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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:
Phosphorus Transformation in Pig Slurry due to Diet and Intermittent Aeration Treatments
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2004 | No Comments
The experiment was conducted to study the transformation of phosphorus (P) in slurry from pigs fed two
different diets, i.e. the regular maize–soya bean meal diet with or without a supplement of 9% sugar beet pulp (SBP). The slurry was collected and treated either without or with aeration and intermittent aeration (aeration on/off ratio=10 h:14 h) at an airflow rate of 06 lm3 s1 for 15 days. Slurry sources and treatments were composed of a 2 by 2 factorial design. The results indicated that aeration increased (probability Po001) the slurry pH by 05–08 within 24 h, from 65 to 70 for the SBP slurry, and from 69 to 77 for the control slurry, but the pH reached 76 and 80 for the SBP and control slurry in 3–4 days. The average pH of the SBP slurry was lower (Po001) than that of the slurry from the control diet (667 versus 738). However, little change in pH was observed in the non-aerated slurry. Aeration decreased total inorganic P, insoluble inorganic P, and soluble P, but increased organic P by approximately 30mg l1. The average organic P in the slurry for both diets with aeration was about 174% higher than that in the same slurry without aeration. Aeration decreased
insoluble inorganic P by about 72% and soluble P by about 45%. The mass balance of P fractions showed transformation of insoluble inorganic P into organic forms during the aeration stage. The insoluble inorganic P took about 68% of the total P in the slurry, so it is essential to perform solid–liquid separation prior to aeration to enhance the efficiency of soluble P removal because insoluble inorganic P is mainly contained in the slurry solids.
Natural Resource and Environmental Issues Related to Hog Expansion in Alberta
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This study identifies environmental issues and natural resources in certain landscapes in Alberta, which have the potential for expansion. The factors to investigate are 1) soil zone, most hog production is concentrated in the Black soil zone; 2) water supply, the expansions of the hog industry was not found to be limited by it; 3) feed supply ,Alberta has more than enough to support the hog industry there; 4) population density, critical when considering the development permit process because of the neighbor complaints about odour and; 5) minimum distance separation (MDS), there must be the appropriate distance for the manure spreading process as well as the facility itself as there needs to be enough land in the area for the amount of manure that is to be spread or else leaching and run-off will be the results.
Alberta’s livestock associations have taken the lead in developing voluntary guidelines to assist municipalities and producers in siting, design and management of new and expanding livestock facilities in order to deal with the environmental issues relating to livestock production. The development of new livestock operations is controlled at the municipal level in Alberta. New operations will have some form of public review and permit process. Well-defined planning approval processes have greatly reduced risks and uncertainties faced by livestock operators and neighboring residents. With all these different factors being taken into consideration, Alberta is attempting to identify where opportunities lie for expansion of the industry. The most important factors were population density and feed supply. Areas of Alberta have now been chosen for further investigation.
Agronomic conversion of treated pig slurry on forage crops
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Solid-liquid phase separation of pig slurry allows to control and reduce the amount of phosphorous released in the environment, an advantage for the many farms in a situation of excess phosphorous. Various methods of slurry phase separation allow a relatively important concentration of the phosphorous into the solid phase, whereas most of the nitrogen stays in the liquid phase. We studied the utilization, as nitrogen sources, of liquid by-products obtained through natural decantation, filtration through woodchips, anaerobic digestion and physicochemical flocculation. The agronomic and environmental performances of these liquid by-products to those of raw slurry and mineral fertilizers have been compared. During three consecutive seasons, nitrogen loss through ammonia (NH3) volatilization and emissions of dinitrogen oxide (N2O, a greenhouse gas), after each field spreading have been measured. Dry matter yield and major nutrients’ uptake of timothy were measured for each type of fertilizer. Raw slurry emitted 3 to 4 times more NH3 than mineral fertilizer and 20 to 25% more than liquid by-products. Slurry emitted significantly more N2O than the mineral fertilizer and the liquid by-product resulting from anaerobic digestion. This liquid by-product, followed by the one obtained through flocculation, also resulted in timothy yields and nutrient uptake similar to those of mineral fertilizer. Slurry generally allowed lower timothy performances than did mineral fertilizers and liquid by-products. Despite the agronomic and environmental advantages showed by solid-liquid separation of slurry, the higher nutrient availability of the liquid by-products commands caution when spreading in the absence of actively growing crops.
Evaluating heavy metal contents in nine composts using four digestion methods
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Tillage and Compost Affect Yield of Corn, Soybean, and Wheat and Soil Fertility
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Why do we measure digestibility?
Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments
The following article discusses research conducted at the Prairie Swine Centre and on a commercial farm evaluating the impact of feeding diets with increasing digestible energy content. Although we can estimate the energy content of the diets using published values for each ingredient we have based our results on the DE content which we measured. This involves determining the caloric content of the feed in a lab and measuring feed intake in the barn. We also must determine caloric output, – collecting faeces and determining the caloric content of what is excreted. Although this may sound like fun, it is actually quite time-consuming and expensive, – so why don’t we just use the published values?
The following graphs show data from several digestibility experiments. The top graph is from grow-finish experiments. If the measured values equaled the formulated, then the data would follow the line. The difference between the formulated and the measured ranged from 17 kcal to 175 kcal. This can be a significant difference, however, the difference appears random, and therefore, using the measured values would not bias our results in one direction. Conversely, as can be seen in the lower graph, when weanling pigs are used, not only are the measured different from the formulated, but the measured is always less, therefore, if we didn’t actually measure digestibility our estimated values would not only be variable, but would be consistently too high.
The variability in the diet DE content observed in both the grower and weanling pigs is due to the natural variability in the DE content of various grains (ie. see COS ). The bias observed with the weanling pigs is because published DE values are based on grower pigs. Because of anatomical and development differences, digestibility in the younger pigs is always lower.
As can be seen in the following article, a difference in DE content of only 100 kcal can significantly impact feed costs and net returns. Therefore our research will continue to be based on actual, rather than formulated DE values, and collecting and grinding faeces will be part of our day!
Feeding for the Optimum Carcass
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The overall objective of any feeding program is to maximize net income while producing a high quality pork product for the consumer. Both carcass quality (fat and lean content) and pork quality (colour, taste, texture) need to be considered as outcomes of our feeding programs, as they both reflect the needs of the marketplace. The primary dietary contributors to pork quality are energy and amino acids. Sufficient amino acids must be in place in the pig’s diet to support the growth of lean tissue; the biggest risk in amino acid nutrition is inadequate supply, as the penalty of oversupply is primarily expense. On the other hand, in the case of energy, both under and oversupply can adversely affect the final pork product. Insufficient energy in the diet will result in slow growth and a leaner carcass, while excess energy will result in a fatter carcass. The type of fat in the diet is important, as it will affect the type of fat deposited in the carcass. Other nutrients, such as vitamins C and E, show promise in improving carcass quality, as do additives such as chromium, conjugated fatty acids, magnesium aspartate and ractopamine. However, while the benefits of their use have been fairly well defined, the economics of these various feed additives depends on many factors, including the cost of the product itself. Since few are currently available in Canada, it is difficult to evaluate their potential economic return. Finally, the manner in which the feed is presented to pigs, such as fasting before shipping, or feeding on a restricted scale as compared to ad libitum, can also affect carcass and pork quality. Feed restriction is not commonly practiced in Canada, because it can reduce net income if applied to pigs for too long a period.