IPVS 2012: Pig Management Award for Sureemas Nitikanchana

//13 Jun 2012
The winner of the fifth Pig Management Award is Sureemas Nitikanchana, Kansas State University, USA, for her meta-analysis comparing dry and wet-dry feeders.
The prize was awarded during an event organised by Elanco Animal Health, taking place during the International Pig Veterinary Society (IPVS) Congress, at Jeju Island, South Korea.

An international and unbiased jury picked the presentation from a shortlist of 13 non-commercial management papers, presented at the Congress. A group photo of some contenders is published below. The winning paper was co-authored by S.S. Dritz, M.D. Tokach, R.D. Goodband, J.M. Derouchy and J.L. Nielsen.

Meta-analysis
The study aimed to perform a meta-analysis of available studies to evaluate the influence of wet-dry feeders on growth performance, carcass traits and water usage. Nitikanchana concluded that the use of wet-dry feeders in growing-finishing pigs can be beneficial in growth performance and water usage.

Pig Management Award
The Pig Management Award, as defined by Elanco Animal Health, is 'meant to recognise excellent science in pig management. The papers have to meet certain evaluation criteria, like that it has to apply globally; all farm sizes can implement practices outlined; there is a significant impact at farm level; information presented is clearly understood; and the paper addresses an industry need.

The long list consisted of 122 submitted abstracts.

Surprise
Nitikanchana, who received a sculpture created in the Netherlands, said she was very surprised to have won the prize as commonly not a lot of people dive into this subject. "My colleagues at K-State however always told me I was going to bring home the prize," she said.

Related websites:
• IPVS 2012
• Elanco Animal Health