Using Pulses, Canola Meal and Other Strategies to Enhance the Cost-Competitiveness of Swine Diets and Resulting Production Efficiency

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Optimising feed costs and implementing strategies to improve efficiency is essential if modern pork production is to remain profitable. A wide range of external factors currently challenge the viability of pig enterprises worldwide, including foreign exchange rates, consumption of limited starch and edible oil resources for ethanol and bio-diesel production and competing pork import and export markets. Pulses and oilseed meals have represented a valuable nutrient source for pigs for many years, but their importance in pig diets may be increasing. Firstly, they have potential to supply significant proportions of energy as well as protein without being in demand for biofuel production or in fact increasing in availability as a result of biofuel production. Secondly, increasing scrutiny over the use of mammalian proteins in pig diets and segregation within feed mills means pulses and oilseed meals are sometimes the only protein sources available. This paper describes opportunities to exploit pulses and canola meal in pig diets and ways to ensure the nutrients they supply are used with optimum efficiency. The comparatively high crude protein and available amino acid content of pulses compared with cereals makes them a valuable addition to pig diets. In contrast, the lower starch content of peas, and particularly lupins, compared with cereal grains, reduces their net energy contributions to pig diets (i.e. a higher proportion of the energy derived from pulses fed to pigs is derived from fermentation in the hind gut compared to cereals) and this needs to be considered if they are being incorporated into diets at higher than traditional levels. The response of pigs of all ages to canola meal inclusion in diets is generally favourable. In particular, the nutritional quality of canola meal will be influenced by: the residual oil content which will impact on the digestible energy content of the meal and the levels of glucosinolates; the need to ensure they do not impair circulating tri-iodothyronine levels or feed intake; and the level of heat imparted during oil extraction does not damage the residual proteins and thus reduce bio-availability of amino acids. The digestible energy content of the canola meal is directly related to the level of residual oil. The higher the oil content the higher the digestible energy content. With increasing cost pressure against the cereal component of pig diets, there is potential to increase the use of pulses and canola meal as energy sources as well as protein sources. As a consequence, there is a need to review the factors that influence maximum inclusion level of these ingredients so they can be used as constraints when formulating commercial diets. Pulses and oilseed meals will be in increased demand for use in pig diets given the cost pressures against cereals and increasing scrutiny over the inclusion of mammalian proteins in livestock diets. There is sufficient nutritional knowledge to ensure pulses and canola meal are included in pig diets and utilized with optimum efficiency, however, there is a need to ensure variation in nutritional quality is accounted for prior to diet formulation and to ensure that higher inclusion levels of these products are not comprised as a result of lack of attention to the potential negative effects of anti-nutritional factors or non-starch polysaccharides.

Comparison of the lipid content and fatty acid composition of intermuscular and subcutaneous adipose tissues in pig carcasses

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Spatial clustering of swine influenza in Ontario on the basis of herd-level disease status with different misclassification errors

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This approach maximizes sensitivity of serology-based monitoring systems by considering spatial clustering of herds classified as false positive by herd testing, allowing outbreaks to be detected in an early phase. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether swine herds infected with influenza viruses cluster in space, and if so, where they cluster. The secondary objective was to investigate the combining of a multivariate spatial scan statistic with herd test results to maximize the sensitivity of the surveillance system for swine influenza. We tested for spatial clustering of swine influenza using the Cuzick–Edwards test as a global test. The location of the most likely spatial clusters of cases for each
subtype and strain in a sample of 65 sow and 72 finisher herds in 2001 (Ontario, Canada), and 76 sow herds in 2003 (Ontario, Canada) was determined by a spatial scan statistic in a purely spatial Bernoulli model based on single and multiple datasets.

