Author: c001os

The annual contest of most promising pig innovation in the Netherlands has been won by a novelty to weigh pigs using camera images, without the use of scales.

It was the 9th edition of the contest, which is officially called “Het beste idee van Varkensland” (which roughly translates to “The Best Idea in the Pig Community”). The winning innovation, developed by ICT expert Pieter Hoenderken, revolves around the use of artificial intelligence, which will help translate the dimensions of a pig into its weight – a process that can be done using fixed cameras. The intention behind the concept is to create a portable solution that the pig farmer can use to move around the barn.

Monitoring pig growth and health are important issues – as one of the main targets of producing swine is to get them to slaughter in a uniform manner. In case of deviation from the average, something may be wrong. Hence Hoenderken’s claim that the innovation can even contribute to improving pig welfare.

The technology is initially being prepared to determine the correct pig delivery weight. In the long term, it will be possible to monitor the development of pigs with the invention and link that to the management system.

Jon Oatley, a Washington State University professor in the School of Molecular Biosciences, was invited by the US Embassy in Romania to speak about his research into gene-editing livestock. But most of the questions the European policy makers asked had to do with public acceptance of the technology.

“I was invited to speak at this summit because of what we’ve been able to accomplish at WSU not just in the research world but also in the policy space. We’ve become the place in the US that everyone’s looking to for progress in this area,” said Oatley, who is also the associate dean for research at WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Oatley led the research team that developed “surrogate sires,” a gene-editing method which can help disseminate desirable and needed traits in livestock, such as better heat resilience. The technology promises to vastly improve protein sources to help feed the world’s growing population — but only if people will eat the meat from gene-edited animals.

Oatley and his team not only worked to secure Food and Drug Administration approval to put several CRISPR-modified pigs into the food chain but also ate the resulting sausage at a public cookout, inviting the media to try it themselves. This is the same goal Oatley had in Europe where policymakers are very hesitant about anything that might be considered “genetically modified.” “It’s not a concern necessarily about safety really,” Oatley said. “It’s the perception of how are we going to put something that could be considered genetically modified on to dinner plates? But we’re already doing it. We have been genetically modifying animals and crops through selective breeding for thousands of years. This is just a different tool.”

Gene editing involves working within a species’ genome to create changes in an animal or plant that could occur naturally. It often gets falsely conflated with genetic modification methods that insert foreign DNA from one species into another.

The most frequent questions Oatley received in Europe were about the potential need for labelling products, how gene-editing might affect animal welfare, and how to improve the public’s trust of science. Oatley doesn’t believe in the need for labelling meat from gene-edited animals if it has already passed safety tests as it should be on the same level as meat from selectively bred animals.

A study in pigs, which shows that inhaled vaccines could potentially reduce viral transmission and improve efficiency, is an important step toward advancing vaccines for human use.

Interest in administering vaccines mucosally, rather than by intramuscular injections, has been growing since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was declared in 2020. English scientists used pigs as a model to explore immune system responses to mucosally-administered flu vaccines, which target viruses at the point of entry. Comprehensive measurement of immune responses in human lungs is not possible. To overcome this challenge, the researchers used pigs – whose respiratory tract is anatomically and functionally similar to that of humans – as a model to define key immune responses. Samples collected from both the lungs and blood of vaccinated pigs, aided by mathematical modelling, showed that lung responses can be predicted from blood tests, making it easier to assess vaccine effectiveness in humans.

“To bring future vaccines to market, it is critical to define the correlates of protection – markers that can reliably predict the effectiveness of the vaccine, in humans. Our study explored potential assays, sampling times and sample types (such as blood and lung samples) which could define correlates of protection in humans,” Dr Simon Gubbins, Head of Transmission Biology at The Pirbright Institute, said. “The research found that immune responses in the blood could reliably reflect those in the lungs, thus offering a practical way to assess the effectiveness of vaccines targeting the respiratory system. The findings provide critical insights into how immune responses can be measured from easily accessible blood samples and are a foundation for future testing of mucosally administered vaccines in clinical trials,” said Sarah Gilbert, Professor of the University of Oxford.

The findings of this study, published today in Frontiers in Immunology have far-reaching implications for the future development of mucosally-administered vaccines in clinical trials. The pig model’s ability to closely mimic human immune responses to respiratory infections such as influenza makes it an ideal platform for testing vaccine efficacy. By defining effective biomarkers for mucosal vaccine efficacy and identifying the best ways to monitor and measure immune protection, this research lays the foundation for next generation vaccines. These could offer improved protection against respiratory viruses, benefiting public health worldwide.

In 2024, Brazil broke its previous records for the volume of its pig meat exports, and the revenue generated from this trade. The nation’s producer association is optimistic about further growth ahead, following additional facility approvals by Peru, and a renewed trade agreement with Mexico.

In mid-January 2025, it was announced the authorities in Peru had authorized a further eight facilities in Brazil for future pork trade, according to the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA). With its relatively low annual per capita consumption of pig meat at 8.5 kg, the Peruvian market offers Brazil opportunities to expand and diversify its export trading channels, said ABPA president, Ricardo Santin. In 2023, Peru achieved domestic production of more than 220,000 tons. To meet demand, it imported a further 14,800 tons, of which 57% was from Chile, 13% from the United States and 12% from Brazil.

The latest Peruvian approvals came soon after confirmation that the government of Mexico had agreed to the renewal of PACIC, reported ABPA. Translated from the Spanish as “Package against Inflation and Hunger,” the Mexican PACIC scheme aims to facilitate importation of key foods — such as chicken and pork — to control food price inflation and prevent shortages. Removing quotas and import tariffs, PACIC will remain in effect in Mexico throughout 2025.

Since the package was introduced, a solid partnership has developed between Brazilian meat producers and Mexican importers, according to Santin. Over the coming year, he expressed the hope that this relationship and trade would continue to mutual benefit.

In 2024, Brazil broke its previous records for the volume of, and revenue from, pig meat exports. At more than 1.35 million metric tons (mmt), the volume of pork product (fresh and processed) shipped by Brazil was up by 10% year-on-year, ABPA reports. Revenue for the shipments was 7.6% higher than in 2023 at a little over US$3.03 billion.