Improving Pig Survivability: U.S. Pork Industry Priority

Improving Pig Survivability: U.S. Pork Industry Priority

On this page:

• The Consortium: A Collaborative Research Effort
• Why This Matters to the Industry
• Training Tomorrow's Leaders
• What's Next: Current Focus Areas
• Learn More

The 2014 outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) was a wake-up call for the pork industry. The U.S. pig herd experienced high mortality rates, dramatically impacting producers' economic well-being. With this experience still a fresh memory, the National Pork Board's Animal Science committee renewed the study of mortality statistics following an increase in uterine sow prolapses beginning in 2016-2017, causing increased mortalities once again. What they found was alarming. "Year over year, mortalities across all phases of production were headed the wrong direction - up and to the right," said Chris Hostetler, PhD, NPB director of animal science.

Noting pigs die for various reasons, not just swine health; Hostetler listed management decisions, genetic predisposition, and nutrition as other key factors. The causes overlap with the production phases, including preweaning, nursery, grow-finish, and sow production. "No one professor or university has all the acumen needed to address all those reasons pigs die," he said.

The Consortium: A Collaborative Research Effort

While a group of talented and devoted subject matter experts in the U.S. were working on increasing pig livability, their efforts were independent and unconnected, per Hostetler. "We brought together those subject matter experts into a consortium," he said. "The purpose was to get everybody on the same page, coordinated, and in a cooperative effort to address pig livability."

The resulting Improving Pig Survivability project encompasses research, education and extension efforts with the goal of reducing overall mortality in the U.S. commercial swine industry. The initial five-year effort, 2019-2024, funded by $1 million from the Pork Checkoff and $1 million from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, the project consists of subject matter experts from Iowa State University and Kansas State University. Purdue University was also represented at the project launch.

Why This Matters to the Industry

When NPB's Animal Health committee took an intense look at animal production benchmarking data from an annual study conducted by MetaFarms, beginning with information collected in 2006, the discovery was disheartening. "The truth is, roughly 35% of pigs born in the U.S. don't enter the human food chain," Hostetler said. It's a bad business model beyond stressful for producers and partners in the system. Hostetler compared it to a manufacturer having 35% of their product recalled. In that instance, the manufacturer would stop making their product.

Because pig mortality had been climbing for years, Hostetler believes the industry accepted the high rates as the normal course of business. The initial five-year effort, 2019-2024, had four objectives: economics, the sow, preweaning livability, wean-to-finish livability, and a robust extension effort.

Training Tomorrow's Leaders

During the project, dozens of undergraduate and graduate students were trained-many of whom are now working in the pork industry. Educational materials were also created in English and Spanish and are available at https://www.piglivability.org, along with videos, podcasts and fact sheets.

What's Next: Current Focus Areas

The project has been extended through 2026, with continued Pork Checkoff support of $500,000.

Primary Objectives:

• Pillar 1: Reduce mortality causes on U.S. sow farms by developing and implementing targeted strategies to maximize livability.

• Pillar 2: Improve pre-weaning livability of piglets through pre-farrow and post-farrowing strategies.

• Pillar 3: Enhance wean-to-finish livability via targeted management, nutrition, and labor efficiency strategies.

• Pillar 4: Expand the nationally recognized extension and outreach program to disseminate research findings and engage stakeholders.

A highlight of this next phase will be the International Conference on Pig Survivability, planned for November 4-5, 2025, in Omaha, Nebraska.

Learn More

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