At the Prairie Swine Center, studies are being done to discover how much phosphorus contained in rations is simply wasted. Results show that about 70% of the phosphorus contained in feed is simply evacuated without being processed. This usually ends up in fields but luckily Saskatchewan soils tend to be phosphorus deficient so does not pose an environmental risk. It does, however, add additional costs to hog producers. They must add artificially produced phosphorus to their feed, which is expensive. The researchers at the Prairie Swine Center are working on the use of an enzyme, which, when added to the feed, helps animals digest the naturally occurring phosphorus contained in their diets. Results from this research have shown that it is possible to get the same performance in animal nutrition with the enzyme without adding phosphorus. Using this enzyme, producers see a net benefit of around $0.33/pig.