-noh Embryo Transfer Center during 2016–2018, and the differences in fertility risk due to factors related to the environment, recipient, and embryo were statistically evaluated. Differences in fertility risk due to each variable were observed, leading to significant differences in fertility with respect to year of transfer, embryo quality, embryo state, and embryo breed. These results suggest that the fertility of JB embryos might depend on differences in genetic background. There have been no previous reports of differences in embryo fertility due to the differences among JB's bloodline combinations. In the future, overall reproductive efficiency must be monitored, including the effects of different bloodline combinations on the success of embryo recovery and transfer.

Assessment of reproductive and growth performance of pigs on commercial swine farms in southern Kyushu, Japan

The objective of the present study was to assess the productivity of pigs to investigate the time-dependent change in productivity and compare productivity according to breeding company group and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) status on commercial swine farms in southern Kyushu, Japan. Data used in the present study were 245 annual productivity records from 2014 to 2018 obtained from 72 farms. Average sow inventory was 481.2 sows. Mean numbers of pigs weaned per sow per year and market pigs sold per sow per year were 23.7 and 21.6, respectively. Pigs born alive per litter increased from 11.1 to 11.9 pigs from 2014 to 2018 (p < .05). Farms using domestic breeding companies had similar numbers in 2016 to those using international breeding companies, but fewer pigs in 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018 (p < .05). Farms with an unknown or unstable PRRS status had fewer pigs born alive per litter and pigs weaned per sow per year than those with stable or negative PRRS statuses (11.2 ± 0.06 vs. 11.8 ± 0.08 pigs and 22.6 ± 0.38 vs. 25.0 ± 0.22 pigs, respectively; p < .05). These results can be used to establish feasible targets and standards of performance to identify problem areas and improve production.

Use of haplotypes to identify regions harbouring lethal recessive variants in pigs

Background

Lethal recessive genetic variants are maintained at relatively low frequencies in a population in the heterozygous state, but by definition are fatal and therefore unobserved in the homozygous state. Since haplotypes allow the tagging of rare and untyped genetic variants, they have potential for studying lethal recessive variants. In this study, we used a large commercial population to identify putative lethal recessive haplotypes that impact either the total number born (TNB) or the number born alive (NBA) as a proportion of the total number born (NBA/TNB). We also compared the use of haplotypes with a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-by-SNP approach and examined the benefits of using additional haplotypes imputed from low-density genotype data for the detection of lethal recessive variants. Candidate haplotypes were identified using population-wide haplotype frequencies and within-family analyses. These candidate haplotypes were subsequently assessed for putative lethal recessive effects on TNB and NBA/TNB by comparing carrier-to-carrier matings with carrier-to-non-carrier matings.

Results

Using both medium-density and imputed low-density genotype data six regions were identified as containing putative lethal recessive haplotypes that had an effect on TNB. It is likely that these regions were related to at least four putative lethal recessive variants, each located on a different chromosome. Evidence for putative lethal recessive effects on TNB was found on chromosomes 1, 6, 10 and 14 using haplotypes. Using haplotypes from individuals genotyped only at medium-density or a SNP-by-SNP approach did not detect any lethal recessive effects. No lethal recessive haplotypes or SNPs were detected that had an effect on NBA/TNB.

Conclusions

We show that the use of haplotypes from combining medium-density and imputed low-density genotype data is superior for the identification of lethal recessive variants compared to both a SNP-by-SNP approach and to the use of only medium-density data. We developed a formal statistical framework that provided sufficient power to detect lethal recessive variants in species, which produce large full-sib families, while reducing false positive or type I errors. Applying this framework results in improvements in reproductive performance by purging lethal recessive alleles from a population in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12711-017-0332-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

An analysis of factors affecting production performance in broiler flocks on Japanese commercial farms

1. The present study determined descriptive values of the main production measurements of flocks and assessed the relationship between these measurements and related management factors in Japanese commercial broiler farms. 2. The data set included 5060 flock records from 183 farms. The production index was calculated as follows: liveability × average daily gain/feed conversion ratio × 10. Management factors included in the analysis were broiler breeder age, the time interval between successive flocks, the season of placement and stocking density. 3. The mean (±SD) production index was 283.9 ± 28.83. Management factors significantly associated with a decreased production index were low broiler breeder age, flocks placed in summer and high stocking density (P < 0.05). 4. In regard to an interaction for the production index, flocks with high stocking density had a lower production index than those with low stocking density in flocks with a low broiler breeder age (P < 0.05). In summer, flocks with a short time interval between successive flocks had a lower production index than those with an intermediate or long time interval (P < 0.05). 5. The present study identified factors related to flock performance. The knowledge obtained from this analysis will contribute to improve flock performance by optimising management.