Kg Of Pork Research Articles

Consumer preferences and willingness to pay for safe pork products in rural Kenya

Designing interventions to support the safe development of rapidly growing livestock value chains in sub-Saharan Africa requires a clear understanding of consumer demands. This study aimed to determine purchase patterns, consumers' preferences, and willingness to pay for safe pork attributes; specifically, the presence of a veterinary inspection stamp and the cleanliness of the butchery.A discrete choice experiment-based survey was used to investigate the purchasing behavior of 401 pork consumers: 253 buying raw pork for household consumption, and 148 buying cooked pork for out-of-home consumption. The study findings indicate that the average quantity of pork purchased by consumers was approximately 0.4 Kg per transaction, with the majority of consumers making several purchases per week.The average price per Kg of pork was KES 310 (Approx. 2.60 USD) at the time of the study. Data from the choice experiment showed that consumers were willing to pay a price premium of KES 245 (Approx. 2.1 USD) and KES 164 (Approx. 1.4 USD) per Kg for evidence of better veterinary meat inspection and higher butchery hygiene respectively; further, these were the two most important attributes they considered while making a pork purchase decision.These findings highlight the potential to leverage consumers' willingness to pay to improve the food safety within pork value chains in this context. Investing to increase consumer awareness on food safety issues should be considered to generate an effective market demand, especially in rural areas with relatively lower literacy levels.

Re-thinking water use in pig diets while accounting for food-feed competition

Livestock feed production is one of the primary users of freshwater and arable land, and it is also in competition with human food production. Therefore, we require reconsideration of the way we use freshwater in livestock feed production. The objective of this study is to assess the impact on freshwater use of pork production by using alternative pig diets based on local feed ingredients, or by-products. We used a lifecycle approach to analyse the freshwater use associated with feed production to produce one kg of pork. We explored three feeding scenarios (STANDARD: diets commercially used in Ireland; LOCAL: diets based on ingredients grown in Ireland; and BY-PRODUCT: diets based on by-products only). We calculated the freshwater use, using the water footprint (WFP) method, and the competition for water use between food and feed production using the water use ratio (WUR) for each scenario. The WUR quantifies the maximum amount of human digestible protein (HDP) derived from food crops that could be produced on the same land, and using the same water resources, that were used to grow the feed ingredients needed to produce 1 kg of pork.The WFP of the scenarios was 2,470 L/kg pork for STANDARD, 2,492 L/kg pork for LOCAL, and 2,205 L/kg pork for BY-PRODUCT. When we considered the WUR, none of the scenarios had a value < 1 (i.e. in all scenarios, more HDP can be produced from direct cultivation of food crops rather than pork). However, the BY-PRODUCT scenario (1.4) performed better than STANDARD (1.9) and LOCAL (2.9). Beet pulp and bakery by-products had zero WFP and no edibility and were thus considered promising ingredients. Moreover, rapeseed meal had a low WFP and rapeseed meal and sunflower seed meal are not considered human edible and were considered fit for future inclusion in diets. We also concluded that both the WFP and WUR methods have separate strengths and limitations, and should thus be used in conjunction; the ideal diet is one with the minimum WFP and WUR. Consideration of human edibility of feed ingredients is an important approach which should be included in future studies. Moreover, the entire food system including dairy, beef, poultry and other competitive uses should be taken into account when considering which feed ingredients to use in pig diets.

A life cycle sustainability assessment of organic and conventional pork supply chains in Sweden

Most existing life cycle assessment studies that have compared the sustainability of organic and conventional pork supply chains are environmental assessments. The economic and social sustainability dimensions of pork supply chains are currently under-researched. The study reported here was designed to assess the environmental, economic and social sustainability of conventional and organic pork in Sweden. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment was undertaken using 20 indicators expressed per unit product (1000 kg pork fork weight) and per unit area (1000 ha of farmland) for the four main subsystems in pork supply chains: (1) farm and feed production, (2) slaughter, (3) wholesaling and retailing, and (4) consumption. The organic pork supply chain out-performed the conventional chain in 11 of the 20 indicators expressed per unit product and 18 of the 20 indicators expressed per unit area. It was therefore the more sustainable of the two chains in nearly all the indicators expressed per unit area. However, the organic supply chain was less sustainable in some of the indicators expressed per unit product because, more feed per kg of pork was required in organic pork production. Pig welfare improvement leads to higher production costs and environmental impacts. Assessment of all three sustainability dimensions – environmental, economic and social – helps to identify trade-offs between these three pillars of sustainability. However, the selection of indicators influences results, and obtaining environmental, economic and social data simultaneously is challenging.

