Search Results (63)

Despite the widespread use of phytase in swine diets, there is a need to update the current evidence on its effects on performance, carcass traits, and economic outcomes. This meta-analysis evaluated the impact of phytase supplementation on growth performance, carcass traits, and economic returns in growing–finishing pigs, combining meta-analysis with economic modeling. A systematic review (Web of Science, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Scopus) revealed 1049 studies, 17 of which met the inclusion criteria (PRISMA). Three treatments were considered: a basal diet (BD), a reduced-P diet without phytase (DRP), and a reduced-P diet with phytase (DRP + P), with effect sizes expressed as weighted mean differences (WMDs). The meta-analysis included performance traits (daily feed intake, DFI; daily weight gain, DWG; feed conversion, FC; and final weight, FW) and carcass traits (carcass weight, CW; carcass yield, CY; backfat thickness, BT; loin eye area, LEA; lean meat percentage, LMP; and lean meat yield, LMY). With respect to BD vs. DRP, P reduction impaired performance and decreased ADG, DFI, and final weight (p < 0.001), especially at reductions ≥0.12%. In DRP + P vs. BD, phytase had no significant effects on performance (WMD = 0.008 kg/day) or carcass traits. In DRP + P vs. DRP, phytase improved performance (ADG: +0.068 kg/day; DFI: +0.106 kg/day; FW: +4.630 kg; FC: −0.115; p < 0.001), with stronger effects in males and at greater P reductions. In DRP + P vs. DB, carcass traits were not significantly affected, whereas DB vs. DRP reduced LEA (WMD = −1.820, p < 0.00), and DRP + P vs. DRP produced subgroup-dependent changes in CW, LEA, and LMY according to sex, phytase source, and diet composition. Economically, phytase increased profit by up to US$ 2.66 (vs. BD) and US$ 5.14 (vs. DRP), remaining advantageous even with enzyme price increases of up to 4×. Overall, phytase supplementation improved performance and economic returns, representing an effective strategy for the development of swine production systems. Full article

Accurate forecasting of pork prices is important yet challenging because pork price series are highly volatile and non-stationary. Existing hybrid forecasting models often rely on fixed-weight integration, which may limit their ability to adapt to multi-scale temporal variation and complex temporal dependencies. To address these issues, this study proposes VMD–EMSA–HCTM–Informer, a hybrid forecasting framework that combines signal decomposition with an enhanced encoder–decoder architecture. Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) is first used to reduce signal non-stationarity by extracting intrinsic mode functions. Within the Informer backbone, an Enhanced Multi-Scale Attention (EMSA) encoder is introduced to capture local fluctuations at different temporal scales, while a Hybrid Convolutional–Temporal Module (HCTM) decoder is used to strengthen temporal feature extraction and channel interaction modeling. Empirical evaluation was conducted on daily pork price data from the China Pig Industry Network and a large-scale intensive breeding enterprise in southern China over the period 2013–2025. Under the current experimental setting, the proposed framework achieved the lowest average errors among the compared baselines across five independent runs, with an average MAE of 0.4875 and an average MAPE of 3.0540%. These results suggest that the proposed framework provides a useful and relatively stable univariate forecasting approach for volatile pork prices. However, the findings should be interpreted within the scope of the present dataset and experimental design, and future work will extend the framework to multivariate forecasting with exogenous drivers and uncertainty quantification. Full article

This study examined Croatian consumer attitudes towards fresh pork from the Black Slavonian pig, focusing on the following sustainability dimensions: environmental, social, economic sustainability, and animal welfare. A survey of 410 consumers was conducted in June 2021, using an online questionnaire assessing consumption habits, breed knowledge, and socio-demographic characteristics. Factor analysis identified four key dimensions: attention to animal welfare, support for local production and biodiversity, origin and information, and price and intrinsic quality. Cluster analysis revealed three distinct consumer segments: conscious consumers (32.4%), value-oriented consumers (37.3%), and uninvolved meat consumers (30.2%). Multinomial logistic regression showed that age, region, family economic status, and place of purchase significantly predicted cluster membership (Nagelkerke R² = 0.251, classification accuracy = 52.9%), while gender, education level, and household composition did not. Conscious consumers were characterised by older age, higher income, and a preference for direct purchasing channels, while value-oriented consumers favoured supermarkets and mid-range pricing. These findings highlight the need for improved consumer education, transparent labelling, targeted marketing strategies, and enhanced policy support to promote sustainable indigenous pig breed production and conservation. Full article

