Feeding for growth performance in weaning piglets
Research demonstrates improved nutrition, performance
By Fabien Guillard
Optimizing farm management and production methods is a top priority for swine producers worldwide. The primary focus in the swine industry remains on ensuring a steady supply of pork at reasonable prices for consumers while also maintaining competitive margins for swine farmers and their operations. However, the increasing cost of feedstuffs has put considerable pressure on swine farmers, despite sporadic rises in retail pork prices in certain markets. This scenario highlights the challenges of achieving profitability for farmers while ensuring affordable prices for consumers.
A significant portion of the total expense for swine farmers—approximately 70%—is attributed to feed costs. To address this, swine producers are constantly seeking ways to enhance the nutrition of their herds to improve profit margins. ADM's swine research team collaborates with laboratories globally to develop standardized methods for analyzing and assessing the quality of raw materials, essential for formulating customized feed formulas. This process is facilitated by ADM's Equadvice database, which translates Near Infra-Red (NIR) or wet chemistry analyses into species-specific nutritional profiles.
Understanding that swine nutrition requirements vary among piglets, fatteners, and breeders, Equadvice evaluates raw materials for swine diets based on their physiological stages. Notably, during the Swine Research Days (JRP 2023 in St Malo, France), the ADM swine research team introduced a novel nutrient known as Piglet Digestible Protein. This nutrient plays a pivotal role in designing diets tailored to piglets' specific needs, such as creep feed, pre-starter and starter diets. Swine researchers have identified that Piglet Digestible Protein aids in designing diets that promote improved growth performance without compromising piglet gut integrity. Figure 1 demonstrates the improvement in piglet feces quality when pre-starter diets are formulated with Piglet Digestible Protein.
Another strategy employed by swine producers to reduce production costs is focusing on high-prolific sows. However, this can sometimes lead to a higher prevalence of weaker piglets per litter. Recent ADM research has shown promising results regarding the use of an inactive biotic strain composed of Pichia guilliermondii yeast in sow diets. Inactive P. guilliermondii has been found to support increased litter weight at weaning and a higher litter size at birth by reducing piglet mortality during the suckling period. This data suggests that the inclusion of inactive P. guilliermondii in sow diets may lead to fewer weak piglets at birth. Further, ADM's swine research team is working on a project aimed at preventing iron deficiency anemia in both sows and piglets, while also enhancing piglet well-being and biosecurity. This initiative involves the development of an oral solution for piglets, which shows promise in addressing these issues.
Improved feed efficiency not only reduces production costs but also contributes to mitigating the environmental footprint of swine production. To tackle this challenge, ADM has launched various projects to enhance Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), thereby reducing land use and soil pollution. An example is the B-Safe solution, which combines synthetic clay and copper as a patented product. In trials, B-Safe demonstrated improved FCR from 30 kg to slaughter and regulated gut microbiota to enhance the pigs' ability to utilize feed nutrients more efficiently.
As a strategy industry-wide to address concerns about soil pollution, especially through the release of trace minerals in manure, recent regulatory changes regarding zinc and copper concentration in swine diets are expected to benefit the global swine industry. Researchers have been working to replace pharmacological doses of zinc oxide in piglets diets. Research has identified several combinations of feed ingredients, including plant extracts and acidifiers, that successfully replace zinc oxide at 2,500 ppm in piglet diets. Plus, the use of organic trace minerals has shown potential in increasing swine fattening performance while minimizing soil pollution due to improved bioavailability.
Ensuring a conducive environment and nutrition for pigs to support their well-being is another critical challenge for the swine industry, especially in light of evolving regulations that restrict certain practices such as castration, tooth clipping and tooth grinding. Discussions are ongoing in the EU about banning tail docking in pigs, which may lead to an increase in the frequency and severity of tail biting. To address this, ADM's research team is exploring nutritional solutions to reduce the risk of tail biting.
In today's highly technical and precise world of animal nutrition, optimizing performance while minimizing costs and environmental impact is paramount. To assist the swine industry in confronting current and emerging challenges, ADM remains committed to investing in research and development to deliver innovative swine nutrition solutions.
Guillard is an international swine market manager for ADM.
