Fermented rapeseed meal has a positive effect on improving the growth performance and intestinal health of growing pigs, according to Chinese research. Researchers from the Institute of Animal Husbandry at Sichuan Agricultural University claim that the results of a recent study could also help develop new protein sources for animal nutrition and the feed industry. The study, the results of which have been published in the Journal of Animal Nutrition, involved 30 growing pigs randomly assigned to three treatments: corn-soybean meal diet (CSD), rapeseed meal diet (RSD) and fermented rapeseed meal diet (FRSD). The results showed that compared with RSD, feeding FRSD increased the average daily gain and final body weight of pigs (P<0.01). Compared with RSD feeding, FRSD feeding increased the apparent digestibility of crude protein, acid detergent fibre and ether extract in pigs (P<0.01). The FRSD group had higher apparent ileal digestibility of His, Thr, Lys and SER than the RSD group (P<0.01). Digestible energy, metabolic energy and nitrogen utilisation were higher in the FRSD and CSD groups than in the RSD group (P<0.01). Compared with the RSD, the FRSD diet decreased the serum concentration of leptin but significantly increased the concentration of immunoglobulin (IG) A, IgC, IgM and the enzyme activities of amylase, lipase and trypsin in the pancreas (p<0.05). In terms of intestinal health, the FRSD diet not only increased the expression of occludin in the small intestinal epithelium (P<0.05) but also increased the expression of SGLT1 and CAT1 genes in the jejunum (P<0.05) compared to the RSD diet.

Global pork markets are being affected by sluggish economic growth, weak consumption and recurrent disease outbreaks, and according to Rabobank’s latest Quarterly Pork Report, global trade is expected to weaken after a strong first half of the year. While sluggish economic growth has impacted consumers around the world, pork continues to hold a relatively stable position on consumers’ plates, notes the Rabobank report. The reasons for the weaker performance vary from region to region. In Europe, pork consumption remains under pressure from persistently high prices. In the US, demand was slightly below expectations at the start of the summer as uncooperative weather and poor air quality hampered the start of the barbecue season. And in China, pork consumption remains weak due to a weak economy and heat waves across the country. Chenjun Pan, senior Animal Protein analyst at Rabobank, expects global trade to weaken in the second half of 2023. “Inventories of frozen pork in China are high due to weak consumption, putting pressure on imports. In addition, tighter supply in the EU is limiting shipments from the region,” said Pan. The Rabobank report highlights that pork supply in the EU and UK fell in the first four months of 2023, with double-digit declines in some countries. This tight supply is supporting high prices, which in turn is putting pressure on consumption. Meanwhile, in China, pork supply continues to outstrip demand, putting pressure on prices and leading to multi-month losses for producers. Rabobank adds that the liquidation of the country’s sow herd will continue in the second half of the year. Supply is also plentiful in the US, where producers have relatively healthy balance sheets after two years of outsized profits. However, given the forecast losses, Rabobank expects the US herd liquidation to continue until 2024.

An influential select committee report has called on the government to take steps to support increased nitrogen fertiliser production in the UK. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee has called on the Government to examine the incentives offered by competing nations and to produce an action plan within the next six months. The committee said nitrogen fertiliser plays a vital role in UK food security and the production of the ammonia used in it creates large amounts of carbon dioxide gas as a by-product, which is vital to the food supply chain. However, there is only one nitrogen fertiliser plant in the UK, which undermines UK food security and the lack of alternatives has led to a significant increase in UK prices at a time when the sector is already under significant price pressure. Given the importance of nitrogen fertiliser to UK food production and food security, the Government should set out how it will ensure its continued production in the UK. Given that Europe and the United States are intervening directly in their own fertiliser sectors, it seems completely remiss for the UK to do nothing. Responding to the publication of the report, Ed Barker, head of policy and external affairs at the Agricultural Industry Confederation (AIC), said: “We welcome the key findings of the EFRA Select Committee report. The AIC will continue to work with the committee and MPs as part of its efforts to represent the interests of the UK’s agricultural supply industry.”

A team of European scientists has found a key pig gene for the replication of African Swine Fever (ASF) virus. Researchers from the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI) in Germany and the Roslin Institute of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, recently conducted this piece of research, which aimed to find out which pig genes are needed for the ASF virus (ASFv) to replicate. The study describing their findings was published in August 2023 in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Scientific Reports and shows that there is a gene from the pig’s immune system that is key to this process. This provides important new insights into the biology of the ASFv that could form the basis for future research approaches. ASFv has a large DNA genome from which more than 160 viral proteins are produced in infected cells. Little is known about the functions of many of these viral proteins. It is also unclear which cellular proteins are used by the ASF virus to enter the host cell. To identify host proteins important for ASFv, scientists at the Roslin Institute provided a CRISPR/Cas9 expression library as a molecular tool that allowed their colleagues Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute to knock out all known genes in the pig genome individually in vitro and test the resulting cell cultures for susceptibility to ASF virus infection. That led to the identification of several genes of the major histocompatibility complex II (MHC II) as relevant factors for the reproductive capacity of ASFv, the news release explained. In particular, the MHC II receptor protein SLA-DM was shown to be required for efficient ASFv infection. Therefore, the research team concluded, SLA-DM may be a suitable target protein for the development of effective therapeutics against ASF or ASFv resistant pig breeds.