26 Defining a robust sow: How increases in sow productivity impact the biology of reproduction, lactation and body composition

Abstract Considerable emphasis has been placed on genetic selection for increased litter size, number of pigs weaned and quality and size of piglets weaned. Concurrently, selection goals have also focused on improved GF and kg of pork produced. Productivity of sows and the total U.S. pork production system has continued to improve annually. Data from USDA-ERS and summarized by the National Pork Board (2018) for the years 2001 to 2017 showed an annual linear increase of 0.12 pigs born (R2 = 0.95), pigs slaughtered per breeding animal increased 0.29 head annually (R2 = 0.92) and kg of pork produced per breeding animal showed an annual linear increase of 37.5 kg (R2 = 0.96). It has also been shown that overtime genetic selection, feeding programs and management have resulted in increased ADG, gain:feed and lean efficiency while changes in ADFI were not reported (Fix et al., 2010). Genetic improvement has increased the metabolic demand on sows requiring an increased focus on the management of sow weight and condition. These competing demands require today’s sow to be more robust, as an individual sow’s increased productivity can negatively influence body weight loss, body composition, follicle and oocyte development, and lactation yield.

Impact of incorporating greenhouse gas emission intensities in selection indexes for sow productivity traits

Genetic improvement programmes should incorporate emerging challenges about environmental concerns into breeding goals. The large volume of pig meat production implies important greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions despite its lower carbon footprint per animal in front of ruminant productions. The different breeding goals considered by swine industry depending on different purebred lines, or line crosses adapted to different market demands and production constraints, could mask the effect of incorporating GHG emissions into selection indexes for improving sow productivity traits in nucleus populations. This paper analysed this effect following a methodological approach consisting in augmenting existing selection indexes derived from profit functions. An index previously described in the literature including litter size at birth, piglet perinatal survival, piglet survival to weaning, age at first conception and weaning to conception interval, was employed. This index was expanded to include GHG emissions calculating the emission intensities per litter, assuming a finished pig market and different scenarios and financial costs of GHG emissions. Results indicated that the inclusion of GHG emissions diminished the economic weight of litter size and piglet survival vs. the age at first conception and the interval weaning to conception, but did not affect significantly the contributions of these traits in the selection indexes. The improvement of sow productivity traits diluted relevantly the GHG emissions per piglet produced, and so, per kg of pork produced. The approach used in this study, despite its limitations in front of bio-economic models, has shown to be a simple and flexible way to analyse the effect of incorporating GHG emissions into existing selection indexes.

Pork Supply, Marketing and Challenges in Ethiopia

AbstractThe study was conducted to characterize pork and pork products marketing and challenges in Ethiopia. Multistage random sampling procedure was applied to select a total of 40 pork retailers from six towns. Structured questionnaire was used to collect information through face to face interview. Pork retailers were clustered into three categories as small scale (sell &lt;5kg pork per day), medium scale (sell 5-10kg pork per day) and large scale (sell &gt;10kg pork per day) based on quantities of pork selling per day. Collected data were analyzed using appropriate statistical procedures of SAS and SPSS software packages. The result showed that the quantity of pork products sold per day was too small. About 61.5, 15.4 and 23.1% of pork retailers were selling &lt;5, 5-10 and &gt;1 kg of pork products per day in small, medium and large scale retailers, respectively. In most cases, pork was sold in the form of mortadella, sausage and salami. In addition to pork selling, almost all of the pork retailers were selling one or more other meat types such as beef, mutton, goat meat, fish and chicken. About 92.3% of the pork retailers were selling both beef and chicken meat, and 79.5, 48.7 and 10.3% of them were selling fish, mutton, and goat meat, respectively. The average price (followed by SE) of a kilo gram of pork was 162(6.3), 164(4.0) and 172(6.0) Ethiopian Birr (ranging 7.5 to 8 USD per kg of pork) in small, medium and large scale pork retailers, respectively. The presence of few pork consumers, lack of formal central markets and public complain against pork consumption were the major challenges observed in pig and pork marketing value chain. In concussion, the findings of this study will improve awareness on existing pork marketing systems in Ethiopia and provide valuable information that can support future interventions aiming to solve key challenges in the market value chain.

