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Highlights from the grand opening of the Ontario Swine Research Centre. See how the centre will facilitate research and collaboration to support a thriving pork sector in Ontario and beyond in this video from Ontario Pork.
Ontario Swine Research Centre
The new Ontario Swine Research Centre in Elora, Ont. opened in August 2023. The facility results from a collaborative investment from the Government of Ontario, Agricultural Research and Innovation Ontario (ARIO) and Ontario’s pork industry and is managed by the University of Guelph through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance.
The new site will enhance the province’s capacity for research, innovation and the development of new technology to benefit Ontario pork producers and consumers.
Swine research supports the agri-food sector by helping producers make evidence-informed, on-farm decisions and has led to advancements in areas such as reduced antibiotic use and improved livestock health.
The new centre will accommodate research in diverse disciplines, including nutrition, animal health and welfare, production economics, consumer-oriented research, environmental factors, genetics/genomics, nutrient management and reproduction.
U of G swine research will be relocated from the Arkell Swine Research Facility.
Features
- Flexibility to handle research from a wide range of disciplines
- Adjustable housing in nursery and grow-finish rooms
- Advanced technology integration, including sensors throughout the barn for better management
- Precision electronic feed systems and data analysis to tailor feed formulations
- Research space with centrifuge, drying oven, fume hood, -80°C freezer
- Biosecurity measures with shower-in entry to reduce the movement of disease between humans and animals
- Viewing areas for teaching and public education
Capacity
- Farrowing barn: 70 sows plus litters
- Breeding area: 164 sows
- Gestation area: 300 sows
- Nursery: 720 nursery pigs
- Finishing area: 600 finishing hogs
- Acclimatization area: 100 pigs
Research areas and outcomes
The facility can accommodate a wide range of research disciplines that advance animal health and welfare, improve growth and efficiency, determine best management and husbandry practices, advance technology, and further environmental sustainability research.
Research areas include:
- Animal nutrition
- Animal health (including pathogen management, antibiotic resistance)
- Animal welfare and housing systems
- Consumer-oriented research
- Economics and cost of production
- Environmental factors (including air quality, odour management)
- Genetics/genomics
- Manure/nutrient management
- Precision agriculture
- Reproduction
