Feeding Green to Save Green

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Production by admin on May 13, 2013 | No Comments

Pork producers are always looking for new ways in which they can increase their efficiencies through reducing feed costs. Feeding coproducts from the fuel ethanol industry like distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) or from the wheat flour industry like millrun can reduce feed cost and spare inclusion of imported soybean meal. But these coproducts have reduced starch content that propels pigs to grow. Calories thus need to come from other sources instead like fat. One high fat feedstuff that can spare calories from starch is green canola seed. It might be available as close as your own farm or the neighbours.

Prairie Swine Centre Spring Meeting Presentations

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre, Press Releases by admin on May 8, 2013 | No Comments

Throughout the month of April, Prairie Swine Centre hosted a series of producer meetings throughout Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.  The purpose of the meetings was to bring the latest information from the Centre to industry, and provide pork producers an opportunity to speak with the Researchers regarding the research program at PSC along with other ideas, challenges and solutions producers may have.

Prairie Swine Centre would like to thank Elanco Animal Health for their continued sponsorship of the spring producer meeting series.

For more information on individual presentations, please follow the links below.

Nutrition of the Newly Weaned Pig – Denise Beaulieu, Laura Eastwood (Prairie Swine Centre)

Considerations for Conversions, What Does the Science Say? – Jennifer Brown, Yolande Seddon (Prairie Swine Centre)

Inclusion of Dietary Co-Products Impact on Performance and Bottom Line – Ruurd Zijlstra (University of Alberta)

Research Focused on Success for Group Housing of Sows – Laurie Connor (University of Manitoba)

Enhancing Profitability Through Swine Innovation? – Ken Engele (Prairie Swine Centre, on behalf of Swine Innovation Porc)

Centred on Swine Volume 18

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre by admin on January 24, 2013 | No Comments

Individual articles in these issues of Centred on Swine are located in our PorkInsight Database.

Volume 18 Number 1

• The overall response of piglets to phase one diets during the first two weeks in the nursery is not affected by creep feeding or weaning weight
• Top 10 developments in swine nutrition, 1991 to 2012
• Using ‘translactational analgesia’ to reduce piglet pain at castration
• Early detection and interventions for reducing lameness in gestating sows
• A revolution in feed management is coming to your operations!
  

Volume 18 Number 2

• Contract Research Services at Prairie Swine Centre: It’s What We do!
  
• National Sow Housing Conversion Project
• Feeding Green to Save Green
• Interactions between Sow Temperament and Housing Systems
• Evaluation of a Bio-Trickling Treatment for Exhaust Air from Swine Facilities
• Thirty Five Years of Change

2012 Research Results

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre, Press Releases by admin on December 19, 2012 | No Comments

NUTRITION

Field peas can be incorporated into grow-finish diets, up to 60%, without affecting performance or diet palatability. The usage of peas in swine diets should be based on economics and availability.   At current price relationships (Fall 2012) incorporating peas into grow-finish diets would save up to $2.00/hog.

Pigs segregated at nursery exit based on their growth rate from birth (fast, medium or slow growing) will have similar growth and nutrient (protein, lipid, ash) deposition rates during the growing (30 to 60 kg BW) and finishing (90 to 120 kg BW) periods.

There was no interaction between feeding level, energy concentration in the diet and phenotype (pigs selected for differing potential growth rates) for growth or nutrient deposition rates for pigs growing or finishing pigs. The utilization of different feeding programs for pigs segregated into projected growth potential groups in the nursery is not advised.

Dietary net energy (NE) estimated using 1) equations developed in Europe (French or Dutch) based on digestible nutrients, 2) indirect calorimetry, or 3) retained energy (carcass slaughter technique) showed good agreement between indirect calorimetry and the equations, while the NE based on retained energy was typically lower. Diet formulation must use ingredient values derived from one system.

In growing pigs, grams of nitrogen (protein) retained per caloric intake was higher when the energy was derived primarily from starch rather than fat.  Nutritionists should consider incorporating starch as a nutrient in their diet formulation matrixes.

