IMPROVING PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY OF GROWING AND FINISHING SWINE THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF FEED AND MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1018523
• Project Start Date: Dec 11, 2018
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2023
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
PO BOX 2275A
BROOKINGS,SD 57007

Performing Department
Animal Science

Non Technical Summary
Feed costs are the most significant operating cost in pork production, accounting for nearly 70% of operating expenses. Over the last decade, feed ingredient prices have increased due to amplified international demands and the use of feed ingredients for biofuel production (Woyengo et al., 2014). At the same time, swine genetics companies continue to improve the ability of swine to achieve lean gain. Converting feed efficiently to lean tissue, which ultimately becomes pork, will maximize the efficiency of swine production.Feed additives are low inclusion ingredients designed to provide benefits in the growth, feed efficiency, and/or feed intake of animals and ultimately lower the cost of production. There are a myriad of commercially available feed additives with associated claims. However, not all products have been the subject of peer reviewed research in a commercial setting. This may be a result of new innovation or because products have only been tested with smaller numbers of animals. This makes it difficult to recommend which feed additives swine producers should choose. Furthermore, responses to feed additives may be affected by the feeding, environmental, and management conditions (Chastanet et al., 2007). For example, feed additive development trials may involve animals fed for short periods of time, animals that are limit fed diets, and/or animals that are individually housed under carefully controlled environmental conditions. These conditions diverge considerably from those found in the industry where diets are fed for long periods of time, animals have free access to feed, and animals are group housed in large pens in buildings subject to environmental variabilities. Pigs housed under commercial conditions and subjected to the normal stressors of the wean-to-finish environment can significantly aid in the evaluation of the impact of feed additives on the overall cost of production. This project will serve to provide swine producers with pertinent information about the effects of specific nutritional, environmental, and management strategies which will allow them to make informed decisions.

Animal Health Component

100%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

100%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
302	3510	1010	80%
307	3510	1010	20%

Knowledge Area
302 - Nutrient Utilization in Animals; 307 - Animal Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
3510 - Swine, live animal;

Field Of Science
1010 - Nutrition and metabolism;

Keywords

swine

feed efficiency

feed additives

economics

nutrition

environment

management

Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this project is to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine through nutrition, environment, and management strategies, alone or in combination.Objective 1: To develop nutritional strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swineFeed additives are included in swine diets to improve production efficiency and/or profitability. For example, a feed additive may improve the feed efficiency or average daily gain of growing and finishing pigs. Alternatively, a feed additive may decrease the total cost of the diets fed to growing and finishing pigs. In either case, the choice to include feed additives will be based on economics.Examples of common feed additives include trace minerals, phytogenics, essential oils, enzymes, probiotics and prebiotics. The inclusion of feed additives may require changes in nutritional formulation strategy or they may be added to diets without changes to the diet formulation.Objective 2: To develop environmental strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swineThe environment (e.g. air quality and temperature) can have an impact on the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. Changes in the exposure of animals to ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and/or other gases in the environment may impact the production efficiency of swine. Likewise, the thermal environment has an impact on the production efficiency of pigs. Monitoring and optimizing the environmental conditions during feed additive trials will provide additional novel information on any interactions related to the inclusion of feed additives.Objective 3: To develop management strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swineThe management of housing conditions, including the available feeder and waterer space, of growing and finishing swine may impact production efficiency. Pen group variability may also impact production efficiency. Management of differential housing conditions will provide additional information on any interactions with feed additives and environmental conditions.

