The premature deaths are linked to excessive breeding. 
 
 As the death rate has surged for sows in the United States, pork producers, farmers, and veterinarians are left scratching their heads, trying to figure out what is wrong. The rate has climbed from 5.8 to 10.2 percent in the past three years, and one common factor -- prolapse -- appears to link many of the deaths. A veterinarian for Smithfield Foods said, “We have seen farms with as much as 25 to 50 percent of the sow mortality due to prolapses.” 
 
 Prolapse happens when the pressure on an animal's uterus, vagina, and rectum becomes too much and it collapses, leading to premature death. (The condition also affects middle-aged women, particularly if they've given birth vaginally earlier in life, though it can be treated.) 
 
 Sows are female hogs that are used strictly for breeding; they produce multiple litters of piglets annually that fuel the rapid growth of the pork industry. As a spokesman for the Ontario Pork industry told me at a fall fair this past weekend, a typical gestation period is 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days in length, and the new piglets stay with their mother until around 25 pounds in weight, at which point they're weaned and moved into another barn to get fattened for slaughter around 6 months of age. 
 
 The rise in prolapse, experts suspect, is due to the increased rate of breeding. (There are other possible causes for prolapse, outlined in this article for Successful Farming.) As Twilight Greenaway explained in Civil Eats, 
 
 "In this [farrowing] system the average sow produces 23.5 piglets per year – or ten per litter at a rate of 2.35 litters annually. After two to four litters, most sows tend to be replaced by younger gilts who can produce piglets at a higher rate... When this happens, the sows being replaced are typically culled and sold to sausage companies." 
 
 Combined with other breeding goals, such as a consumer-driven desire for less back fat, it is difficult for the sows to meet pregnancy and lactation demands, placing them at greater risk of death. 
 
 Mary Temple Grandin, the well-known designer of animal livestock facilities and professor of animal science at Colorado State University, said that, in the late 1980s, pigs were bred with three traits in mind: rapid weight gain, thin back fat, and a big, huge loin. But now, “they’re breeding the sows to produce a lot of babies. Well, there’s a point where you’ve gone too far.” 
 
 Farmers who raise their hogs in more natural, less confined conditions where the animals can engage in natural behaviors report lower rates of prolapse and premature mortality. The tradeoff is that they produce fewer piglets, but then a sow may live longer to have another litter of piglets. 
 
 The facts about prolapse are disturbing because they illustrate yet another serious problem with our industrial food production system. As a society we have become accustomed to eating excessive amounts of meat and paying very little money for it, which drives the intensive farming operations that cause these very issues. When shoppers balk at the idea of paying top-notch prices for, say, an organic, free-range Berkshire pig, while insisting on having dirt-cheap bacon every morning for breakfast, it's no wonder these animals are being "bred to their limit," as Leah Garces, executive director of Compassion in World Farming, told Greenaway. 
 
 Unless you're a farmer, you probably can't go out and help a pig directly, but you can do so by voting with your dollars. Do not buy supermarket pork. If you eat meat, purchase it from local farmers whose care standards are transparent and ethical. Farmers who put in extra effort to ensure a natural life for their animals make it very clear to their customers, as it justifies a premium cost. Eat less of it, too. Meat should be more of a special occasion meal or a garnish. 
 
 Learn more about the prolapse problem by reading Greenaway's full article here. ||||| Hog producers and swine professionals gathered for the DSM Pork Nexus at North Carolina State University to discuss one thing — why are sows leaving the farm way too soon? A noticeable trend among hog producers around the globe is a steady climb in sow mortality, particularly in the past three years. 
 
 As Jerry Torrison, DVM, director of veterinary diagnostic labs at University of Minnesota, says, “All sows are created equal, but some are just more expensive.” 
 
 When a sow is culled or dies within two weeks before or after farrowing, it can be extremely costly. This is a common occurrence reported among many U.S. producers and not isolated to a certain region or production models. 
 
 Doing the quick math, Jeremy Pittman, DVM at Smithfield, calculates 1% sow morality equals 22 cents per weaned pig, assuming the loss of cull revenue only; 50 cents per pound and 22 pigs per sow per year. However, he asks, “What is the true full cost?” 
 
 The rising trend in sow mortality or early sow culling is not just shop talk. It is becoming quite evident in the benchmarking data. Ron Ketchem from Swine Management Services says a 12-year data set shows sow death loss from 2013-2016 has risen from 5.8% to 10.2% on farms owning 125 to over 10,000 sows in the SMS database. Ketchem says, “This makes you wonder what has changed in the last three years.” 
 
 Swine Management Services 
 
 While all sizes of operations in the SMS data are experiencing this noticeable increase, sow farms with 2,000 to 3,999 head had a higher female culling and more deaths. Moreover, the higher deaths and culls are coming from younger parity females. According to the data, “Almost 50% of the deaths were coming out of parity 0-3 and 40% of the culls in the first parity,” notes Ketchem. 
 
