Pig symposium to discuss ways to survive the 'pig crisis'

The Irish Pig Health Society (IPHS) will host its 2022 symposium and trade show in Co. Laois tomorrow (Tuesday, April 26) where the current ‘pig crisis’ will be discussed.

‘Saving the bacon: Practical considerations to survive the current pig crisis’ is the theme of the event which will take place at the Midlands Park Hotel in Portlaoise.

It will include a line-up of Irish and international experts as well as experienced pig producers.

President of the IPHS, Carla Gomes said:

“The Irish pig industry is currently going through an extremely difficult period, and we feel that, now more than ever, practical advice needs to be taken into consideration for the survival of the sector.

“We hope to see you at this year’s event and thank you for your continued support.”

Pig symposium

The trade show element of the pig symposium will get underway at 12:00p.m tomorrow followed by talks at 2:00p.m.

Topics and speakers include:

New Feed Ingredients – Prof. Ilias Kyriazakis, Queen’s University Belfast who specialises in the effects of animal management on their performance, their ability to cope with challenges (such as pathogens), and the environmental impact (including the use of alternative and home-grown feeds for livestock systems);
Feed ingredients market update – Rory Deverell is a senior commodity risk manager for StoneX, serving a wide range of commercial commodity trading companies across the EMEA region;
Making the most of the Pig HealthCheck Programme – Carla Gomes, who is the Animal Health Ireland (AHI) Pig HealthCheck programme manager, with extensive knowledge in using animal health data to make the most informed decisions on farm;
How technology can improve your farm – Charlie Thompson is from Bridge House Farm, Northamptonshire and previously won Britain’s Pig Farmer of the year (2020). Charlie will speak about his use of technology to improve farm performance;
What is coming down the line – free farrowing – Emma Baxter, SRUC. Emma is an animal welfare and behaviour scientist, specialising in pig projects that cover challenges throughout the pig’s life cycle, from optimising piglet survival in high welfare farrowing systems to investigating humane stunning at slaughter;
Learnings from the current crisis – pig producer panel. Several pig producers will share their experiences and insights in how they are trying to survive the current pig industry crisis.