The Swine report
VIDEOS
Amanda Minton, Associate Director of Reproductive Technology at Acuity Swine and Karl Kerns, Assistant Professor at Iowa State University, discuss capturing relative phenotypes to help us understand and ultimately improve boar fertility.
Justin Fix, Director of Business Development and Genetic Improvement with Acuity and Caleb Shull, Director of Research at The Maschhoffs discuss how genetic evaluation varies from nucleus to commercial production and how that variation creates a bias in data analysis.
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The SowBridge webinar series offers expert-led guidance on managing large pig litters while helping producers improve sow productivity piglet care and overall farm performance through flexible online learning sessions.
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All signs point to a more abundant supply of U.S. pork in 2026, as the USDA’s December Quarterly Hogs and Pigs revealed a 1% greater inventory of all hogs and pigs and 1% more market hogs from the December 2024 report. Only one of the four weight classes was down, just a percentage point, from a year ago. USDA ERS Agricultural Economists Mildred Haley and Adriana Valcu-Lisman say the report indicates U.S. pork supplies will likely be larger through the spring. “USDA forecasts first-quarter commercial pork production at about 7 billion pounds, fractionally higher than first-quarter production in 2025,” the economists note. “First-quarter live-equivalent prices of national producer-sold hogs are forecast at $64 per cwt, about 1% higher than a year ago, signaling increased pork demand.” According to the USDA Economic Research Service Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook for January 2026, Q2 2026 commercial pork production is expected to reach 6.9 billion pounds, a 2.4% increase from a
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Submissions to the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory have recently included a growing number of pig cases with a severe lung lesion pattern called diffuse alveolar damage (DAD), a syndrome historically rare in swine. To understand what may be driving this change, the Swine Health Information Center funded a study led by Dr. Marcelo Almeida to investigate the etiology of this emergent swine respiratory disease syndrome. A total of 42 DAD cases were reviewed by veterinarians and tested by PCR for common respiratory viruses, including PRRSV, IAV, and PCV2, and next generation sequencing to detect other viruses. While many pigs were infected with common respiratory pathogens, no single virus consistently explained the DAD lesions, suggesting that controlling PRRSV, IAV, and PCV2 through vaccination and sound herd management remains the best strategy available today to help reduce the risk of this severe lung damage in pigs. Find the industry summary for SHIC project
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