Ex-ante appraisal of agricultural policy needs a transparent way to trace how sectoral interventions translate into production. We study the Polish CAP case and ask how much selected actions matter for livestock sectors. We assembled intervention-level budgets from the CAP Strategic Plan for Poland (2023–2027) and sectoral final output for milk, pigs, beef and poultry from Statistics Poland/Eurostat. We built matrices that map actions to sectors, normalized transfers by sectoral output, and separated dedicated from spillover effects. We report two cross-sections (2024, 2028) and a robustness test that perturbs I 1–I 2 allocation shares by ±10% under fixed envelopes. Horizontal income support dominates. In 2024, the cumulative effect of all analyzed actions equaled 16.68% of final output in milk, 14.43% in beef, 5.15% in pigs and 4.29% in poultry; by 2028, these values ease to 15.07%, 12.93%, 3.84% and 4.15%. Coupled payments to cows and young cattle add contributions in milk and beef. The ±10% reweighting of I 1–I 2 keeps the sector ranking unchanged; level changes are moderate (about 0.4–1.2 percentage points). A compact matrix approach provides a replicable map from interventions to sectors and highlights the preponderance of horizontal income support. The pattern—strongest relative support in milk and beef—appears robust to plausible allocation uncertainty. The main limitation is the use of final output as a revenue proxy; extending the matrix to all CAP actions and adding price–quantity feedback would be a natural next step. Policy implication: modest rebalancing of I 1–I 2 shares will not overturn sectoral exposure, but adjustments targeted at beef move levels the most. Full article

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant global health concern, and the use of antibiotics in livestock, including swine production, is a major contributor. Vaccines offer a promising alternative for controlling bacterial infections in pigs, but their widespread use is often hindered by biological, economic, and practical challenges. This study surveyed U.S. swine veterinarians to identify which bacterial diseases require better vaccines and to understand the barriers to their adoption. Nineteen veterinarians with an average of 24.7 years of experience were surveyed across 21 states. The results identified Streptococcus suis, Escherichia coli, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, and Glaesserella parasuis as the most critical pathogens needing improved vaccines. Veterinarians anticipated significant improvements in vaccine efficacy for S. suis and E. coli during the nursery stage and expressed a willingness to pay 1.8 and 1.9 times their current prices, respectively. While expectations for M. hyo vaccine improvements were not significant, veterinarians expressed the highest willingness to pay (4.2 times the current price), citing the potential for disease eradication. This research highlights that developing effective vaccines for S. suis and E. coli should be the most urgent priority due to their significant economic impact and rising AMR concerns. However, M. hyo vaccine development holds the most economic potential due to the possibility of eradication. Our research provides a roadmap for future efforts to combat AMR in the swine industry, emphasizing key economic, policy, and educational considerations for successful vaccine implementation. Full article

In this study, we investigated the spatial and temporal dynamics of pork carcass prices across European Union Member States, focusing on the influence of wheat prices and population income levels between 2014 and 2023. Our analysis revealed that both input costs (reflected by wheat price fluctuations) and income-driven demand factors exert significant and spatially correlated effects on pork carcass prices. The results demonstrate the existence of spatial interdependencies among neighboring countries, indicating that price changes in one region may propagate through the broader European market. By integrating spatial econometric techniques within a panel data framework, this research provides empirical evidence of the interconnected nature of EU agricultural markets, advancing the existing literature by demonstrating how input markets and consumer income dynamics jointly shape price behavior within an integrated regional economy. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of price transmission mechanisms in the livestock sector and offer valuable insights for policymakers seeking to enhance market efficiency and resilience within the Common Agricultural Policy context. Full article

