Brian T. Richert Purdue University

Publish Date: March 25, 2010

A major challenge in the pork industry is to produce lean pigs without compromising pork quality. Pork quality includes both lean (e.g. color, intramuscular fat, drip loss or purge) and fat (e.g. firmness, slice ability of bellies, flavor) quality of the meat products. One of the strongest determinants of carcass fat quality in pigs is the dietary lipid level and composition. Because the efficiency of utilization of dietary fat is very high (90%) in pigs and the transfer of dietary fat to carcass lipid is high (31-40%) [1,2], the carcass lipid composition is often a reflection of the dietary fat fed when pigs shift from de novo synthesis of fatty acids to dietary uptake. Dietary lipids may have different effects on carcass lipid depending on its composition, level, and duration or timing preslaughter during the grow-finish period. Understanding and managing the factors that control carcass fat quality is a challenge for swine producers given several feedstuffs may be very economical (e.g. DDGS), but may be detrimental to carcass fat quality. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a fatty acid that may be one tool to help producers manage pork carcass quality. CLA refers to a group of linoleic acid (18:2) isomers that have several biological effects. When fed to finishing pigs, CLA has been reported to reduce backfat, improve feed conversion, carcass leanness, loin marbling, and carcass fat firmness.

Publish Date: March 25, 2010

Pork producers have the goal to efficiently produce lean, quality pork to meet consumer demands for lean high quality meat products. The implementation of lean value carcass pricing systems has led to the selection of pigs with increased lean growth rates, increased carcass lean percentages and improved lean feed conversion. Health, nutrition, and facility management strategies have been implemented across the swine industry to increase commercially achievable lean growth rates. Paylean (Elanco Animal Health) is a feed additive that when added to a swine diet increases the rate and efficiency of muscle tissue growth and reduce fat deposition. The active ingredient in Paylean is ractopamine hydrochloride. Paylean was approved in 1999 to be fed at levels of 4.5 to 18 grams per ton (5 to 20 ppm) from 150 to 240 lbs live weight (last 90 lbs of live weight gain prior to slaughter). However, in 2006 the FDA approval was modified to reduce the maximum dietary level fed (4.5-9.0 g/ton) and removal of the upper weight restriction such that Paylean can be fed for the last 45-90 lbs of weight gain prior to slaughter. Because of the increased muscle growth and protein accretion, pigs fed Paylean have increased dietary essential amino acid requirements and have a minimum dietary crude protein requirement of at least 16% CP based on label restrictions.

Publish Date: March 25, 2010

All cereal grains fed to swine need to be processed to reduce the particle size by cracking, grinding, rolling, extruding, expanding, or other method before being mixed with other ingredients and fed as a complete diet. Processing improves the utilization of grain nutrients primarily through improved digestibility. Cereal grains with hard seed coats (grain sorghum, barley, and triticale) have the greatest improvements in digestibility due to processing, but even processing corn has economic benefits and is routinely done for swine [1,2]. Pelleting is a cost-effective technology that can improve feed efficiency, decrease diet segregation, increase bulk density, reduce dustiness, improve feed handling characteristics and reduce issues with feed bridging. However, other feed processing technologies may have limited value in swine diets. Proper feed mixing and diet sequencing is also important to maintain pig performance and minimize concerns about potential antibiotic residues.

Publish Date: March 25, 2010

Feeding systems for swine involve feed type and form, as well as how it is supplied to the pigs. The main type of feed for swine in the United States is in dry form, where the cereal grain has been ground and mixed with other dry ingredients to form a complete feed. Delivering feed via a liquid feed application system is not common in the United States, but is far more popular in other areas of the world, particularly in Europe. Other producers utilize a blend of both types, where a liquid feedstuff, such as whey, is provided along with a complete dry feed. All of these systems have their merits and challenges, which will be discussed in this paper. Complete feed is typically delivered via feed auger line to individual pens or sows from a storage bin. However, new technology, such a computerized feeding systems, have been developed to allow for continual changes in delivered diet composition to the pigs to better match their growth curves and changing nutrient requirements. For the vast majority of producers utilizing dry complete feeds, there are a variety of feeder design options. Producers can utilize traditional dry feeders, wet-dry feeders, round feeders, or tube feeders in all phases of production. Each feeder type must be managed differently, and has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Publish Date: March 25, 2010

Pigs require energy (from carbohydrates, lipids and protein), amino acids, minerals, vitamins and water for body maintenance, growth, pregnancy, and lactation. Each of these essential nutrients must be provided in adequate amounts and in forms that are palatable and efficiently utilized throughout the life-cycle of the pig in order for it to maximize genetic potential.…

Publish Date: April 17, 2012

Swine manure is a valuable by-product of the swine operation that can be utilized as a fertilizer resource. By conserving the nutrient value of the manure generated by the swine operation, less money can be spent on commercial fertilizer and there is a potential to market manure to local crop producers.

Publish Date: March 25, 2010

Even though pig feed is ground, it must still be broken down into even smaller molecules in order to be absorbed from the digestive tract. For example, proteins must be broken down into amino acids and starch must be broken down into glucose. The digestion of feed in the pig is achieved through the use of enzymes that the pig naturally secretes from its stomach, pancreas and small intestine. However, the pigs array of enzymes is not capable of breaking down all components of its diet. Since the pig is unable to fully utilize all components of its diet, specific enzymes can be added to the feed to help break down complex carbohydrates, protein and phytate. These enzymes are called carbohydrases, proteases, and phytases, respectively. They are derived from bacteria and yeasts. At the time of writing, almost 200 different enzymes and enzyme products were available worldwide to the pork industry.

Publish Date: June 3, 2006

Investment in nursery and grow-finish facilities represents the most capital-intensive portion of modern pork production systems. It also is the investment most likely to have the lowest asset turnover ratio as a measure of financial return to investment. Thus, the decision on how many pigs to stock a facility with has major economic impacts. Not only must a decision be made regarding the number of pigs to put into a facility each time it is stocked, during the construction of the facility decisions must be made regarding the number of pens per facility and hence, the number of pigs per pen.

Publish Date: December 21, 2017

Feed is the largest cost in pork production; therefore, improving finisher pig feed efficiency can increase producer profitability. Improving feed efficiency can support industry competitiveness, decrease the demand on global feed resources, and complement environmental sustainability. Selective breeding for residual feed intake (RFI) shows promise in meeting these increased demands. However, it is important to balance the benefits of feed efficiency selection with the pig’s feeding behavior and performance. Therefore, this factsheet will discuss feeding behavior and performance research on RFI selection conducted at Iowa State University.