Swine aid transplant research
BY ROBERT IRWIN
Facilities once designed to produce specific pathogen-free (SPF) pigs for Ontario swine breeders are now serving the xeno-transplant research program at the Universities of Guelph, Western Ontario and Toronto.Xeno-transplant refers to the practice of transplanting an organ from one species into another. Under study in Britain for more than a decade by Novartis subsidiary Imutran, the technology could provide organs for human transplant. Novartis is sponsoring the Ontario research.
The University of Guelph has 13 sows and three boars known as transgenic pigs because they've been bred with a human gene. That genetic coding helps overcome the acute rejection process that occurs when transferring organs between species. A plentiful supply of pig organs could save the lives of people who, because of a shortage of human donors, die awaiting a transplant.
Project manager Dr. Danny Butler, a clinical studies professor at UG, says the current organ shortage "is probably going to get worse. To think that you can be part of something that down the road could really really change this whole issue is very exciting."
His project is part of the pre-clinical research needed to evaluate such parameters as the amount of immunosuppressant drugs needed to overcome rejection in recipients.
If the project is successful, pig livers will be the first organs supplied to humans. Hearts and kidneys will follow.
The original SPF surgical room at the university has been upgraded so that sows are surrounded with Hepa-filtered air during surgery. This means surgeons no longer face the cumbersome process of removing piglets through a balloon-like apparatus glued to the sow to ensure sterile conditions.
Even so, delivering a litter is a meticulous process. Sows are shaved on one side and elaborately bathed with iodine disinfectant. Piglets are removed through a special plastic sheet - impregnated with disinfectant - glued to the side of the sow.
A sow is given injections of progesterone for several days prior to surgery to delay farrowing and ensure the cervix remains closed. This keeps bacteria from gaining entry to the uterus. Butler says sows are disposed of following surgery because progesterone interferes with subsequent heats - "You often have trouble with cystic ovaries" - and the multiple-incision Caesarean section procedure renders the sow inadequate for further reproduction.
The project began in April 1998 when Imutran shipped the university 10 gilts and two boars, all six months old, from England. In September, seven gilts and one boar arrived.
They are part of an estimated 2,000 Novartis-owned transgenic pigs housed in a number of countries. Butler describes the imported animals as "high-health, Large Whites that have a really nice temperament."
Despite the high health, one sow from the first group died of severe diarrhea. Three others have been sacrificed following surgery.
Butler says the remaining 13 sows and three boars "should be free" of common swine diseases like mycoplasma pneumonia and PRRS. They are negative for all so-called zoonotic diseases, such as salmonellosis and Leptospirosis, which could infect humans.
All are kept in quarantine so they can't be contaminated by other swine. Sows farrow naturally until the time they would normally be culled.
The current project is scheduled to last one year, but may be extended another two. "Hopefully in three or so years we would have the information that's needed to know whether or not the potential that we think is there can be realized," Butler concludes.
"A lot of people, I think, have been a little bit too quick to jump on the fact that this [research] is for clinical transplantation. We're a long ways from that," he emphasizes.
Regardless of that outcome, Butler predicts the research will benefit swine producers, because it will lead to more knowledge of the pig genome and identify factors that have an impact on production.
© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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Pricing hinges on U.S. export volume Based on market hog inventory, pig crops, and farrowing intentions reported in the December Hogs and Pigs report, pork production in 1999 is expected to total about 18.9 billion pounds, down less than one per cent from last year overall. Although production is expected to increase about five per cent in first-half 1999, in contrast, fourth-quarter 1999 production is expected to be about 10 per cent below 1998 levels. With falling slaughter levels, lower production, and increasing exports, the USDA in its Agricultural Outlook expects hog prices to rebound from the extreme lows of US$19.48 per cwt liveweight of late 1998, rising throughout 1999 from the mid-$20s to near $40 per cwt, and averaging in the mid-$30s per cwt for the year. Although poultry production is expected to rise five to six per cent, beef production is expected to drop two to three per cent in second-half 1999, reducing competition for pork. The report goes on to indicate that continuing moderate domestic pork prices will help support U.S. exports in 1999. U.S. pork exports are expected to increase 10 per cent in 1999, compared with a likely 20-per cent rise in 1998. The 1998 increase was the result of lower U.S. pork prices and a volume increase of lower valued products; in 1999, as supplies stabilize, increased exports will bid up prices. A double-digit increase, however, will be contingent on successful delivery of food aid to Russia. Japan, Russia, Mexico and Canada have accounted for 75 per cent of all U.S. pork exports in 1998, and Japan, Mexico, and Canada will likely account for most of U.S. pork exports in 1999. Hedging advice Each delivery month will tend to have extremely different fundamentals. I recommend that producers stay aggressively short the April futures. With current prices between US$45-50 lean carcass, producers can show an improvement over the dismal cash price in the sub $40 lean. I will hold out for a $64 target for August before doing scale up selling. Next fall delivery prices represent a challenge to a marketing plan. Supply should be significantly below last fall's catastrophic numbers, and it seems reasonable that packers will have increased capacity by then. However, often November-December prices can be weak, even in the year following an important three-year cycle price low, as was seen in 1998. In conclusion, pay attention to the respectable price (over $55 lean) being offered for October and December Hog futures. It may be the opportunity you need to provide the income to move ahead with your farm business. n Kevin Simpson, CFA, is a financial consultant with Merrill Lynch Canada, Stratford (1-888-417-4459). This information was obtained from sources believed to be reliable; accuracy or completeness cannot be vouched for. Views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Merrill Lynch Canada. farm life His swine song During the current pork crisis, Perth county producer John Donkers has found solace in song BY ROBERT IRWIN The ongoing pork crisis has triggered angry responses from producers, but John Donkers insists the situation is something to sing about. Donkers, who estimates his 200-sow farrow-to-finish operation was "losing about $7,000 per week during the worst" of the market downturn, wrote a song called "Life Without Promise," based on his family's circumstances. Eventually, he recorded and released it on CD. The father of four, who with his wife Linda operates a partially land-based family operation near Monkton in Perth county, says he borrowed money to produce the recording. Local radio stations have played his song and interviewed Donkers on air. Still, he doesn't expect the music will make the Top 40 play list at any station. "It's a unique song. It doesn't really fit anybody's format. It's not real country; it's not really folkie; it's not oldies." He says despite a belief in some quarters that the crisis is over, interest in the song remains high. "If people think the crisis is over they're kidding themselves," Donkers warns. Although he has a few copies for sale, he maintains he wasn't motivated by profit, or any desire for a singing career: "If I could just get my costs out of doing all this it would be great." The goal, he relates, was to "get the message out that there are families really suffering." Donkers says veteran pork producers have approached him with tears in their eyes after hearing his music. The chorus urges listeners to "wake up everyone and see what's happening." Donkers says close friends were moved by what he describes as "a very personal song." One verse refers to his 10-year-old son Kyle and his dreams about the future: "We talk about the day he can buy the farm/But he knows in his heart it probably ain't gonna happen." Kyle, the Donkers' oldest child, already helps in the barns by pressure washing and sweeping. The family doesn't employ any outside labour. Donkers, who grew up on a Forest-area hog farm, married Linda in 1986 and two years later the couple bought a small run-down Monkton-area 40 acre farrow-to-weaner operation. "No one else was interested in the place and it wasn't the most attractive thing in the world to look at but it was all we could afford," he recalls. The couple has been steadily expanding the business ever since. "I've always wanted to be 200 sows farrow-to-finish. That was the size everybody said would be a viable operation," Donkers says. Regardless of size, however, he reasons no one can survive at current prices, which late February were hovering just over $1 per kg. "It should be at least $1.30 or $1.40 because we've gone a way back and we have outstanding bills. "It's basically survival pay even at $1.20, and it's probably not enough for most people, including myself, because of the higher debt load," Donkers calculates. Mid-February, Donkers was getting about $90 per hog. He says Farm Credit Corporation told him to base a loan on an average of around $135 per hog over five years. He markets hogs under a three-year contract with Maple Leaf's Signature Pork program. "At the time it was the best deal going, but I'm just not real happy about what the processing industry did as a whole to us," Donkers relates. Despite the current hardship, Donkers insists he wouldn't trade farm life for anything. "I think it's one of the nicer ways to raise a family, because you can teach them a lot of values like how to work together." n© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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