 The trend is not limited to the farms in SMS database. Brent Frederick, Christensen Farms director of research and nutrition, verifies that the linear increase is real among farms participating in the Agristats program, which includes some of the largest U.S. pork producers with more than 100,000 sows in production, with different genetic packages, feeding programs and regional locations. “Sow morality within this data set has increased linearly from January 2013 to date. The increase in mortality is consistent across the U.S. and not an isolated regional issue.” 
 
 While the rise in sow mortality is noticeable and generating healthy discussion, the reason for higher rates of cull and sow mortality is still a mystery. The results of diagnosed causes for sow death at the University of Minnesota diagnostic lab range from accidents to structural problems to respiratory events to reproductive issues. 
 
 The occurrence of lameness and prolapses comes to the top for causes of early removal of females from the herd. The removal for lameness related reasons is greater in parity 1 and 2 females. “Lameness looms large as for the cause of removal of young parities,” states Torrison. 
 
 Breeding gilts or sows that are lame or have a structural issue is only asking for trouble and will end up costing a farm dearly down the road. So, a full evaluation of a female’s structure and lameness detection before breeding can diminish future problems and save the farm money. 
 
 An increase in the number of sow prolapses is contributing to sow deaths as females are euthanized due to animal welfare policy. Pittman says historically the natural incidence of sow prolapses is rare, estimated at a 0.5% to 1.0% annualized rate. In December 2012, Pittman was observing a surge in sow prolapses in the Smithfield system and dealt with it for a year and a half until Max Rodibaugh, DVM, presented the problem in an article in the August issue of National Hog Farmer. After a group discussion at American Association of Swine Veterinarians meeting, it was clear that it was an industry problem. “What is interesting is a sporadic event where a farm over the course of one to three weeks has an increase in the number of prolapses — can be very high at times — and then it goes away for a period of time, then comes back,” explains Pittman. 
 
 In the industry, Pittman says there has been a step change in the percentage of annualized sow mortality due to prolapses occurring on an annual basis from 2013 to 2016. For his region, Pittman reports there was a linear increase from 1.8% in 2012 to 2.9% in 2016 in a group of 105,000 sows with a massive change from 2012 to 2013. “It is not just the fact there is a prolapse. The severity and extent of these prolapses are greater,” notes Pittman. 
 
 The frustrating part for Pittman and others in the swine business is there is no one real reason for the rise, nor is there a one-size-fits-all solution. In fact, Pittman says numerous causes of prolapse have been discussed in the industry. They include: 
 
 ■ mycotoxin in feed 
 
 ■ hypocalcemia 
 
 ■ vitamin deficiency 
 
 ■ use of phytase in sow rations 
 
 ■ litter sizes 
 
 ■ constipation 
 
 ■ genetics 
 
 ■ change in estrogen and other hormone levels 
 
 ■ oxidative stress 
 
 ■ impact of changing to mash feed 
 
 ■ high and rapid feed intake 
 
 ■ bloated sows 
 
 ■ coughing 
 
 ■ piling 
 
 ■ housing design 
 
 ■ diarrhea, colitis 
 
 ■ excess lysine 
 
 Today, there is still no clear answer, and an industry task force has been formed to address the issue. “Something changed in the industry. It is clear there are a lot of systems and sows affected by this,” concludes Pittman. 
 
 Although no one attending the Pork Nexus meeting has the reason or the solution to the upsurge in the number of females leaving the swine herd early, the problem is real, and the discussions are getting more serious as the industry works toward finding the answer. 
 
 Like Torrison advises, “A dead sow is a gift; you should open her up.” ||||| Death rates for female pigs in the US are rising fast, sending alarm bells ringing throughout the farming industry. 
 
 The mortality rate rose from 5.8% to 10.2% on farms owning more than 125 sows between 2013-2016, according to one organisation that collects data across 800 companies. 
 
 The numbers have been linked to a troubling rise in prolapse – the collapse of the animal’s rectum, vagina, or uterus. In some cases the prolapse itself is fatal. In others the pig is euthanised as a result. Some farms have seen no rise, or much smaller rises, but a separate report last year found that some farms were seeing prolapse causing as many as 25%-50% of sow deaths. 
 
 The American Association of Swine Veterinarians has created a sow prolapse working group, but their findings so far have been inconclusive. In April, the National Pork Board announced a multi-year research collaboration with Iowa State University’s Iowa Pork Industry Center designed to get a broad overview of the problem. Iowa is the nation’s top pork producer. The study, which is still under way, aims to collect detailed data from 400,000 sows – or about 13% of the nation’s 3 million working sows – on more than 100 farms across 16 states. 
 
