Disease transmission associated with transportation of pigs has been a long-standing issue affecting biosecurity in pig production. In addition, stress responses and welfare are greatly influenced by the trailer compartment configuration. The overall goal of this study was to develop...

Certain barns that switched to antibiotic-free production observed increased prevalence of pathogens after a few years on the program. Developing improved sanitization and disinfection procedures is an important step to reduce the pathogen load in antibiotic-free barns, which was the...

This study assessed the impact of Raised Without Antibiotics (RWA) production practices on on-farm antibiotic use, pathogen occurrence, and the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) through the whole genome sequencing and analyzing of samples (fecal, manure, sow nasal swab,...

A rapid, easy to use and reliable way of monitoring surface cleanliness of swine transport trailers is needed for practical industry applications. ATP bioluminescence has been demonstrated to be a good alternative tool for monitoring surface cleanliness in swine transport...

Two novel technologies consisting of an individual water consumption system (IWCS) and infrared thermography system (ITHS) were installed in a finishing room. The individual water consumption system (installed in each pen) was composed of a nipple drinker attached to a...

Various aspects of trailer design and construction significantly impact the cleanability and welfare characteristics of the trailer, such as surface smoothness, exposed screws and weld joints, and presence of structures and hard-to-clean areas that may be prone to dirt accumulation....

This project aims to develop enhanced biosecurity measures that can eliminate or reduce the proliferation of disease-causing pathogens in antibiotic-free pig production as well as in conventional barns for all-inclusive disease prevention. Specifically investigating alternative sanitization and disinfection measures that...

A previous project examined the development of a new prototype trailer design aimed to protect animals (such as high-value breeding stock) from airborne transmissible diseases during transport. This design tried to integrate as many features as possible identified by stakeholders....

This project set to develop an improved (prototype) trailer that addresses emerging biosecurity risks and enhance animal welfare during transport. The trailer incorporates an environmental control system that is versatile in nature and equipped with a data logging system capable...

Previous activity in this study aimed to evaluate the impact of the Raised without Antibiotics (RWA) program on pig production focused on quantifying the overall antibiotics use both in participating RWA and non-RWA barns. Next steps involved the assessment of...

This project set out to develop and evaluate alternative sanitization and disinfection measures that may be effective for control of potentially antibiotic-resistant pathogens, as well as measures that might prevent or further reduce development of antimicrobial resistance in pig production....

The development of a prototype trailer was aimed to address emerging biosecurity risks and enhance animal welfare during transport through the optimization of a current prototype trailer design. Trailer improvements were focused on enhancement of environmental control and data logging...