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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:
Recent Developments in Nutritional Programs for Wean-to-Finish Pigs
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by student on August 3, 2018
Authors: Bob Goodband, Mike Tokach, Steve Dritz, Joel DeRouchey and Jason Woodworth
Reference: Banff Pork Seminar Proceedings 2018
Summary: Due to the utilization of technology there has been significant improvement in wean-to-finish growth performance. In 1990, pigs grew at a rate of 575 g/day, compared to the average today of 730 g/day. This faster growth rate has resulted in the average market weight increasing from 110kg to 128 kg. As a result, pork production has been able to increase 38% with only increasing the annual number of hogs produced by 10%.
Even though improved genetics and production practices have changed nutrient requirements of swine, when formulating diets to the farms specific requirements the basics still apply.
- Determine the ideal energy and density of the diet based on the systems goals
- Determine the lysine and phosphorous levels based on a nutrient:calorie ratio which is based on the energy concentration.
- Balance all the other amino acids relative to lysine
Due to new statistical modelling techniques, pork producers have the ability to determine ideal nutrient concentrations which are most economically favorable for their farm.
Recent Developments in Nutritional Programs for Pigs