Opportunities for funding
- Tenders
- New R&D Projects
- Studentships
- Innovation Fund
- R&D Sub-group
Tenders
BPEX Research and Development
To download full details of the Invitations to Tender in each of the areas outlined below please click on the highlighted boxes.
Health improvement
The aim of the BPEX Research and Development programme on health improvement is to reduce the impact of disease on pig performance. It directly supports delivery of the Health Pillar of the BPEX Two Tonne Sow (2TS) Campaign and indirectly the Environment Roadmap. The Pig Health Improvement Project is at the core of the 20:20 Pig Health and Welfare strategy for England launched in August 2011 with cross-industry support. The Pig Health Improvement Project works with groups of producers to develop robust case studies to demonstrate the financial value to pig units from improvements in health.
Surveillance
The 20:20 Pig Health and Welfare strategy committed to establishing robust mechanisms for routine monitoring of the prevalence of key endemic diseases (PRRS, swine dysentery, mange, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae), and baseline national health status, and current levels of antimicrobial resistance. It also committed to developing robust population data, including engagement with smallholders and non-commercial pig keepers, to (i) act as a baseline against which to measure targets and changes in disease prevalence and (ii) to ensure prompt and targeted intervention in the event of local, regional or national outbreaks requiring a co-ordinated response to control.
Testing for pathogens in oral fluids
Oral fluids (saliva) can be collected from a pen of pigs by means of hanging a rope in the pen on which pigs chew and secrete saliva. The saliva can then be tested for the presence of PRRS RNA using PCR and antibodies using ELISA. Following reports from the US that oral fluids may prove a useful and convenient diagnostic measure of group disease status in pigs, BPEX funded a pilot study to investigate the potential of this methodology in the UK herd, using Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSv) as the target pathogen. Proof of principle that PRRSv RNA can be detected in oral fluids from pigs viraemic with PRRSv was successfully achieved. However the sensitivity of the technique needs to be improved before it can be more widely applied in the commercial setting.
| BPEX non-invasive testing: Proposals are invited for research on the development of tools and/or techniques for the detection of pathogens in oral fluids of pigs. |
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Measuring progress in improving pig health
There is little data available on the true costs of endemic diseases on pig farms and attempts to estimate costs of individual diseases have usually been based on limited evidence. Individual farms rarely have a single disease problem. Combining figures for individual diseases sometimes results in cost estimates that appear unrealistic for pig farmers. It is often not clear to pig farmers how the cost estimates are arrived and it can be difficult to relate them to actual farm performance.
Blaha and co-workers at the Hannover Vet School have developed approaches to quantifying the health status of batches of slaughter pigs and through that the health status of pig herds (Dickhaus et al., 2009). The proposed Herd Health Score (HHS) combines four direct health parameters, which use data that should be available on most pig units without the need for specific additional recording :
1. The mortality rate.
2. The frequency of pathological findings in carcasses and organs of previous meat inspections.
3. The animal-treatment-index (ATI).
4. The duration of the finishing period
The scoring system proposed for finishing pigs scores each parameter from 0 to 3. A further development could extend to developing a Herd Health Cost Calculator based on the Herd Health Scoring system using either industry standard costs or allow users to apply values they believe more accurately reflects the costs within their business. Refinements to the Cost Calculator could include other options eg allow producers to capture the costs associated with the diagnosis and treatment of specific disease and health conditions on their unit(s).
Food safety
The aim of the BPEX Research and Development programme on food safety is to support the production of safe and wholesome pigmeat, which is key to maintaining consumer confidence. The agenda for Salmonella control will be driven by EU Commission targets pre- or post-farmgate. The whole chain approach of the Zoonoses National Control Programme for Salmonella in pigs (ZNCPig) aims to reduce Salmonella risk. ZNCPig will support the development of more effective Salmonella control on-farm and in abattoirs. Salmonella risk control is more cost-effective at abattoir level and areas for investigation include the use of ozone and electrolysed water; chlorine in polishers, carcase washing before splitting; UV exposure; second singeing; and pressured steam.
| BPEX Salmonella control on-farm: Proposals are invited for research on the development of tools and/or strategies to reduce the prevalence of Salmonella on pig farms in England |
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| BPEX Salmonella control carcase: Proposals are invited for research on the development of tools and/or strategies to reduce the prevalence of Salmonella on pig carcases in abattoirs in England. |
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Environment
The 2011 Environment Road Map, Advancing Together, set ambitious targets to reduce the environmental impact of pig production in 4 key areas – climate change, eutrophication, acidification and abiotic resource depletion. Controlling emissions of ammonia and odour and leaching of nutrients are important to the strategy to reduce the environmental footprint of pig production. Advances in pig production technology, genetics and management mean there may be limitations to the information currently available on emission factors from current pig production systems and the leaching of nutrients in outdoor production systems.