EFFICIENCY OF FAMILY FARMS KEEPING PIGS DEPENDING ON PRODUCTION SYSTEM

The aim of the study was to determine the economic, production and technical efficiency of family farms maintaining pigs. The research was carried out in 40 farms specializing in the production of pigs (20 farms produced fatteners in the closed cycle and 20 in the open cycle). The study was performed in 2015-2016. The economic efficiency of production was calculated based on the division of costs into direct and indirect costs. The economic categories conform with the FADN terminology. DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) model was used for the calculation of technical efficiency. It was found that on farms producing fatteners in the open cycle there was a higher income from activity per 1 kg of pork and a higher rate of relative effectiveness.

Environmental impacts and resource use from Australian pork production determined using life cycle assessment. 2. Energy, water and land occupation

Utilisation of water, energy and land resources is under pressure globally because of increased demand for food, fibre and fuel production. Australian pork production utilises these resources both directly to grow and process pigs, and indirectly via the consumption of feed and other inputs. With increasing demand and higher costs associated with these resources, supply chain efficiency is a growing priority for the industry. This study aimed to quantify fresh water consumption, stress-weighted water use, fossil fuel energy use and land occupation from six case study supply chains and the national herd using a life cycle assessment approach. Two functional units were used: 1 kg of pork liveweight (LW) at the farm-gate, and 1 kg of wholesale pork (chilled, bone-in). At the farm-gate, fresh water consumption from the case study supply chains ranged from 22.2 to 156.7 L/kg LW, with a national average value of 107.5 L/kg LW. Stress-weighted water use ranged from 6.6 to 167.5 L H2O-e /kg LW, with a national average value of 103.2 L H2O-e /kg LW. Fossil fuel energy demand ranged from 12.9 to 17.4 MJ/kg LW, with a national average value of 14.5 MJ/kg LW, and land occupation ranged from 10.9 to 16.1 m2/kg LW, with a national average value of 16.1 m2/kg LW and with arable land representing 97% to 99% of total land occupation. National average impacts associated with production of wholesale pork, including impacts from meat processing, were 184 ± 43 L fresh water consumption, 172 ± 53 L H2O-e stress-weighted water, 27 ± 2.6 MJ fossil fuel energy demand and 25.9 ± 5.5 m2 land/kg wholesale pork. Across all categories through to the wholesale product, resource use was highest from the production of feed inputs, indicating that improving feed conversion ratio is the most important production metric for reducing the resource use. Housing type and energy generation from manure management also influence resource use requirements and may offer improvement opportunities.

Greenhouse gas emissions from pig and poultry production sectors in China from 1960 to 2010

Pig and poultry production in China had experienced considerable changes from 1960 to 2010. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of these changes on greenhouse gas emission inventories (expressed as CO2 equivalent) from these two sectors. The inventories included methane emissions from enteric fermentation, methane and nitrous oxide production from manure management. The greenhouse gas emissions from these sources in 2010 in pig sector were 17, 62 and 21%, respectively, and that in poultry sector (including chicken, duck, goose and others) were 1, 18 and 81%, respectively. Total CO2 equivalent increased from 1960 to 2010 in both pig (11 582 to 55 564 Gg yr−1) and poultry (1 497 to 14 873 Gg yr−1) sectors. Within poultry sector, emissions from chicken, duck, goose and others accounted for 74, 15, 11 and 0.01% in 2010, respectively. However, during the last 50 years, these emissions continuously reduced when related to production of 1 kg of pork (8.01 to 1.14 kg kg−1), poultry meat (1.19 to 0.37 kg kg−1) and egg (0.47 to 0.33 kg kg−1), which is mainly associated with the continuous improvement in production efficiency in all management systems. These results provide benchmark information for Chinese authorities to develop appropriate policies and mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from pig and poultry sectors.

