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Industry Partners
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:
The Future of Finishing Barns
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on March 29, 2012 | No Comments
When building finishing barns the focus has generally been on reducing capital costs, but ways to enhance performance should also be taken into consideration. If barns could be built to improve feed conversion in finishing pigs, the additional capital investment would be paid off by increased profit per pig. Also, currently more pig spaces are needed in Ontario to produce enough pigs to keep packers at capacity and profitable. The cost of pig space could be reduced if identical barns were built, or at least limit barns to a couple of floor plans. Also, galvanized steel roofs could potentially be used with the right insulation to lower cost per pig space. The current Canadian barn style can be changed to consider long-term operation costs, or could model after cheaper American barns.
Liquid Co-Products: a Practical Overview
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Using liquid co-products can provide feed cost savings, and with proper handling, storage, analysis, and delivery the full savings can be realized. Corn distillers solubles provide fat and crude protein, although amino acids will likely need to be supplied. Corn steep water has high crude protein and lactic acid, but will also need amino acid supplementation. Brewer’s yeast is another option with high protein, and liquid whey and whey permeate are two more co-products that can be used. Some of the potential co-products available include potato products, liquid wheat starch, sugar based liquids, and sauces. Optimal storage of ingredients should include agitation that reduces dead spots as much as possible, and two tanks per co-product to rotate out and to be cleaned between each batch. Inorganic and organic acids can be used to manage pH and keep ingredients like brewer’s yeast inactive. Liquid co-products should be added to feed when they are as fresh as possible. Proper analysis of ingredients will allow for specific formulation of diets, and the nutrient profile should be considered before purchase. The value of the feedstuff will also depend on the length the supply is expected to last, specific handling requirements, and the simulated growth performance on animals consuming the ingredient.
Feeding Alternative Feed Ingredients
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Alternative ingredients are ingredients that have not commonly been used due to availability, anti-nutritional factors, or costs. Evaluating these ingredients should be done by chemical analysis, digestibility studies, and feed trials. Before deciding to use an alternative ingredient the potential risk of reducing performance should be compared to the potential decrease in feed costs. The ingredient nutritional value should be considered by understanding and assessing the variation, understanding the impact it will have on dietary energy density and fibre content, considering any mycotoxin risks, and considering any complications with mixing and handling due to the ingredient’s physical characteristics. Formulating diets is a complicated process that needs to provide adequate nutrients to the pig, analyze the ingredients that are included, by palatable to the pig, be able to maintain pellet quality or feed flow, and maximize margin over feed facility cost. Finally, the source of the ingredient needs to be considered, as different processing methods can result in nutritional variation between sources. Overall, alternative ingredients have the potential to save feed costs, but nutrition, handling, availability, and formulation all need to be considered beforehand.
Taking the “Alternative” Out of Alternative Ingredients
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The introduction for Clarence Keen’s London Swine Conference, 2012 presentation on alternative feed ingredients.
Exploring the Ontario Pork Grading Data Online Database
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Ontario Pork and OMFRA have created a computer software program that visually displays shipping and carcass data. As well, descriptive statistics are calculated and displayed in charts.
Effective Grading
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Packer grids attempt to give a fair price for hogs that are in the desired weight range. Recently, packers and producers are focusing on kg return rather than return per hog.
New Handling and Transportation Strategies under Canadian Conditions
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The dead on arrival (DOA) rate for pigs during transport is fairly low, but can be a large economic loss. As well, there appears to be large variation in rates depending on the producer, transporter, and packer. Producers are required to withdraw feed before transport, but one Quebec survey showed only 15% of producers doing so correctly. The loading facilities and handling can have an impact on DOA rate, as pigs that are more stressed are more likely to die or become non-ambulatory during transport. Factors that can affect stress include the alley and ramp design, size of groups moved, and the use of electric prods. The trailer design can decrease the proportion of DOA if pot-belly trailers are avoided, the microclimate is controlled through ventilation, insulation, and sprinklers, and the distance duration is kept under 6 hours. However, it was found that very short (>1 hour) trips appear to cause pigs to remain stressed throughout the trip. Reducing DOA losses can be accomplished through design and handling changes, and can result in less economic loss and higher animal welfare.
Pig Handling and Transportation Strategies Utilized Under U.S. Commercial Conditions
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Dead and non-ambulatory pigs account for only 0.69% of shipped pigs, but this still result in $46 million profit loss per year. There is no national data on non-ambulatory pigs, so only commercial field trial data can be used. This data shows that the majority of non-ambulatory pigs are fatigued rather than injured. Seasonal variation results in more dead pigs during transport in summer months, and more non-ambulatory pigs during fall and early winter. Some of the management strategies to reduce dead and non-ambulatory pigs during transport can be through changes in preparing the pigs for transport, facility design, handling, and transport conditions. For preparing the pigs, ways to reduce stress include previously handling pigs and withdrawing feed around 24 hours beforehand. The facility can be improved by decreasing loading distance, having large pens with pre-sorting capabilities, and changing the ramp design (angle). To minimize stress during handling, pigs should be moved primarily with boards, the use of electric prods should be minimized, groups should be kept small, and the intensity of handling should be reduced to give pigs time and space to move. Ways to optimize the trailer design are to use a straight-deck, provide more space per pig, avoid mixing unfamiliar pigs, and have strategies to reduce the impact of hot and cold weather. Many of these strategies require more studies on larger groups of pigs to confirm the results. Reducing the stress during transportation can help lower death and non-ambulatory rates during transport, and reduce the economic loss from these pigs.
Making an On-Farm Trial Work
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Trials run on products are typically done in university or research herds, and they may not accurately reflect how a product will work in commercial conditions. On-farm trials can more accurately reflect how a product will work with a commercial stocking density, herd health status, and general environment. Before starting an on-farm trial it should be decided which questions to answer, and determine if there will be financial benefit to the trial. Trial design is typically uses completely randomized design (CRD) or randomized complete block design (RCBD) to assign treatments to experimental units, and the replications per treatment need to be the same. CRD is the simpler option, but RCBD avoids confounding variables like starting weight or parity of sow being used in results. The number of replications depends on what level of difference needs to be detected, and the variability in the value used to measure results. A detailed trial protocol should be written up before starting the trial. Once data collection is completed, the data should be checked, summarized, and can be analyzed through programs like excel. It is often useful to analyze data in economic terms. Once the trial is complete, a more informed decision can be made for including a new product into production.
Making On Farm Research Trials Work
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Government funding for research has decreased, so producer-run research can allow facilities to contribute to research and to optimize their facilities production. Before starting an on-farm trial, the costs, equipment, and manpower should be considered. As well, the number of replications (at least 3), the experimental unit, and the experimental design should be determined before starting. During the trial, accurate data collection is necessary, and any pigs that are removed from the trial should be recorded with a reason. When comparing data to other trials it is important to consider the differences that exist between the trials, and adjusting the data to compare the same values. Between treatments it is important to keep all other variables the same. For example, flooring, feeders, drinkers, temperature, humidity etc. Properly conducting on-farm trials will determine is something is worth incorporating into production, whereas poorly conducted trials can give false results and end in wasted time and money.