 A number of possible causes have been suggested, including vitamin deficiency, mycotoxins in the feed, high density diets or abdominal issues. Some experts blame confinement systems in intensive farming – sows will spend a large percentage of their lives in gestation and farrowing crates that don’t allow them to move around. Modern breeding practices have also been suggested as a causal factor. 
 
 Industry figures largely declined to comment but some acknowledged that they are grappling with the issue. “It’s a topic in our meetings, both in the hallways and the meeting spaces,” said Dr Tom Burkgren, executive director of American Association of Swine Veterinarians, a group that educates vets around the country. 
 
 A brutal business: alleged beatings and abuse on UK pig farms | Harriet Grant Read more 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest After piglets are born, the sows are kept in farrowing crates where the young can feed. Photograph: Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals 
 
 An estimated 97% of the US’s 73 million hogs are raised in closed barns or confined feeding operations. In these systems sows often live the majority of their lives in gestation or farrowing crates that don’t allow them to get up or turn around. In this system the average sow produces 23.5 piglets per year – or ten per litter at a rate of 2.35 litters annually. After two to four litters, most sows tend to be replaced by younger gilts who can produce piglets at a higher rate. 
 
 Mary Temple Grandin – professor of animal science at Colorado State University and consultant on the design of livestock-handling facilities – told the Guardian that highly focused breeding across the industry has led to unintended consequences. She said that one side effect of selecting for animals that are more fecund is an increased tendency toward lameness. 
 
 In the late 1980s, Grandin added, pigs were bred with three traits in mind: rapid weight gain, thin back fat, and a big loin. Now, she added, “They’re breeding the sows to produce a lot of babies. Well, there’s a point where you’ve gone too far.” 
 
 “We’ve bred a contradiction into these animals,” says Leah Garces, outgoing executive director of the US branch of Compassion in World Farming. “Over the last few decades, sows to have been bred to have less back-fat – because people don’t want to eat as much fat – but we also want them to produce more and more babies. And that’s not biologically possible; their bones are weak and they don’t have enough fat to support the reproductive process. We’ve bred them to their limit and the animals are telling us that.” 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pigs at a Niman Ranch farm in the US, a network that focuses on sustainable agriculture. Photograph: Courtesy Niman Ranch 
 
 Alternatives 
 
 The high incidence of animal loss in confinement systems is one of the main reasons that Paul Willis, co-founder of Niman Ranch (now a subsidiary of Perdue Farms) spent years building an alternative to modern hog farming. “I have a neighbour that has been raising pigs [in a confinement system] … and they have a dumpster, and I can go by there almost any time of the day or week and it’s full of dead hogs,” said Willis. 
 
 When he was raising hogs at a smaller scale, perhaps 200 to 300 at a time, and allowing them to spend time outside, engaging in behaviours that are typical for hogs, such as wallowing and building nests out of straw, Willis said he’d lose just “a few animals a year”. Under this system, pigs only produce about half as many offspring a year as they do in industrial systems. 
 
 The key in most livestock production is finding a balance between productivity and the health of the animals, said Grandin. “You have to figure out the optimal number of piglets these sows should have. One thing people have trouble with is asking what is optimal – not maximal, but optimal – when it comes to breeding.” 
 
 For those pursuing a maximal approach, there are new products like the Hercules Arm, a $7,000 (£5,330) piece of machinery that went on the market in 2017. It is marketed as “a unique and revolutionary way to effortlessly remove … heavy dead pigs from stalls”. 
 
 Contact us with your stories and thoughts at animalsfarmed@theguardian.com
– Operators of farms with a large number of female pigs are seeing a worrying trend—death rates are surging among the sows. One industry group, Swine Management Services, says the death rate increased from 5.8% to 10.2% from 2013 to 2016, per National Hog Farmer. "This makes you wonder what has changed," says Ron Ketchem of SMS. Many of the sows appear to be dying from prolapse, the collapse of the pig's vagina, rectum, or uterus, explains the Guardian. So what's going on? The industry is trying to figure that out, with one theory being that booming demand for pork in the US has led industrial-scale farms to adopt unhealthy breeding practices for the sows, including confined quarters, in order to keep them churning out the average 23.5 piglets a year. “They're breeding the sows to produce a lot of babies," renowned animal behaviorist Temple Grandin tells the Guardian. "Well, there's a point where you've gone too far." A soon-to-be-departing official with Compassion in World Farming adds that the pigs also are being bred to have less fat, which is in sync with consumer demand but not with biology in terms of producing a lot of piglets. "Their bones are weak and they don't have enough fat to support the reproductive process," she says. "We've bred them to their limit and the animals are telling us that." At TreeHugger, Katherine Martinko's suggestion for concerned consumers is to skip supermarket pork and find a small, local farmer. (Thousands of pigs died due to Hurricane Florence.)