Environmental impacts and resource use from Australian pork production assessed using life-cycle assessment. 1. Greenhouse gas emissions

Agricultural industries are under increasing pressure to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the supply chain. The Australian pork industry has established proactive goals to improve greenhouse-gas (GHG) performance across the industry, but while productivity indicators are benchmarked by industry, similar data have not previously been collected to determine supply chain GHG emissions. To assess total GHG emissions from Australian pork production, the present study conducted a life-cycle assessment of six case study supply chains and the national herd for the year 2010. The study aimed to determine total GHG emissions and hotspots, and to determine the mitigation potential from alternative manure treatment systems. Two functional units were used: 1 kg of pork liveweight (LW) at the farm gate, and 1 kg of wholesale pork (chilled, bone-in) ready for packaging and distribution. Mean GHG emissions from the case study supply chains ranged from 2.1 to 4.5 kg CO2-e/kg LW (excluding land-use (LU) and direct land use-change (dLUC) emissions). Emissions were lowest from the piggeries that housed grower-finisher pigs on deep litter and highest from pigs housed in conventional systems with uncovered anaerobic effluent ponds. Mean contribution from methane from effluent treatment was 64% of total GHG at the conventional piggeries. Nitrous oxide arose from both grain production and manure management, comprising 7–33% of the total emissions. The GHG emissions for the national herd were 3.6 kg CO2-e/kg LW, with the largest determining factor on total emissions being the relative proportion of pigs managed with high or low emission manure management systems. Emissions from LU and dLUC sources ranged from 0.08 to 0.7 kg CO2-e/kg LW for the case study farms, with differences associated with the inclusion rate of imported soybean meal in the ration and feed-conversion ratio. GHG intensity (excluding LU, dLUC) from the national herd was 6.36 ± 1.03 kg CO2-e/kg wholesale pork, with the emission profile dominated by methane from manure management (50%), followed by feed production (27%) and then meat processing (8%). Inclusion of LU and dLUC emissions had a minor effect on the emission profile. Scenarios testing showed that biogas capture from anaerobic digestion with combined heat and power generation resulted in a 31–64% reduction in GHG emissions. Finishing pigs on deep litter as preferred to conventional housing resulted in 38% lower GHG emissions than conventional finishing.

Expected economic performance of genetic modification in pork production

The purpose of this paper was to quantify technical and economic performance of genetic modification (GM) applications in the Dutch pork production chain. In total, seven GM applications were considered: two with respect to the pig itself, i.e., ‘bovine gene’ and ‘enviropig’, two regarding feed, i.e., ‘GM crops’ and ‘low phytate plants’, and three with regard to feed additives and medicines. The latter included ‘antibodies’, ‘microbial phytase’ and ‘immunocastration’. A partial budgeting model with farrowing and fattening stages was used to estimate the impact of GM applications on cost prices of a 25-kg piglet and 1kg of pork produced. Overall, the production of pork with GM applications was found to be cheaper than in the default (no-GM) situation. Reductions of cost prices ranged from 0.3% to 3.7% in the farrowing stage and from 0.2% to 2.2% in the fattening stage. Figures were found to be rather robust as sensitivity analyses with more moderate GM impacts still led to cost price reductions for the majority of GM applications considered. The results may contribute to impact assessments of GM policies in a European production environment.

Salmonella control programs in Denmark.

We describe Salmonella control programs of broiler chickens, layer hens, and pigs in Denmark. Major reductions in the incidence of foodborne human salmonellosis have occurred by integrated control of farms and food processing plants. Disease control has been achieved by monitoring the herds and flocks, eliminating infected animals, and diversifying animals (animals and products are processed differently depending on Salmonella status) and animal food products according to the determined risk. In 2001, the Danish society saved U.S.$25.5 million by controlling Salmonella. The total annual Salmonella control costs in year 2001 were U.S.$14.1 million (U.S.$0.075/kg of pork and U.S.$0.02/kg of broiler or egg). These costs are paid almost exclusively by the industry. The control principles described are applicable to most industrialized countries with modern intensive farming systems.