Project Methods
Trials will focus on the growth performance and feed efficiency of the animals. Animals will enter the 1200 head off-site wean-to-finish facility from a commercial sow farm. Piglets will be housed in 50 pens of 25 pigs/pen. Standard production practices will be followed, unless different procedures are required for scientific reasons. Feed will be quantified and delivered by the Feedlogic system to individual pens according to treatment allocations and/or feeding schedule. Pen groups will be weighed on the pen scale weekly for the first 6 to 8 weeks. Above pen average weights of 50 lb, pens will be weighed every two weeks until pigs are marketed. According to commercial practice, heavier groups of pigs will be marketed before the entire barn is marketed.Objective 1: To develop nutritional strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swineApproximately 1,100 pigs will be assigned to 44 pens or 1,125 pigs will be assigned to 45 pens with 25 pigs per pen. Nutritional studies will evaluate various diets with or without feed additives, as well as differing water sources with or without water additives. Test subjects will include either weaned piglets approximately 20 days old (nursery), after pigs have achieve approximately 50 lbs of body weight (grow-finish), or from wean-to-finish. A control diet formulated to match a common industry diet will be included as one of the treatments. Pens will be weighed and blocked by weight to one of four or five treatments with eleven or nine pens per treatment, respectively. Grow-finish pigs may have previously participated in a nursery trial, so carryover effects will be included in the randomized complete block statistical model.Null hypothesis: There will be no effect of nutritional strategy on the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine.Objective 2: To develop environmental strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swineApproximately 1,100 pigs will be assigned to 44 pens with 25 pigs per pen. Specific environmental parameters (e.g. air speed, temperature, and/or quality) will be adjusted within one of the two rooms. Test subjects will include either weaned piglets approximately 20 days old (nursery), after pigs have achieve approximately 50 lbs of body weight (grow-finish), or from wean-to-finish. A common diet formulated to match an industry diet will be fed to all pens. Pens will be weighed and blocked by weight to one of two room treatments with 22 pens per treatment. The results will be analyzed according to a randomized complete block statistical model. Null hypothesis: There will be no effect of environmental strategy on the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine.Objective 3: To develop management strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swineApproximately 1,100 pigs will be assigned to 44 pens or 1125 pigs will be assigned to 45 pens with 25 pigs per pen. Management strategies (e.g. stocking density, waterer or feeder access, or feed delivery) will be applied to pens of pigs. A common diet formulated to match an industry diet will be fed. Test subjects will include either weaned piglets approximately 20 days old (nursery), after pigs have achieve approximately 50 lbs of body weight (grow-finish), or from wean-to-finish. Pens will be weighed and blocked by weight to one of four or five treatments with eleven or nine pens per treatment, respectively. Grow-finish pigs may have previously participated in a nursery trial, so carryover effects will be included in the randomized complete block statistical model.Null hypothesis: There will be no effect of management strategy on the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes individual producers and companies with nursery, wean-to-finish, or finishing barns. The target audience also includes other researchers. Knowledge was delivered during in-person Extension events and scientific meetings, as well as through extension.sdstate.edu. Changes/Problems:COVID-19 caused delays that may have a significant impact on the rate of expenditure. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?David Clizer (PhD student) was able to attend the Midwest ASAS annual meeting and interact with stakeholders and other researchers in the development of the current experimental protocol and advancement towards degree completion. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results from Trial 1 and Trial 3 were presented at the annual ASAS-CSAS meeting in July 2020. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: To develop nutritional strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. Acting on the available literature, animal research trials will be conducted to develop nutritional strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. Objective 2: To develop environmental strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. In cooperation with the new faculty member in ABE, Dr. Xufei Yang, environmental strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine will be developed and investigated. Objective 3: To develop management strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. Management strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine will be investigated.