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IHT Group, a division of Decisive Dividend Corp. (TSXV: DE) primarily based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is bringing patented cooling pad expertise for hogs to the North American market in spring 2024.
The pads are 2-foot-by-4-foot aluminum tread plates on prime of copper pipes that flow into water. Sensors within the pads decide if the hog is simply too scorching and flow into new water to maintain the pad cool. The expertise was designed by researchers in Purdue College’s Division of Agricultural and Organic Engineering and Division of Animal Sciences.
Warmth harms hogs
File warmth throughout North America impacts not simply folks but additionally animals, together with farmers’ livestock. Francisco Cabezon, analysis president at Pipestone Analysis, which focuses on swine well being analysis and suggestions, mentioned overheating could cause issues for hogs.
“Below warmth stress circumstances, lactating sows scale back their feed consumption and milk output to try to cut back their metabolic warmth manufacturing. In consequence, their piglet development and subsequent reproductive efficiency is negatively affected,” mentioned Cabezon, who earned his PhD at Purdue College. “In boars, some damaging impacts of warmth stress are decreased sperm motility and focus and a rise in sperm abnormalities.”
Chris Grant, IHT president, mentioned farmers profit when their swine aren’t affected by warmth stress.
“Animal welfare and well-being enhance when warmth stress is lowered,” Grant mentioned. “Farmers can have a bigger, more healthy animal that may develop higher and has a greater likelihood of survivability on the subsequent stage.”
Assessments show advantages
Allan Schinckel, a professor in Purdue’s Division of Animal Sciences, and Robert M. Stwalley III, affiliate medical professor in Purdue’s Division of Agricultural and Organic Engineering, designed the cooling pads.
“The Purdue-developed IHT lively swine cooling pads will symbolize a paradigm shift in hog manufacturing, growing each operational effectivity and animal welfare,” Stwalley mentioned. “We’re refining the pads and their supplies, at the moment testing chrome steel pipes versus copper pipes to proceed optimizing their efficiency.”
Schinckel mentioned the preliminary analysis confirmed the cooling pads make sows extra snug.
“We noticed a lower of their general respiration charges, barely decrease inside temperatures and decrease each day most temperatures. The sows additionally produced extra warmth, which corresponded to a rise of their feed consumption and milk manufacturing; this improves animal welfare and well-being,” Schinckel mentioned. “Piglets who had been on the cooling pads had a 26% improve in weaning weight and seven.2% improve in feed consumption.”
The preliminary analysis at Purdue additionally confirmed the cooling pads maintained boars’ semen high quality by decreasing warmth stress abnormalities. The pads stored the boars cool even at excessive environmental temperatures and excessive humidity. In addition they stored the boars’ respiration fee low.
Peer-reviewed papers in regards to the preliminary analysis have been printed in journals together with Utilized Engineering in Agriculture, Utilized Animal Science, Computer systems and Electronics in Agriculture, Journal of Animal Science, Livestock Science, The Skilled Animal Scientist and the Journal of the ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Organic Engineers).
Schinckel will current a poster in regards to the results of cooling pads on sows previous to farrowing and mid and late lactation on the Allen D. Leman Swine Convention, which takes place Sept. 16-19 at Saint Paul RiverCentre in Minnesota.
Preliminary analysis on the cooling pads’ results on boars, sows and gilts performed at Purdue was funded by grants from the U.S. Division of Agriculture’s Nationwide Institute of Meals and Agriculture and the Agricultural Science and Extension for Financial Improvement, or AgSEED, program from Purdue’s School of Agriculture. IHT Group supported beta exams at Pipestone Analysis in Minnesota, led by Cabezon, and at Purdue and two industrial amenities within the U.S. IHT Group funded a graduate scholar at Purdue through the beta take a look at interval. Information from these exams is being complied for summarization for analyses.
Manufacturing and gross sales
IHT evaluated pads for his or her industrial evaluation beneath a Business Analysis Settlement with the Purdue Innovates Workplace of Know-how Commercialization. Primarily based on the outcomes of the analysis, IHT and OTC negotiated an unique license for manufacturing and promoting the pads.
“We are going to promote the pads throughout North America in spring 2024 as farmers put together for the warmth stress of the summer season,” Grant mentioned. “That launch date will even permit us to compile and analyze ultimate knowledge from the boar stud exams, which can be out there in October.”
August 30, 2023 – Purdue College
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