Swine Nutrition

Publish Date: January 27, 2020

One of the most important considerations for alternative (niche) swine production systems is where to source ingredients and feed. A consistent, quality supply should be the first goal. Since feed represents one of the highest production costs for pork producers, options to reduce feed costs should also be considered. This video will explain several option to consider.

Publish Date: June 20, 2018

Manual feed drops and automated feeding systems are commonly used on modern production farms to conserve labor and provide accurate feed allowance relative to an individual animal's metabolic demands and target body condition score. However, dust accumulation and daily wear on the machinery may cause the system to lose accuracy over time, and differences in diet type or composition, such as changes in pellet quality or adjustments in the nutrient content of the diet, will create inaccuracy and skew the amount of feed actually provided to the animals. This in turn may cause over- or under-feeding of sows during gestation and lactation, and can distort the accuracy of feed efficiency and usage records. For these reasons, producers are recommended to re-calibrate their feeding systems on a regular basis and every time changes to the diet are made. Re-calibrating feed systems is a quickly and easily preformed chore that will improve pig performance and the efficiency of feed usage on the farm.

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.

Publish Date: August 26, 2015

A number of factors affect pork quality, with swine genetics, preslaughter handling, harvest, and pork carcass chilling having the greatest impacts. However, there is considerable evidence indicating that manipulating the nutrient composition of swine diets may offset the negative effects of genetic predisposition and/or pig handling on pork quality, and may actually enhance pork quality traits of well-handled pigs of good quality genotypes. Pork quality traditionally refers to the measurement of muscle pH, color, firmness, marbling or intramuscular fat (IMF) content, shelf-life, and cooked pork palatability. Yet, domestic and international consumers may define pork quality in terms associated with environmental, ethical, and animal welfare aspects of pork production, whereas pork processors typically include fat color, firmness, and composition, as well as nutrient composition and microbiological safety in their definition of pork quality. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the effects of dietary modifications on: 1) postmortem muscle metabolism and technological quality attributes (i.e., pH, color, and water-holding capacity); 2) pork IMF content; 3) pork fat quality; 4) color and lipid stability during refrigerated storage/display; and 5) cooked pork palatability.

Publish Date: 20120702

This experiment evaluated the effects of developing gilts with ad libitum access to feed to breeding age (226 days) or feed intake restriction from 123 to 226 days of age. Gilts were managed in groups of 10 per pen. Those in the restricted group were fed two meals per day so that energy intake was…

Publish Date: 20120702

A total of 36 individually penned barrows (initial weight = 176 lb) were used in an experiment conducted to determine the lysine requirement for barrows fed ractopamine during the last 85 lb of the finishing phase. There were six dietary treatments that were cornsoybean meal-based with additional crystalline amino acid supplementation. Pigs were assigned to…

Publish Date: 20120702

Forty pigs (66.6 lb) were used in a 14-week 4-phase regime study conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding varying concentrations of DDGS to growing-fi nishing pigs formulated on a standardized ileal digestibility (SID) lysine (lys) basis, DDGS withdrawal at the last feeding phase, and ractopamine (RAC) supplementation 4 weeks prior to harvesting on carcass…

Publish Date: 20120702

We suggest that pork producers adopt a "best cost" feeding program tailored to the operation and based on sound nutritional principles. Feed cost per pound of gain is a major item separating high and low profit pork producers. University and feed industry personnel provide information to help producers develop an appropriate feeding program for their…

Publish Date: July 2, 2012

Procedures for twice per day feeding.

Publish Date: 20120702

Procedures for once per day feeding. (Feeding by flank to flank measurements.) Learn more here.