Nutrition

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Prairie Swine Centre is an affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan


Prairie Swine Centre is grateful for the assistance of the George Morris Centre in developing the economics portion of Pork Insight.

Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:



Author(s): M.A. Varley
Publication Date: March 30, 2011
Reference: London Swine Conference, 2011
Country: Canada

Summary:

With volatile feed prices, it remains important to constantly strive to improve feed efficiency and review feeding strategies. There remains wide variation in feed conversion ratio (FCR) between herds, and feed intake and feed wastage can both impact FCR. Herd health status also affects the herd’s FCR, but health status can also act on a lower, batch level as well. Wet feeding can benefit the FCR more than dry feeding, and there are arguments for buying either cheaper pre-mixed feeds, or home mixing to have a known quality. Breeding sows have strict dietary requirements, but gestating sows naturally have a higher FCR and diet formulations can use alternative ingredients. Starter feed remains the most expensive diets, but actual feed intake is proportionally low. A high quality starter feed seems to remain worth the cost, as it will get pigs finished sooner and with less variation. Finisher feed should follow precision feeding, and can benefit from exact formulation and the high herd health status. As well, in times of increased feed costs it may be worthwhile to reduce the safety margins usually in place. Alternative feed ingredients and feed additives may also offer opportunities to reduce diet costs.

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