Bilirubin is a key component in the preparation of two traditional Chinese medicines: Calculus bovis sativus and Calculus bovis artifactus. Currently, industrial-scale production of bilirubin is limited to extraction from pig bile in a very low yield and its market price is very high, so it is important to develop an alternative method for producing bilirubin. This study developed a potential process for bilirubin production through biotransformation of biliverdin. The codon-optimized gene for biliverdin reductase (BVR) from Synechocystis PCC6803 was recombinantly expressed in Komagataella phaffii GS115, resulting in the genetically modified strain GS115-bvdR, which successfully expressed BVR with intracellular activity. Whole cells of GS115-bvdR were capable of transforming biliverdin to bilirubin in vitro. The overexpression conditions were optimized to enhance BVR production by GS115-bvdR, and the optimal conditions for the biotransformation of biliverdin into bilirubin using resting GS115-bvdR cells were established (pH 5.0 buffer, at 30 °C for 24 h, with 200 mg/L biliverdin). Under these conditions, a bilirubin concentration of 153 mg/L was achieved, with a conversion of 76.2% from biliverdin. These findings provide valuable insights for future studies on the biosynthesis of bilirubin through metabolic engineering. Full article

A representative sample of Maltese citizens (N = 384) was surveyed about their perception and attitude towards animal welfare and animal-friendly foods. Knowledge about animal welfare was self-evaluated as moderate (36%) or good (27%), and mass media (television, web and newspapers) were the primary information source (73%). Dairy cows were perceived as having the highest welfare (average rating 3 on a 1-to-5 scale), while conditions for broilers and pigs were perceived as more critical (average rating 2.7). Respondents consider animal welfare important (64%), the availability of welfare-friendly products in Malta limited (49%), and would support a national animal-friendly label (84%). Although 49% were willing to pay more for animal-friendly products, the accepted price increase was limited (increase below 10% for 37% of respondents, 20% were not willing to pay more and 27% were price-sensitive). Chi-squared analysis showed that the respondents’ profession impacted the support towards an animal welfare label (p < 0.01), with business operators being the least interested. Urban respondents were more critical toward farm animal welfare and more supportive of establishing a national welfare label than rural respondents (p < 0.05). The latter were less convinced that their choices can influence the welfare of farm animals (p < 0.01). Women were more willing to pay for welfare improvements than men (p < 0.01). These findings emphasize a significant concern for animal welfare among respondents, coupled with a moderate willingness to pay. The strong support for a national animal welfare label warrants the question as to whether transparent labelling would allow consumers to translate their sensibility into ethical purchasing behaviour. Full article

Contract farming has become a sustainable strategy in agriculture around the world. Formal farming contract in pig production is one of the priorities of the Vietnamese Government for livestock development. Due to the differences in husbandry methods, a comparison of the technical efficiency between contract and noncontract pig farms has not been studied in Vietnam yet. This study attempts to do so and proposes implications for the sustainable development of pig production in Vietnam. In this study, we surveyed 201 pig farms (63 contract farms and 138 noncontract farms) in Hanoi, Vietnam, and applied data envelopment analysis (DEA) with a meta-frontier. Under group frontiers, the technical efficiency of the contract and noncontract farms are 96.11% and 88.64%, respectively. However, the meta-technology ratios of the two groups are 82.30% and 99.99%, respectively, which means that contract farms’ technical efficiency is lower than noncontract farms. An interesting finding is that although the technical efficiency of contract farms is lower than noncontract farms, their annual pig income is significantly higher, making contract farming attractive to farmers. Results of Tobit regression models showed that land rent is one of the important factors that reduce the technical efficiency of both contract and noncontract farms. This result implies that the Vietnamese government should revise the land limit policy so that farms can own more land. Another finding is that the high feed price reduces the technical efficiency of noncontract farms. The policy implication from this finding is that the Vietnamese government should develop domestic raw material areas for feed production to lessen the dependence on imported raw materials from abroad, which contributes to reducing the feed prices in Vietnam. Full article

