Hulless barley creates excitement in hog industry

Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2009 | No Comments

The University of Saskatchewan’s
Crop Development Centre in Saskatoon has released its recently
registered low phytate hulless barley as a public variety. “That material is very interesting because it has low levels of phytic
acid in the barley,” states Dr. Brian Rossnagel, a barley and oat
breeder at the Crop Development Centre. The phosphorus in this variety is more readily available to the animals
that eat it, particularly hogs, rather than going in one end and out the
other creating potential issues with regard to phosphorus pollution. Release as a public variety means that seed growers can purchase
breeders seed from the Crop Development Centre, reproduce the seed
through the various generations of pedigreed seed and sell certified
seed free of royalties to anyone interested in growing it as feed,
particularly for swine. Dr. Rossnagel expects this new variety to be particularly useful to
those who grow their own feed.
“By not having any royalties associated with this variety we hope that
will make it flow more seamlessly and easily into the system.”

Challenges We Faced as Foreign Workers

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Looking back, it was quite a challenge getting set up to work here in Canada.
Without the help of our employers it would have been even harder. The
applicants also must be prepared well and think of all the necessary
paperwork and not just rely on other people.
When companies think about hiring people from overseas they have to keep
in mind that they also have to take good care of them as new Canadians.
Companies will not be able to keep good staff from foreign countries if they do
not feel comfortable in Canada. Therefore, the employers need to take care of
the essentials, such as accommodation, administrative things and support the
workers whenever they need help.
After living here more than a year, we will try to stay longer because we have
found that Alberta is a nice province to live in.

Ingredient Sourcing by the Liquid Feeder

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When we started liquid feeding in 1986 we had our fill of whey. With lots of
whey, all we wanted to do was feed pigs cheap with little concern for feed
conversion. We designed our system around this abundant product. When
we no longer had access to this cheap feed source we had to change our
mindset. We tried other products like DDGS, corn steep water and CDS, but
all of these didn’t quite work since we didn’t know then what we know now
about their characteristics. When we used a corn/soy diet our feed costs went
way up. Slowly we realized that we had to change our focus from growth to
feed conversion. That wasn’t easy because for many years our goal was
growth. Now we started focusing on low feed conversion and 800 to 900
grams per day growth in the finishing barn. We started with a Feed
Conversion that was higher than 3 in our finishing barns and have worked our
way back to the present level of 2.5 – 2.6. How did we do that? The first key
was trough management. We manage the trough so it is empty to almost dry, between feedings. Sounds easy but you have to stay at it for every trough
every day.
The second more complex thing we did was ration design. We produce our
own gilts and boars so our genetics are unique and so our rations had to be
unique. We added fat to our diet to see what our pigs would do with this extra
energy. After some trials we found that it added efficient gain. So we
wondered what extra protein would do. We bumped up the soybean meal and
got more efficient gain. What we want to do is meet the growth potential of
our pigs. And the only way to do that is to measure feed intake and growth
and follow trials through both successes and mistakes to perfect your own
best feed ration for your facility.

Variation in temperature within trucks transporting pigs during two seasons in two locations

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Temperatures were recorded within compartments of trucks transporting
market pigs at two locations, Saskatchewan (West) and Quebec (East), during
both summer and winter (6 replicates). A three-deck pot-belly truck (PB) was
used in the West, while both a PB and a double-deck truck (DD) were used in
the East. It was found that he temperature conditions during transport vary considerably
between seasons and among compartments within a vehicle. The actual findings are in the .pdf article below.

Chemical and microbiological characteristics of rice husk bedding having distinct depths and used for growing–finishing swine

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The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of distinct bedding depths on the chemical and physical characteristics of beddings used on the growing and finishing phases of swine production, and to associate those characteristics with the dynamics of the microbiota. It was found that different bedding depths were associated with changes in the chemical and microbiological characteristics of the beddings. Rice husk beddings 0.50 m deep
contained a higher total waste volume due to its higher dry matter content, but such volume can be attributed to its higher bedding volume, which makes such bedding more expensive. Besides its lower cost, 0.25 m deep beddings are preferable because they presented compost with greater agronomic value and lower counts of thermophilic bacteria, which provide better environmental comfort for the pigs.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09608524

Dietary protein modifies effect of plant extracts in the intestinal ecosystem of the pig at weaning