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: To develop nutritional strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. (20% Accomplished) Trial 1: Performance response of the grow-finish pig (38-142 kg) fed increasing dietary levels of tryptophan in diets containing 40% dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) In consultation with stakeholders and following review of the current literature, graduate student David Clizer developed an experimental protocol to investigate the impact and potential alleviation of reduced feed intake due to 40% DDGS diets for grow-finish pigs. The trial concluded Dec 5, 2019. These results indicate that increasing SID Trp:Lys in diets containing 40% DDGS increases average daily feed intake (ADFI) resulting in increased average daily gain (ADG) (from 1.03 to 1.07 kg/d) and final body weight (BW) (from 140 to 143 kg). However, pigs fed a standard corn-soybean meal diet had improved performance compared to diets containing DDGS (1.10 kg/d ADG; 3.56 kg/d ADFI; 146 kg final BW). Increasing the Trp:Lys ratio had the greatest impact on ADG during the growing period through increases in ADFI, with little to no impact on ADG in the finishing period. A closer look at the data would suggest that increasing the Trp:Lys ratio after pigs reach a body weight of approximately 250 lbs had little to no effect on performance. Therefore, implementing the strategy of increasing SID Trp:Lys ratio in diets containing high inclusion levels of DDGS would be best suited for the early growing phases. However, this data would suggest that a SID Trp:Lys ratio of at least 18% is still needed in late finishing to ensure adequate growth performance. Trial 2: Performance response of finishing swine fed HPDDG with different BCAA supplementation In consultation with stakeholders and following review of the current literature, graduate student David Clizer developed an experimental protocol to investigate the impact of high protein dried distillers grains with solubles diets for grow-finish pigs. The trial started Aug 1, 2020, and therefore results are not yet available. The main objective was to determine if adjustments to the branch chain amino acids (BCAA) concentration are the main factor affecting grow-finish pig performance when concentrations of dietary leucine are in excess. Other objectives included: 1) determining if the (Val+Ile):Leu ratio is a good indicator of the F:G response when the ile:val ratio is constant, 2) determining if the Leu:LNAA ratio is the correct ratio affecting feed intake, as suggested by the Trp DDGS trial where Leu:LNAA ratio was highly negatively correlated with the increase in feed intake due to Trp inclusion, 3) verifying that Htoo's Lys:CP ratio minimum of 7.2 is correct when applied to the BCAA model and that excess Leu does not cause an increase in other AA requirements due to increased catabolism and urea production, and 4) comparing this data to the KSU model to verify that the model's projections follow the same trend as observed results. Treatments included: 1) Positive control (CS) - corn soybean meal diet, 2) Negative control (HPDDG) - HPDDG with no adjustments to BCAA levels, 3) HPDDGS+SBM - HPDDGS adjusted for BCAA levels through the inclusion of soybean meal, 4) HPDDGS+AA - HPDDGS adjusted for BCAA levels through the inclusion of synthetic AA, and 5) HPDDGS 50/50 - HPDDGS adjusted for BCAA levels through combination of soybean meal and synthetic AA. Objective 2: To develop environmental strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. (10% Accomplished) Working with Dr. Xufei Yang, environmental monitoring sensors were installed in the Offsite barn. However, due to COVID-19, nothing further was accomplished. Objective 3: To develop management strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. (20% Accomplished) Trial 3: Impact of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in Drinking Water on Nursery Pig Performance High concentrations of total dissolved solids (TDS) in water have been reported to increase the incidence of diarrhea and reduce nursery pig growth performance. The particular minerals of concern for pigs are typically magnesium and sodium sulfate salts. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of drinking water with high concentrations of TDS from sulfate salts on animal performance and feed and water disappearance. Newly weaned pigs (n=1,144; 20 d old PIC) were stocked at 26 pigs per pen of equal gender in 44 pens in a wean-to-finish commercial research barn. Each pen was randomly assigned to receive one of four water treatments into two cup waters per pen: 1) combination of CaSO4, MgSO4, and NaSO4; 2) CaSO4; 3) MgSO4; 4) NaSO4. The drinking water treatments were derived from stock solutions delivered at 1:128 to relevant pens using a separate medicator per water line. The TDS concentrations of the consumed water were: 893, 370, 599, and 950 mg/L for treatments 1 to 4, respectively. Pigs were provided free access to four phase nursery diets and water throughout the trial. Pen weights were measured on d 0, 7, 21, 35, and 42 using a scale that weighs the entire pen of pigs. Feed remaining on weigh days was calculated according to a prepared calibration curve by measuring the distance from the top of the feeder to the top of the feed. Water meters at each pen were read on weigh days to determine the water disappearance per pen. Water treatment did not affect (P > 0.07) ADG nor ADFI of pigs. Water disappearance tended to be greater (P = 0.10) in pens receiving the CaSO4 water (3.2 vs 2.1 L/pig/d) compared to the combination treatment from d 21 to 35. The TDS concentrations from sulfate complexes used in this experiment did not impact the growth performance or feed or water disappearance of newly weaned nursery pigs.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2020 Citation: Clizer, D.A., P.M. Cline, B. Frederick, R.S. Samuel. 2020. Performance response of the grow-finish pig (38 to 142 kg) fed different levels of tryptophan:lysine in diets containing 40% dry distiller grains with solubles. J Anim Sci. (ASAS-CSAS-WSASAS Annual meeting. Virtual. July 22.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2020 Citation: Samuel, R.S., D.A. Clizer, P.K. Isensee, T.A. Woyengo, and C.L. Levesque. 2020. Impact of total dissolved solids (TDS) in drinking water on nursery pig performance. J. Anim. Sci. (ASAS-CSAS-WSASAS Annual meeting. Virtual. July 22.

