Alberto Morillo Alujas holds a Ph.D. in Veterinary Medicine, a degree in Applied Statistics to Health Sciences, and extensive knowledge in Six Sigma, SPC, and CRISP-DM.
He founded Tests and Trials in the year 2000, currently owned by the Tentamus Group, where he has been an advisor and public relations representative since the end of 2022.
In his earlier career, he served as Director of Production and Nutrition for Smithfield Food Inc.’s European operations in Poland and Romania during their development phase. He has maintained a close relationship with the group since 2004.
Currently, he works as an independent consultant in swine production and nutrition, specializing in data analysis for decision-making and applied statistics in animal production. Alberto has actively participated in numerous applied research projects, focusing on the efficacy and safety of veterinary products, as well as techniques in animal feeding and production.
He is a promoter of applied statistics in animal production and has a passion for quality control techniques such as Six Sigma and the use of statistical process control charts (SPC). Additionally, he advocates for data-driven decision-making techniques like CRISP-DM and data mining.
Alberto has had the opportunity to collaborate in most of the world’s major pork-producing countries and with their largest companies, always seeking to share his knowledge.
Outside of his professional pursuits, his hobbies include mountain skiing, cycling, and spending time with friends.
Pig production will slow down in high production regions worldwide due to destocking resulting from economic losses of recent years. Lower feed prices will help reduce production costs, thus improving the economic situation for farmers and integrators. While pork consumption remains weak, there are some positive signs due to improving economic conditions including lower forecasted inflation rates.
The primary concern in the pig sector which includes animal production and meat processing plants, is the health of the pigs. African Swine Fewer (ASF) looms a constant threat, and its eradication depends on the development of a vaccine effective in domestic pigs but mainly in wild boars. Beside ASF, PRRS outbreaks cause further losses to the individual farmers or integrators. As ASF, PRRS has no effective vaccine available and only the development of new technologies, such mRNA vaccines, may help alleviate the effects of the outbreaks.
Diarrhea in piglets, occurring both pre or post weaning is widespread globally, with only a few batches or sow farms experiencing minimal episodes each year. Factors such as the need for new replacement sows, changes in feed composition and the lack of measures to control the causative agents due by regulatory constraints in Western countries and the lack of new and available products contribute to diarrhea in piglets, leading to increased mortality rates, and economic losses.
Sow mortality rates have risen over the last decade reaching levels that are challenging for farm staff to manage. Mortality rates up to 15% now are considered normal, affecting both health management and farm economics.
There is a need to educate managers and technical staff of producers’ companies in methodologies used in other industries, such as data analysis, worker training, and the development of protocols to work in the farms and control methodologies as Six Sigma, Statistical Control Charts, and educational programs. This will not only improve overall results but also enhance the well-being of the labor force and contribute positively to society consideration.
Welfare measures must be regulated based on studies demonstrating their efficacy without compromising production or economy. Similarly, sustainability efforts should be backed with well-designed studies with compensations covering inherent losses resulting from regulations.
Over the past decade, numerous new tech companies have emerged, developing cultured meat products closely resembling natural meat taste and nutritional value and composition. Additional there is an increasing number of people that have been declared themselves as non-animal consuming protein to not sacrifice animals. Authorities bear the responsibility of regulating and inspecting products available in the market to ensure consumer safety.