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The plant extract mixture (XT) used in the present experiment, containing carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde, and capsicum oleoresin, has previously been shown to decrease diarrhea mortality and to modify the intestinal environment of pigs after weaning. However, results obtained among experiments have not been consistent. We hypothesized that dietary protein could be a main factor determining the effect of plant extracts on intestinal environment. Thus, in the present
study we assessed the effects of XT in piglet diets with different protein sources and amounts. Pigs weaned at 20 ± 1 d of age (n = 240) were allocated to 1 of 6 treatments, which followed a factorial arrangement, with 2 amounts (as-fed basis) of the XT (0 and 200 mg/kg) and 3 diets with various amounts of CP and protein sources. Diet FM18 contained 10% of low-temperature fish meal (LT-FM) and a CP level of 18%; diet SBM18 contained 5% of LT-FM plus 9% of full fat extruded soy and a CP level of 18%; and SBM20 diet contained 10% of LT-FM plus 6.3% of full fat extruded soy and
a CP level of 20%. Growth performance of the animals was recorded for 14 d, but no differences were detected among treatments. Eight pigs per treatment were killed to examine variables describing aspects of gastrointestinal ecology. For diets containing 18% CP, FM18 and SBM18, XT tended to decrease ileal digestibility of OM (P = 0.064 and 0.071, respectively) and decreased starch digestibility (P = 0.032 and 0.014, respectively). It also reduced villi length (P = 0.003 and 0.013, respectively) and tended to decrease intraepithelial lymphocyte number (P = 0.051 and 0.100, respectively) in the proximal jejunum. The XT inclusion also increased ileal lactobacilli:enterobacteria (P = 0.017) ratio and decreased VFA production in the cecum (P = 0.045) for all diets. A decreased CP level appeared to favor
the effects of the studied plant extracts in a positive or negative way depending on the variable measured. The microbial differences produced by XT could be the reason for improved digestive health observed by the authors in stronger challenging conditions (e.g., dirtier environments or long fasting periods after weaning).

For more information the full article can be found at http://jas.fass.org/

Built to Last

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When Dave Kneller of Silver Lake, IN, started a contract nursery eleven years ago he had a paramount goal when he selected equipment: durability. “My dad wanted the equipment to last so I wouldn’t have to go into debt again and
remodel seven, eight or ten years after I bought it,” says Matt Kiieller, who purchased the facilities from his dad in 2005. Matt is glad his dad selected the Farmweld Flooring System, Farmweld nursery feeders, vertical rod gating and Farmweld DRIK-0-MAT Water Cups. “I’ve never replaced a feeder or a single piece of flooring, and I can’t see any wear — anywhere,” The Farmweld Flooring System is manufactured from high quality polypropylene, designed for precise molding and superior strength. The flooring panels’ stabilized corners and full inch of vertical beam support keep it from tipping or buckling underneath the pigs even as they run and shift positions.

Absorption of carbohydrate-derived nutrients in sows as influenced by types and contents of dietary fiber

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This study investigated the absorption and plasma concentration of carbohydrate-derived nutrients and the apparent insulin production sows fed diets containing contrasting types and contents of dietary fibre. It was concluded that feeding high dietary fiber diets resulted in an increase and more uniform uptake of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) than when feeding the low fibre (LF) control. Also, the high soluble fiber (HF-S) diet reduced diurnal variation in glucose and insulin concentrations.

For more information the full article can be found at http://jas.fass.org/

Teamwork drives new progress in livestock transport

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Livestock, meat and transport sectors working together across North America for humane, safe and effective livestock transport.

Livestock producers, transporters and meat processors each deal with different business challenges but all share a critical interest – the welfare of livestock under their care. This priority and the benefits of working together to address it was a key focus of the recent Livestock Transport Conference in Calgary, AB. Themed “Are we there yet?” the conference brought together over 120 people including transporters, livestock producers, researchers and other industry leaders from across North America. “Livestock care is a growing focus of industry and consumers worldwide, and livestock transport is one of the most critical and visible components,” says Dr. Duane Landals, a veterinarian and a board member of Alberta Farm Animal Care, one of the conference sponsors.

The standardized ileal digestible valine-to-lysine requirement ratio is at least seventy percent in postweaned piglets

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To reduce the impact of animal production on the environment, the CP content of the diet can be reduced by limiting the excess supply of AA. Improving the balance between AA relative to the requirement of the animal implies that we need to have accurate knowledge of the requirement of individual AA.The purpose of this study was to determine the Val requirement in postweaned piglets (12 to 25 kg) because Val is considered to be potentially limiting to performance after Lys, Met (and Cys), Thr, and Trp. The results of the experiments indicated that the SID Val:Lys was at least 70%, which was slightly greater than the current NRC recommendation.

For more information the full article can be found at http://jas.fass.org/