We previously reported that feeding creep (supplemental feed in farrowing) was not advantageous. However, we have now shown that only 40 % of piglets offered creep in the farrowing room consume it. Creep feed intake does improve growth weaning weight; we need to find methods to improve the proportion of pigs who consume it.  Developing management strategies that improve the number of pigs consumng creep feed (>90%) would result in a net benefit of $.50/pig.

Consumption of creep feed in the farrowing room did correlate with increased consumption of phase 1 diet during the first 24 hours post-weaning. We need to look at solutions which combine behaviour and nutrition to mitigate the post-weaning growth lag.

Adding 8 % spray dried animal plasma to nursery diets containing mycotoxin contaminated wheat (2 ppm deoxynivalenol in final diets) mitigated the negative effects of the mycotoxin.  Nutritionists should consider the addition of SDAP to diets for growing pigs if contamination is suspected.

Adding a clay to nursery diets containing mycotoxin contaminated wheat (2 ppm deoxynivalenol in final diets) did not mitigate the effect of the mycotoxin.

Based on all reproductive data for an entire set of omega-6:omega-3 ratio trials, a plant based ratio of  5:1 is optimal. When the ratio was dropped to 1:1 negative effects were observed (reduced piglet performance, reduced sow feed intake in lactation, increased reliance on body fat to provide nutrients in milk).  Benefit to the producer would be $.60/pig.

When including omega-3’s (ie.  from flaxseed or fish oil) into sow diets, it is important for producers to account for the ratio relative to omega-6 as opposed to formulating rations based on an absolute amount of omega-3.

ENGINEERING

A benchmark survey revealed that groundwater well is the main source of water for many pig barns, at an average usage of 965 gallons per pig produced. Many barns do not keep track of their actual water utility cost; for those few which did, the estimated average water cost was $0.36/pig.

Relative to conventional nipple drinkers, the use of a drinking trough with side panel and constant water level saved significant amount of water (8.175 L/day-pig vs. 6.7 L/day-pig) due to reduced water wastage (3.77 L/day-pig vs. 1.27 L/day-pig), without adversely affecting pig performance.

High pressure washing using a conventional nozzle led to lesser time and water consumption during the cleaning process.  High pressure washing in fully slatted concrete flooring can be done without soaking the room.

Compared to current conventional practices, the combination of using a drinking trough with side panel and constant water level for animal drinking and pre-soaking and high pressure washing with conventional nozzle for cleaning can potentially save up to $9.24/pig due to reduced overall water use and accumulated manure slurry.

The use of radiant heater can improve the overall barn energy efficiency as it consumed lesser total energy (both natural gas and electricity) compared to a forced-convection heater system.  This type of system will imprive operating costs by approximately $2.00/pig.

The use of radiant heater or forced-convection heater did not significantly influence pig performance (ADG, ADFI, feed efficiency and mortality rate) and indoor air quality.  The benefits from the use of radiant heaters can be maximized and its economic feasibility can be improved if such type of heater is used in areas in the barn with high heating requirement and with longer periods of heating demand throughout the year.

Sprinkling canola oil in swine facilities is effective in reducing airbourne dust levels. System would cost approximately $2.70/pig.

In order to develop effective measures in reducing worker exposure, applied measures must reduce the potential of contaminant sources or associated activities to generate emissions, thereby lowering both airborne contaminant levels as well as exposure of the workers to these emissions.

ETHOLOGY

Over 95% of gestating sows in walk-in/lock-in stall housing made use of the free space, over half of them spent less than 5% of their time outside of stalls.  Larger, older sows used the free space significantly more than did younger sows, suggesting that younger, subordinate sows may be reluctant to exit stalls due to aggression.

Use of free space in walk-in/lock-in systems is an important factor, as increased activity is thought to improve bone strength, sow longevity and productivity by reducing birthing intervals and crushing of piglets in lactation. Factors found to increase use of the free space include: training of gilts on entry to facilitate their exit from stalls, improving the quality of the free space by including solid floor areas and solid partitions as sows prefer these areas for resting (e.g as found in ‘T’ pens), addition of rubber mats to the free area floors to increase sow comfort, and segregating sows by age and size into low and high parity groups.

A subjective study of loading facilities identified positive and negative factors that influence pigs’ behaviour at loading.  Facility design features that promote ease of loading include use of loading rooms near the loadout, wide alleys, separate manways, adequate lighting, even flooring with good traction, low slopes on ramps (<20°), and covered trailer docks.