Finishing pigs with corn steep water can be beneficial

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Feeding phytase-treated corn steep water (CSW) to finishing pigs can be beneficial if the CSW is available at reasonable cost and you don’t feed too much, concludes a new study. However, it can result in reduced weight gain. Dr. Kees de Lange, a Professor in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Guelph, notes that liquid feeding of swine is increasing in Ontario, allowing the use of inexpensive liquid co-products from the food and bio-fuel industry, such as CSW.
“The producers have to look at the cost benefit of using CSW in their feed,” he says, cautioning that CSW is beneficial only up to 15 per cent of dry matter in liquid diets. “If you go much higher than 15 per cent, it looks like the palatability of the feed is reduced,” he says. Reduced intake naturally results in increased days to market. The study notes that high phytate and sulfur content
may contribute to reduced palatability of CSW. The CSW used in the study, produced at CASCO’s (Canada Starch Operating Company Inc.) London plant, was incubated with phytase to degrade phytate before it was delivered to the Arkell Swine Research Station at the University of Guelph. CSW, a co-product of the corn starch and syrup industry, is available to producers through feed brokers. Four experimental diets were formulated to test the use of CSW (0, 7.5, 15 and 22.5 per cent on a dry matter basis) and
were fed to finishing pigs, starting at a body weight of about 70 kilograms. There were four pens of eight pigs for each treatment, with an equal number of gilts and barrows in each pen. Body weight and per-pen feed usage was monitored weekly. When pigs reached slaughter weight, one barrow and one gilt from each pen were shipped to the meats laboratory at the University of Guelph for detailed assessment of carcass and meat quality. The remaining pigs were sent to a commercial pig processing facility for routine carcass evaluation. The study concludes that phytase may be added to
warm CSW soon after it has been separated from the starch containing fraction in the wet corn milling process. The release of phytate-bound phosphorus was nearly complete 24 hours after phytase was added, and enhances substantially the phosphorus available to pigs. A “negative effective” on growth performance observed when CSW exceeded 15 per cent was due to a slight reduction in feed intake and worsening of feed efficiency. The observed reductions did not affect meat quality except for
a reduction in drip loss from the meat, which means more profit for meat processors.
“We looked at various aspects of meat quality,” de Lange says, “and they were not influenced by the feeding of corn steep water, except for this change in drip loss.”

Rising Demand for Meat: Who Will Feed China’s Hogs?

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Manure technology for the 21st Century

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Research innovations will make it more practical and economical for Canada’s beef
industry to turn potential waste into a valuable resource.
“Sustainability” is a concept that can be hard to pin down. For Dr. Xiaomei Li, it’s all
about balance. And right now, that balance is out of whack when it comes to producing
beef and managing manure. Li is on the front line of innovations to do just that. Among several projects in recent
years, Li and colleagues developed a new phosphorous model, to assist operators in
determining manure application rates that are environmentally safe.

Real-time Control of Pig Growth through an Integrated Management System

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This paper describes the development and testing of the first prototype closed-loop, model-based, real-time system for the integrated control of pig growth and pollutant emissions. In each of two trials, growing pigs were reared from 30–50 to 65–125 kg in groups of 12 in 12 separate pens under controlled environment conditions at ADAS Terrington (Norfolk, England). They were fed ad libitum diets in which the protein content was controlled for each pen. Weight, estimated by visual image analysis, and feed intake were recorded daily for each pig. The control system was based on a mechanistic growth model. Each week, two model parameters were optimised using the data to improve the prediction, then the diet for each pen was optimised by adjusting the crude protein content between 140 and 190 g/kg [dry matter] to minimise the model error from a target for weight or fat depth. Part of the trial set weight gain targets of 50 and 60 kg over 70 days using two pens for each target. In three of the four pens the final mean weight of the pigs was within 2 kg of the
target; in the fourth, growth was on target until it was interrupted close to the end of the trial. This trial has demonstrated the potential of the system to control the growth rate of pigs and has given encouraging but not conclusive results for the control of back fat depth.

A ROBUST SENSOR FOR MONITORING THE OPERATIONAL STATUS OF AGRICULTURAL VENTILATION FANS

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The effects of thermal treatment of field peas (Pisum sativum L.) on nutrient and energy digestibility by growing pigs

