This review provides the benchmarking concepts and the applications using the data acquired from commercial swine herds. Reproductive performance of female pigs, growth performance of fattening pigs and financial performance of the herd or the enterprise are recommended to be benchmarked. The 10 or 25 upper percentile of the performance measured has been used as a target value. In best-practice benchmarking, measurements in high-performing and ordinary herds or all herds have been well used to provide values of target and standard performances. Among reproductive performance measurements of female pigs, the number of pigs weaned per mated female per year (PWMFY) has been well used as a prime measurement in breeding herds. High-performing herds have been identified by the upper 10 or 25 percentile based on PWMFY. The PWMFY consists of six measurements : the number of nonproductive female days, lactation length, gestation length, preweaning mortality risk, number of pigs born alive and number of pigs weaned per sow. Adjusted 21-day weight is also a measurement for lactational performance. Beside reproductive efficiency, female pig mortality is a key measurement for herd health and animal well-being in breeding herds. A fattening phase of swine production is the stage where most production costs are incurred. In growth performance, average daily gain, feed efficiency and mortality are important to measure at the herd location or the group level. Finally, assessing the financial performance of the enterprise is essential for successful management of the business. Financial performance measurements including return on asset, net profit margin and asset turnover ratio are useful as benchmarks to compare to other herds within the industry or across various industries.

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The objectives of the present study were to compare the occurrence of claw lesions in late-gestating pigs and lactating sows on a commercial farm and to investigate the relationships between claw lesions and parity, age of gilts at first mating, and survival probability. A farrow-to-finish farm was visited six times from 2007 through 2008 to observe the claw lesions of late-gestating pigs and lactating sows fed in farrowing crates in lactation barns. We used a four-point score method (0, 1, 2, or 3) for each of the seven claw areas in each of the eight claws of a female pig. The total pig-lesion score (TPLS) for each female pig was obtained by summing the scores of all the areas and claws in a pig. Two TPLS groups were formed on the basis of the upper 10th percentile of the TPLS : low (0 to 5) or high (6 or higher). Linear mixed-effects models were performed for statistical analyses. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to obtain the survival probability. Of 629 female pigs studied in the farrowing crates, 64.4% had one or more claw lesions. Mean TPLS (±SEM) of the female pigs was 2.6±0.15. Late-gestating pigs had higher TPLS than lactating sows (4.1±0.42 vs. 2.1±0.14 ; P<0.05). Moreover, TPLS was higher in later parity in both the late-gestating pigs and lactating sows (P<0.05). However, there were no associations between the age of gilts at first mating and TPLS in late-gestating pigs (P=0.08) or lactating sows (P>0.10). Additionally, no associations were found between survival probability and TPLS in either the late-gestating pigs or lactating sows (P>0.10). To facilitate animal well-being, we recommend that swine producers frequently examine claws of females in farrowing crates to identify females with severe claw lesions.

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The objective of the present study was to determine euthanasia rate and euthanasia risk, and to compare removal patterns between euthanized females and the other females on Japanese commercial farms. The present study was conducted by using lifetime record data of 62,742 females born between 2001 and 2004 on 101 farms. Linear mixed-effects models were performed to compare lifetime measurements. Of the 101 farms, 25 (24.8%) had records of euthanized females. At the farm level, the mean proportion of removed females that had been euthanized (±SEM) on the 25 farms was 1.27±0.38% with a range between 0.06 and 8.44%. At the individual female level, of the 21,094 females on the 25 farms, the proportions of removed females that were euthanized, dead, or culled were 1.7, 9.7, and 88.6%, respectively. Annualized euthanasia rate was 0.63%. Of the 348 euthanized females, 53.7 and 25.0% were euthanized due to downer and locomotor problems, respectively. Mean values of parity at removal and female life days in the euthanized females were 3.3±0.13 and 717.2±18.58 days, respectively. Euthanized females had lower parity at removal and shorter female life days than culled females (P<0.05), but had similar values to dead females. Euthanasia risks in parity 0, 1, and 2 were 0.23, 0.27, and 0.23%, respectively. As parity increased from 3 to 6, the euthanasia risks increased from 0.22 to 0.59%. The percentages of sows euthanized at week 0, 1, and 2 after the last farrowing were 2.7, 21.6, and 8.4%, respectively. In conclusion, few females were euthanized on commercial farms in Japan. The removal pattern of the euthanized females was similar to that of dead females. It is ethical to euthanize a female that is immobilized due to severe lesion or other problems rather than waiting for the female to die.

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We conducted a questionnaire survey of 304 herds of grazing Holstein heifers in Japan. Using the results of the survey, we investigated Theileria sergenti infection, tick infestation and horse fly infestation in associated with potential risk factors such as environmental and management conditions. Theileria sergenti infection was more common in the southern part of Japan and herds with drug and acaricide usage were associated with T. sergenti infection. Herds with tick infestation was highly associated with T. sergenti infestation. Horse flies were more commonly observed in prefectures other than in Hokkaido. Proper preventive strategy for these parasite infestation is strongly required.

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Major challenges in recent food poisoning investigations include determination of whether the source of the food poisoning toxins was food, water, or an infection of human origin, and the efficiency of detection in sporadic food poisoning. The importance of symptom definitions has also been noted, and their underlying investigation categories need immediate reappraisal. The provision of pertinent information to the mass media in order to obtain the understanding and cooperation of local residents is another important topic.
A system capable of handling all these challenges simultaneously is a data processing and information retrieval system centered around a database, aggregation, and statistical analysis. Such systems are intended to promptly and accurately determine the causes of food poisoning and prepare reports and press release materials. This paper reveals the input and output fields for that schema and architecture.

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