Handling methods that reduce stress and promote ease of handling at loading include pen-walking or handling of pigs before loading (training), minimal prod use (less that 2x per pig), appropriate use of handling boards, moving group sizes appropriate to the facility design and handler’s skill, and familiarity with behavioural techniques (e.g. using body position to promote movement, providing ‘release’ once pigs are moving).

During transport, pigs stand more in winter than in summer. This is likely to reduce heat loss to the trailer floor. During long trips in winter, this can result in increased energy depletion and fatigue in pigs, as well as production of more meat showing dark, firm and dry (DFD) or red, soft and exudative (RSE) characteristics. Winter transport was also associated with increased metabolic rate (elevated heart rate and body temperature) and increased dehydration.

Transport of pigs during the summer results in a greater risk of death losses due to acute heat stress.  The greatest number of losses occurs in the rear trailer compartments. The highest trailer temperatures, body temperatures and heart rates were found shortly after loading.

Implementation of measures to reduce heat stress are most important at loading. For example, truckers should leave the farm as soon as possible after loading and travel continuously for 1-2 hours tp cool pigs before stopping. Load manifests should be completed prior to loading, and loading near midday should be avoided. Loading density should be reduced in problem compartments, and the rear panels of the trailer should be fully perforated to allow maximum air flow.

The effects of long duration transport on pigs are greater in winter than summer, and vary significantly between compartments. Pigs transported 18 h in winter showed elevated body temperatures indicating an increased metabolic rate, and took longer to rest and drank more in lairage, indicating delayed recovery compared to pigs transported for 6 or 12 h.

Sprinkling of pigs on the truck immediately before departure from the farm, and before unloading at the abattoir was found to alleviate heat stress when applied at temperatures >23°C.

Fine Tuning Your Operation When Times Are Tight

Posted in: Nutrition, Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Press Releases by admin on October 5, 2012 | No Comments

Any time is a good time to review management practices within your operation.  In the current environment of high feed prices and tight margins producers are more aggressively seeking ways to reduce costs and increase revenue.  Prairie Swine Centre’s research program focuses on ways to enhance the economic position of pork producers throughout Canada.  The following list are some, easy-to-adopt ideas, that can be incorporated into your operation immediately.  Many of these ideas may be already implemented in your operation – in that case it serves as a reminder as to the importance of each aspect.

1. Adding peas to the diets at 60% inclusion
   1. Work at Prairie Swine Centre has shown a high inclusion (60%) of peas does not necessarily result in reduced feed intake.  At current market conditions, every $10/mt reduction in finishing diets will save approximately $1.20 per market hog.  A bi-weekly publication (Feed Pea Benchmark) produced by Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba Pulse Growers provides a quick summary on what the price of peas needs to be in order to price into diets.
2. Monitor Temperature
   1. Elevated barn  temperatures reduce feed intake and thus growth rate. For every 1°C above the pig’s thermoneutral zone, feed intake drops by 1-2% and growth rate drops by about 3%. Thus, for every °C above the pigs thermoneutral zone, net income is reduced by $0.50 to $0.75 per pig.
   2. Reduced nocturnal temperature.  Reducing the setpoint temperature by 6°C during hot weather, the barn becomes cooler at night, with somewhat shorter duration of high temperatures. The net result was an increase in growth rate of 2-5%, equal to 2 to 5 fewer days to market; this is valued at $0.50 to $1.00 per pig sold.
   3. The past three winters PSC has been challenging our lower setpoint temperatures in all rooms by reducing setpoints1-2^oC lower than published values.  The result is lower utility costs and no change in productivity (7% or more reduction in utility costs).
3. Properly adjusted water nipples and flow rates
   1. By adjusting nipple drinker height, water wastage can be reduced by up to 20% for grower/finisher pigs. High flow rate can result in more water spillage from nipple drinkers.
   2. Nipple drinkers should be adjusted to 5cm higher than the smallest pig in the pen.  Having the drinker adjusted to a lower  setting will result in additional 10% water wastage in grower and 20% in finisher.
   3. Water wastage increased by 7% with a higher water flow rate of 1,000 ml/min compared to 500 ml/min.
4. Properly adjusted feeders

• A 5% feed wastage at the present time costs the pork producer more than $2 per pig sold. It may be impossible to eliminate feed wastage, but research at Prairie Swine Centre has shown that with most commercial feeders, wastage of 3% or less is not an unreasonable expectation.  Research has shown that having a feeder adjusted to achieve 40% pan coverage will have the optimal combination of reducing feed wastage and maximizing pig performance.