In modern society with a highly developed Internet, online public opinions on swine epidemic diseases have become one of the important influencing factors for the fluctuation of pork prices. In this paper, the Baidu AI large model, Time-Varying Parameter-Stochastic Volatility-Vector Auto Regression (TVP-VAR) and Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) approaches are employed to investigate the dynamic impact of online public opinion regarding live swine epidemic diseases on fluctuations in pork price. The results show that: (1) Online public attention and negative sentiment exert significant time-varying impacts on pork price fluctuations, with these impacts being most pronounced in the short term and gradually diminishing over the medium and long term. (2) During the outbreaks of swine epidemic diseases, the impulse impact of online public attention and negative sentiment on pork price fluctuations exhibits distinct stage-specific characteristics. Initially, the impact is negative and subsequently turns positive before eventually waning. (3) The online discourse surrounding swine epidemic diseases can be categorized into four topics including disease transmission, vaccine technology, industry development, and disease prevention and control. Online public attention towards these four topics associated with negative sentiments generally contributes to variations in pork prices. Based on findings, several policy recommendations are proposed, including the timely release of swine epidemic disease information, the establishment and enhancement of the online public opinion monitoring and early warning system, as well as adherence to routine prevention and control of pig epidemic diseases. Full article

Analyzing the influence of external shocks on the pricing dynamics of the live pig industry chain is essential for effective macroeconomic control. Utilizing monthly data spanning from January 2010 to August 2023, this study employs the TVP-SV-VAR (Time-Varying Parameter—Stochastic Volatility—Vector Autoregression) model to analyze the effects of EPU (Economic Policy Uncertainty) and INU (Live Pig Industry News Uncertainty) on industry pricing. The findings are as follows: Firstly, the impacts of EPU and INU on industry prices exhibit time variability and distinct characteristics. Specifically, the impact magnitude of EPU ranges between [−0.025, 0.025], and that of INU between [−0.01, 0.01]. These differences in impact magnitude elicit varied responses from manufacturers and consumers to the indices. Secondly, uncertainty shocks at particular time points show high consistency, suggesting a patterned influence of external shocks on industry pricing that aligns with historical trends. Thirdly, robustness tests with alternative explanatory variables confirm the reliability of the findings. An uncertainty index, crafted from more comprehensive information sources, more accurately captures the effects of external shocks on industry pricing. Additionally, the volume of live pig slaughters illustrates the potential interaction between external shocks and pricing dynamics. In an era marked by increasingly frequent external shocks, this research offers valuable insights for policymakers to implement macro-control and foster high-quality industrial development. Full article

In the last two decades, the pig market in Poland has been influenced by two key events: accession to the European Union and the spread of African swine fever (ASF). During this time, the pig population in Poland has almost doubled, and the number of farms keeping pigs has fallen almost tenfold. On the other hand, the import of piglets intended for further rearing has increased significantly, which reduces the value added to production retained in the country. The changes taking place in the pig market in Poland in the conditions of ASF have, therefore, prompted the question of which pig-keeping systems are more profitable for pig producers, and identifying this relationship was the main objective of the analysis in this study. This research was conducted using source data from the databases of the Central Statistical Office, the FADN, and the Integrated Agricultural Market Information System of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Factors influencing the value of pig production were identified using panel regression, and profitability analysis was performed based on changes in the levels of and relationship between feed costs and live pig prices. Feed consumption was determined based on feed rations for individual utility groups in both products. As the analysis has shown, a closed cycle of pig farming is characterized by better stability and resistance to market shocks compared to an open cycle (over the entire period under review, only the closed system ensured a positive surplus of production value over feed costs), which significantly increases the possibility of obtaining a positive surplus of production value over the value of the main cost, which is the feed cost. However, with the occurrence of extraordinary situations, such as an ASF outbreak in the herd, rebuilding production in a closed cycle may be much more difficult and expensive than production in an open cycle. Full article

