Foreword: Pig supplement 2021

Abstract

In the current food crisis with high feed costs, especially related to protein sources and soya in particular, this is destablising any profitability in the pig industry. At this stage we must reduce the cost of production to survive. Feed is the major cost of production and in this supplement, we look at areas where veterinarians can play a major role on our client's farm by helping to reduce feed wastage.

The supplement explores traditional health issues with Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and the enormous role of vaccination in controlling this long-term scourge. With vaccination in mind, we also explore the most important vaccine in pig production — the PCV2 vaccine. There is a new circovirus around, PCV3, and the paper looks at its possible involvement in the cost of production and its impacts on pig reproduction.