Adding Amino Acids to Swine Rations Stimulates Growth But Also Improves Health

Dec 23, 2022

Research conducted by the Prairie Swine Centre has shown, in addition to stimulating increased growth, the inclusion of functional amino acids in the diets of pigs also promotes improved health status.

A study conducted by the Prairie Swine Centre in partnership with the Swine Innovation Porc which examined the inclusion of functional amino acids, in this case methionine, threonine and tryptophan at 120 percent of National Research Council requirements for growth, into the diets of weanling pigs challenged by salmonella resulted in improved growth performance and improved health status.

Dr. Dan Columbus, a Research Scientist Nutrition with the Prairie Swine Centre, says the study was prompted by relatively recent changes in Canada and several other countries restricting the use of antibiotics in livestock production including the elimination of antibiotics for growth promotion.

Clip-Dr. Dan Columbus-Prairie Swine Centre:

It's our belief that this information will be important and will be used by nutritionists, producers and anybody else who is involved in developing feeding programs for pigs or programs that are meant to enhance or maintain pig health.

This information can be incorporated into nutrition programs, so adjusting amino acid content in order to improve animal productivity and reduce that negative effect of disease challenge in commercial pig production.

I think the main take home is that the inclusion of some key functional amino acids such as methionine, threonine and tryptophan may be beneficial to improving health status and performance of pigs so this is another tool to consider in an era of reduced antibiotic usage and something that might be helpful in your particular situation.

Dr. Columbus says the plan moving forward is to further examine functional amino acid use to improve pig health with studies aimed at examining which amino acids are key and how much are needed and doing this while minimising feed costs.

Source : Farmscape.ca

Video: Swine Industry Advances: Biodigesters Lower Emissions and Increase Profits

Analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG emissions) in the Canadian swine sector found that CH4 emissions from manure were the largest contributor to the overall emissions, followed by emissions from energy use and crop production.

This innovative project, "Improving Swine Manure-Digestate Management Practices Towards Carbon Neutrality With Net Zero Emission Concepts," from Dr. Rajinikanth Rajagopal, under Swine Cluster 4, seeks to develop strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

While the management of manure can be very demanding and expensive for swine operations, it can also be viewed as an opportunity for GHG mitigation, as manure storage is an emission source built and managed by swine producers. Moreover, the majority of CH4 emissions from manure occur during a short period of time in the summer, which can potentially be mitigated with targeted intervention.

In tandem with understanding baseline emissions, Dr. Rajagopal's work focuses on evaluating emission mitigation options. Manure additives have the potential of reducing manure methane emissions. Additives can be deployed relatively quickly, enabling near-term emission reductions while biodigesters are being built. Furthermore, additives can be a long-term solution at farms where biogas is not feasible (e.g., when it’s too far from a central digester). Similarly, after biodigestion, additives can also be used to further reduce emissions from storage to minimize the carbon intensity of the bioenergy.