The quality of pork meat directly influences the price and consumption. The genetic improvement of pigs has mainly focused on high productive efficiency, which has resulted in poor meat quality. Crossbreeds containing commercial and indigenous breeds could improve the meat quality, but identifying breed composition was difficult because of the lack of an ancestry reference panel. Therefore, we first constructed an abundant reference panel and convenient pipeline to identify ancestry/breed composition. The ancestry reference panel consisted of 517 reliable individuals, including three commercial breeds (Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire) and 38 indigenous Chinese breeds. The nature of the reference panel showed that the European domestic breed (EUD) and Asian domestic breed (ASD) were distinctly divided into two clusters. The evaluation of ancestry identification revealed that the reference panel performed well in identifying EUD and ASD ancestry proportions for commercial breeds, indigenous breeds, and crossbreeds. In addition, the ancestry reference panel also performed excellently in identifying breed composition for 3 commercial and 38 indigenous breeds. Specifically, the reference panel showed the outstanding identification of breed composition for crossbred individuals. These results suggested that the ancestry reference panel and convenient pipeline played a good role in identifying breed composition for pigs. Full article

This paper focuses on the problem of numeracy when writing regulations, specifically how to describe a threshold for crowding of pigs during transport, considering transported pigs range in body mass from 5 to 500 kg. When scientific findings provide the basis for regulation in the public interest, those findings must be communicated in a consistent way to regulators and policymaking bodies. Numeracy is the ability to understand, reason with, and apply appropriate numerical concepts to real-world questions. Scientific understanding is almost always based on rational understanding of numerical information, numeracy. The threshold of administrative offenses is often a numerical description. Commercial livestock transporters have an interest in loading livestock compartments to the maximum to achieve the largest payload allowed by axle weight laws, as is the case in all bulk commodity transport. Maximizing payload minimizes costs and environmental hazards of fuel exhaust and can benefit the public with lower pork prices, but has a serious animal welfare risk. Livestock production academics, veterinarians, and animal welfare activists have been working for decades to determine the level of livestock crowding in transport containers that would be appropriate for regulatory enforcement. The scientific discourse has been plagued by a lack of numerical standardization when describing results of trials and forming recommendations. Exceeding specific numerical thresholds is the core to implementing enforcement actions. This paper examines the communication and other barriers that have prevented emergence of a consensus on this question and provides a direction toward resolution. Further confirmation of effects of crowding livestock in transit is needed. This paper suggests that articulating an enforceable standard in pig transport is possible. In inspection for compliance, discovering the LP₅₀ (lethal pressure—50) for slaughter-weight pigs is an initial global benchmark goal. The LP₅₀ is the loading floor pressure in a commercial transport compartment, under field conditions, that would result in the death of at least one pig in the group 50% of the time. Full article

Green total factor productivity (GTFP) is critical to both the economic and ecological objectives of pig breeding. This research utilizes the SBM-ML model to calculate the GTFP of pig breeding in 381 counties within the Yangtze River Basin from 2014 to 2021. Then the GTFP is further decomposed into technical efficiency (MLEC) and technical progress (MLTC) to conduct in-depth exploration. The regression results reveal that: (1) Environmental regulation (ER) has significant double-threshold effects on GTFP, MLEC, and MLTC. (2) MLTC is the main force of GTFP growth, and stronger ER does not always lead to better GTFP growth. (3) GTFP is boosted by mechanization enhancement and industrial agglomeration limitation. (4) Counties in non-provincial capital cities and those closer to the river exhibit greater ER threshold effects. (5) Both pig price and transportation efficiency play a moderating role. (6) Further analysis demonstrates that ER simultaneously reduces pig production capacity and carbon emissions, as well as improves the water quality. And the reduction of ER, although beneficial for capacity, has a significant negative impact on GTFP. Finally, this study concludes with policy recommendations to boost the new quality productivity in the pig industry. Full article