Progress 12/11/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience included individual producers and companies with finishing barns. Knowledge was delivered during in-person Extension events and meetings with stakeholders. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?David Clizer (PhD student) was able to attend the Midwest ASAS annual meeting, as well as travel to visit with stakeholders in the development of the current experimental protocol. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: To develop nutritional strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. Acting on the literature review completed to date, animal research trials will be conducted to develop nutritional strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. Objective 2: To develop environmental strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. In cooperation with the new faculty member in ABE, environmental strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine will be developed and then investigated. Objective 3: To develop management strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. Management strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine will be investigated.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: To develop nutritional strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. (10% Accomplished) In consultation with stakeholders and following review of the current literature, graduate student David Clizer developed an experimental protocol to investigate the impact and potential alleviation of reduced feed intake due to 40% DDGS diets for grow-finish pigs. The trial started Aug 27, 2019. Pigs are housed in a commercial wean to finish swine facility at South Dakota State University. Pens consist of 13 females and 13 males for a total of 26 pigs per pen. Pen dimensions are approximately 3 by 6.86 meters giving each pig approximately 0.79 square meters. Each pen consists of 2 cup-water drinkers and a 5-slot feeder allowing 5.2 pigs per feeder slot. Temperatures follow an industry standard setpoint curve. Pigs have ad libitum access to feed and water. Feed is delivered to pens using the Feedlogic feeding system. Animals are checked daily and standard management practices are followed, according to facilities standard operating procedures. This trial consists of 5 dietary treatments set up as a randomized complete block design, with pen being the experimental unit and pen location being the blocking factor. Each treatment is replicated 9 times and each pen consists of 26 pigs (13 males and 13 females) for a total of 1,170 pigs on trial. The trial period commenced when pigs reached 11 weeks of age or 56 days on feed, and will be concluded when pigs reach market weight or approximately 134 kg. Body weight and feed disappearance will be measure every second week. Carcass data will be collected at the end of the trial. Each animal will receive a RFID tag and will be weighed individually the day prior to processing. Hot carcass weight, fat depth, percent lean, and loin depth will be collected from the processing plant to create pen averages for carcass characteristics. Order in which animals leave for processing will also be considered in carcass data. Dietary treatments will be as follows: PC Corn-soybean based diet with a Trp:Lys ratio of 18% T1 Corn-soybean-DDGS based diet with a Trp:Lys ratio of 15% T2 Corn-soybean-DDGS based diet with a Trp:Lys ratio of 18% T3 Corn-soybean-DDGS based diet with a Trp:Lys ratio of 21% T4 Corn-soybean-DDGS based diet with a Trp:Lys ratio of 24% Objective 2: To develop environmental strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. (0% Accomplished) No work was done in this area due to scheduling limitations within the facilities. Objective 3: To develop management strategies to improve the production efficiency of growing and finishing swine. (10% Accomplished) No new work was done in this area due to scheduling limitations within the facilities.

Publications