6. Energy levels in finishing diets
   1. Under typical market conditions, high energy diets do not necessarily result in the highest return over feed cost.  Feed efficiency is improved with higher energy diets, however  additional diet costs far exceed the beneficial impact of feed efficiency.  Cost savings range from $3-$5.00 per hog under current market conditions.
7. Review your ideal shipping core
   1. This requires monitoring feed intake and growth as pigs approach market weight and comparing this to the changes in yield and index as market weights increase. In this way, determine the cost of adding an extra kilogram to the market weight, and compare that cost to the added income.
   2. With a finishing diet costing $0.25 per kilogram, and a feed conversion at of 4.0:1, it costs $1.00 to add 1 kg to the live weight. Assuming a dressing percentage of 80% and an index of 109, the price of pigs must be at least $1.15 per ckg to break even on added market weight.
       
8. Power washing and sprinkling
   1. Recent work at Prairie Swine Centre indicates soaking prior to pressure-washing a fully-slatted production room may not be necessary.  Additional labour costs associated without sprinkling are offset by lower water (including well pumping) costs.
   2. Conventional  pressure washer nozzles have been shown to be the most efficient in terms of labour requirements and total water used.  They have been shown to save up to $50 per hog marketed when compared to other nozzle types.
       
9. Check particle size
   1. Once the diet has been formulated there are still opportunities to reduce costs by observing particle size stays within the 650-700 micron range to ensure optimum digestibility. Frequently, due to screen wear, improper screen size or hammer wear, the feeds milled on farm are significantly over the 700-micron threshold.  For every 100 microns under 700 the feed conversion improves 1.2%. With feed costs today of $110 per finished hog, moving from say a 3.0 F/G to a 2.96 F/G (the effect of 1.2% improvement, or 100 micron reduction in feed particle size) is worth $1.30 per pig marketed.

While this is not an exhaustive list, it’s meant to take a quick look at your operation and potentially find a couple of hidden dollars, or perhaps re-enforce why we do certain things.  If you are looking for more information there is a wide array of resources available at www.prairieswine.com – or if you have other ideas to save costs don’t hesitate to any one of the Research Scientists at Prairie Swine Centre.

Loading Facilities for Market Hogs: Saskatchewan’s Top 10

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre by admin on April 18, 2012 | No Comments

For swine producers, loading pigs at marketing can be one of the most stressful and time-consuming experiences. Problems at loading also affect the welfare of animals and have a significant economic impact as they may cause death losses, carcass damage and meat quality problems. The objective of this project was to identify components of swine loadouts that have the greatest impact on pig stress and loading time.  Ten swine loadouts in Saskatchewan were visited, and the facility design and handling methods at each facility were documented by photographs and video footage.

This study found that there is a large variation in facilities and handling skills across the swine industry, and often little opportunity for producers or barn employees to gain new knowledge. Lighting, flooring, alley and ramp dimensions, and animal handling techniques all have the potential to cause problems when moving pigs through a facility. The best loadouts in Saskatchewan are ones which take these factors into account.  The results highlight the fact that handling of pigs can be improved by a variety of measures, ranging from extensive load-out renovations, to simple changes in lighting and handling techniques.

Developing Strategies for Water Conservation for Producers

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments

Animal drinking and cleaning are the top uses of water in swine barns. Using water conservation strategies to reduce water use will ultimately lower cost of production and contribute towards a more sustainable environment as less manure slurry is created. In order to find out which water conservation strategy is most effective, experiments were performed using different animal drinkers and cleaning strategies. It was found that about 60% less water wastage was achieved when a trough with side panel and constant water level was used compared to the nipple drinkers. Also, at barn clean up, the use of a conventional nozzle led to lesser time and water consumption during high pressure washing.