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An experiment was conducted to measure the effect of thermal treatment on the digestibility of CP, AA, starch, NDF, ADF, and energy in field peas fed to growing pigs. Five pea-containing diets were formulated. The peas included in these diets were either not heat-treated (control) or extruded at 75, 115, or 155°C or pelleted at 75°C. A N-free diet was also included in the experiment to measure basal endogenous losses of CP and AA. The 6 diets were fed to 6 growing pigs (initial BW: 69.3 ± 2.9 kg) that were allotted to dietary treatments in a 6 × 6 Latin square design. A T-cannula was installed in the distal ileum of each pig, allowing for the collection of ileal digesta. Each experimental
period lasted 9 d; fecal samples were collected on d 6 and 7, and ileal samples were collected on d 8 and 9 of each period. Apparent ileal digestibilities (AID) for CP, AA, starch, and energy and standardized ileal digestibility values (SID) for CP and AA were calculated. Apparent total tract digestibilities (ATTD) for NDF, ADF, starch, and energy were also calculated. As the extrusion temperature increased, the AID and SID for CP and all AA, except Pro, increased (quadratic, P < 0.05). In contrast, except for Arg and Pro, the peas that were pelleted at 75°C had AID and SID for CP and AA that were similar to those obtained for the control peas but less (P < 0.05) than the AID for the peas that were extruded at 75°C. The AID for starch and energy increased (linear, P < 0.001) as the extrusion temperature increased to 155°C (from 89.8 to 95.9% and from 71.5 to 79.0%, respectively), but the AID for starch and energy in the pelleted diet was not different from the AID in the control diet (90.1 vs. 89.8% and 69.1 vs. 71.5%, respectively). The ATTD for starch varied from 98.6 to 99.7% and did not differ among treatments. Likewise, no differences were observed for the ATTD of NDF and ADF. However, the ATTD for energy in the diets increased from 89.0 to 93.3% (linear and quadratic, P < 0.05) as field peas were extruded, and the ATTD for energy in the pelleted diet was also greater (P < 0.05) than that of the control diet (91.6 vs. 89.0%). In conclusion, extrusion of field peas increases the AID of CP, AA, starch, and energy and the ATTD of energy. Pelleting field peas at 75°C does not influence the AID of nutrients or energy but improves the ATTD of energy.

Application of an Integrated Management System to Improve Performance and Profitability in Finishing Pigs

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Despite the varying degrees of success, there is no doubt that the integrated management approach to predicting growth and feed intake, significantly enhances the decision-making process for producers. It quantifies both the technical and financial outcomes to production stimuli, and therefore eliminates the need for educated guesses. This paper outlines key components of an integrated simulation model, “Watson” and how it has been applied within Nutreco Canada. “Watson” was developed by integrating the science and practice of pig production into an easy to use Web-based software application. The science and theoretical framework have been extensively validated with over 20 trials conducted to test significant drivers and components of the model. Its framework is unique and flexible to allow the prediction of voluntary feed intake, as well as predicting performance and financial outcomes reasonably accurately under commercial conditions. One of the main purposes of “Watson” is to integrate the complex interactions between the animal, its environment and its diet into a management system that accurately predicts the animal’s performance under commercial conditions, including cause and effect responses to any change in the production environment. Therefore, the application of “Watson” provides solutions to a number of production, economic, and nutritional changes as well as assisting in the diagnosis of potential production problems. Outputs from “Watson” allow the producer to monitor current performances with expected performances and therefore identify periods of slower growth during rather than after the grower/finisher period. In addition, performances can be benchmarked against other producers or previous close-outs. Clearly, as feed and hog prices change so to will the optimum marketing strategy change for a producer. “Watson” has the dual capacity to access and utilize existing branded products, or perform least cost formulations for individual customers based on the predicted nutrient requirements of their genetics, health status and their ingredients. With these features it is possible to determine the optimum nutrient requirements based on the producer’s economic or performance objective, for different nutrient density of the diets, and for different feed budgets; minimize under and over-feeding nutrients; and estimate the impacts of alternative technologies such as Paylean. Of particular importance is the ability to define optimum feeding strategies based on current feed ingredient prices, as well as future ingredient prices. Therefore, responses in gross profit to changing energy density and/or the lysine:energy ratio of the diet can be predicted. One of the consequences of being able to predict daily feed intake and lean tissue deposition is the ability to determine the amount of nutrient excretion, especially nitrogen and phosphorus excretion. For every simulation it is possible to determine the total amount of N and P that is excreted per pig per closeout period. Where N and P excretion is closely regulated, “Watson” can be used to develop feeding programs, including diets and feed budgets, which will reduce excretion of N and P. The ability to make well informed economic decisions in a complex and constantly changing production environment is becoming increasingly dependent on the application of integrated management models. “Watson” can dynamically assimilate the whole production process in order to predict the cause and effect responses to vectors of change within the commercial production environment.