Pig Notes March 2010

Home milling / mixing

Staff from Quality Assurance Branch (QAB), DARD are currently visiting home mill / mix units that have approval status, that is, units that can include medicines and other additives, for example, zinc oxide, wormers (Flubenol and Ivomec). I thought therefore I would use this management note to briefly remind you of some of the areas that the inspectors will check.

During the visit inspectors will check that:-

the meal mixing premises are clean and tidy.
there is no long grass or rubbish in the area immediately surrounding the shed.
doors, windows and all equipment are in a good state of repair.
light fittings are covered.
samples of all batches of feed have been kept for a minimum of one month and preferably three months.
sample/s of medicated feed has been analysed.
a mixer efficiency dispersion test (checks if feed is mixed properly), if required, has been carried out. This is required every three years.

all weighing equipment has been calibrated.
records are kept of when and where bait has been laid for vermin.
raw materials purchased are recorded.
all batches of feed mixed each day are recorded. The table below shows the daily records required for each batch of feed mixed.
all cleaning and maintenance is scheduled and recorded.
a written manufacturing procedure is in place. This includes information on who is responsible for mixing the feed, how the feed is mixed and stored, feeds mixed, cleaning process and records required.
a hazard analysis of critical control points (HACCP) is completed. This lists the potential risks involved in the mixing process and how these risks can be minimized, for example, the risk of foreign bodies getting into the feed, the risk of cross contamination of feed with drugs, the risk of feed going to the wrong bin.
a diagram of the meal mixing process is in place.
a quality control plan is completed. This gives details of samples required and analysis of samples.
prescriptions are held for medicines included in feeds.

Date	Name of Mixed Feed	Quantity mixed (t)	Premix used	Premix batch number	Medicine used	Medicine reference number	Sample taken	Signed
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

This is a brief summary of some of the areas that inspectors will check during their visit. More detailed information is available from QAB, 028 9054 7194.

Exporting pig slurry

Now that slurry can be spread again, it is starting to move off pig farms. The demand for pig slurry is increasing. In fact I was on a unit recently and there were four tractors and tankers queuing up for pig slurry! In this note I would like to remind you of the need to keep a record of all slurry that leaves the unit. In addition to recording the date, type and quantity of slurry moved, name and address of who is transporting and receiving the slurry, you also need to record the total nitrogen content of slurry moved. This calculation sometimes causes confusion. Hopefully the following example will help you understand how to calculate the total nitrogen content of pig slurry exported.

Example

Beef farmer draws 20,000 gallons of pig slurry from pig farmer.

To carry out the calculation you first need to know two pieces of information.

one cubic metre of slurry = 220 gallons.
standard nitrogen (N) content of pig slurry is 4 kg per cubic metre. In other words, every cubic metre (220 gallons) of pig slurry contains, on average, 4 kg of N.

There are two steps in calculating the total N exported.

Step 1

Calculate total amount of pig slurry exported in cubic metres. In this example divide 20,000 gallons by 220 gallons. This equals 90.9 cubic metres.

Step 2

To calculate the total N content multiply the total slurry exported by the N content, that is, 90.9 cubic metres x 4 kg N per cubic metre = 364 kg of N.

Did you know?

Did you know that from 1 January 2013 dry sows kept in groups of less than six will have to have at least 2.47 square metres (26.5 square feet) each? For sows in groups of more than six the total area required per sow will be 2.25 square metres (24.25 square feet).