The results suggest that the use of the trough with the side panel and constant water level for drinking has the greatest potential for water savings without affecting pig performance. High pressure washing using the rotating turbo nozzle led to lesser time and water consumption during the cleaning process. Also, high pressure washing in fully slatted concrete flooring can be done without prior water sprinkling (soaking).

Can Omega-3 Fatty Acids Modulate the Immune Response of Pigs?

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments

Our experiments demonstrated that feeding n3 fatty acids to sows can affect piglet responses to immune challenges at weaning. We also showed that feeding piglets’ starter diets with n3’s in the nursery can also modulate their inflammatory reactions. Altering the n6:n3 fatty acid ratio in either sow or piglet diets can affect febrile and inflammatory cell responses of piglets when challenged with E. Coli LPS post-weaning.

When sows consumed an n6:n3 ratio of 1:1, their piglets had elevated body temperatures and a greater response to the immune challenge compared to piglets from sows consuming the other diets. When fed to piglets, a ratio of 5:1 n6:n3 tended to increase production of some inflammatory cells, but did not affect body temperature.

Based on these results we hypothesize that either the n6 fatty acids are not as inflammatory as we originally thought; or alternatively, that there is an ‘optimal’ n6:n3 ratio in the diet. Going below this ‘optimal’ ratio, the energy required to generate the immune response takes nutrients away from growth and can actually be a hindrance to piglet productivity and health.

Based on our preliminary results, we can recommend that pork producers include plant based n3 fatty acids such as those found in flaxseed, into the diets of lactating sows or newly weaned piglets, but to ensure that the ratio does not go below 5:1 n6:n3. Further experiments are being conducted to determine the consequences of generating immune responses, and the implications on animal health and performance.

Focus on Feed Efficiency in Pork Production

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments

Feed represents the largest proportion of cost of production, contributing up to 70% of the variable cost of production. This is nothing new. However in the past couple of years we have seen feed costs rise to historically high levels, while costs may retreat somewhat, it is highly unlikely in the short term that we will see feed costs dip to levels experienced in 2004 and 2005.

Since feed costs represent the largest portion of cost of production, it also represents the greatest opportunity for reducing costs in particular the grower-finisher barn.  With the higher feed costs there has been a greater push towards managing feed efficiency within operations. At current feed costs an improvement in feed efficiency of 0.1 kg of feed per kg of gain will result in a greater than $2.00 net income per pig marketed.

There are a number of considerations that need to be taken into account when examining feed efficiency in pork production: These are environmental (temperature, humidity, air circulation), social (space allocation, group size, re-grouping), immunological (disease, pathogen concentration), and management (particle size, feeder adjustment).

While this is not an inclusive list, it gives us the perspective of the multi-disciplinary approach that is required to achieve the full potential of managing feed efficiency. One of the ways in which Prairie Swine Centre is delivering this message is through a series of webinars specifically dedicated to a “Focus on Feed Efficiency”.  This series of eight Feed Efficiency webinars are being delivered in partnership with the Farm Leadership Council starting March 5 and concluding June 19. Webinars will run on two week intervals by well-known experts in the area of feed efficiency discussing a wide range of topics including: feeding and barn management, whole herd factors, feed processing, new technologies and health impact on feed efficiency.

Swine Innovation. What Does It Mean for Producers?

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Swine Innovation by admin on | No Comments

The pork industry is no stranger to change. While the change in the industry has garnered most of the headlines in recent years, Canadian pork producers have always been on the leading edge of incorporating new technologies and management practices that enhance the competitive position of their business. One of the roles researchers play is ensuring producers have all the tools available to remain competitive.

Research is addressing some of the questions of the pork industry through the Canadian Swine Research and Development Cluster.  The Canadian Swine Research and Development Cluster rebranded as Swine Innovation Porc is a multi-year $9.6 million program established within the Growing Canadian Agri-Innovation Program – Canadian Agri-Science Initiative of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, in addition to receiving financial support from private sector and provincial government organizations.

Swine Innovation Porc objectives are to facilitate research, technology transfer and commercialization initiatives designed to enhance the competitiveness and differentiation of Canada’s pork industry.