When pigs face respiratory disease or summer heat, producers know what’s coming: uneven growth, reduced feed intake and the logistical headaches of variable market weights. Behind those challenges lies a question of consistency, not just in management, but in feed formulation itself.
For Dr. Tom D’Alfonso, Worldwide Director of Animal Nutrition at the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), the solution starts in an unexpected place – a U.S. soybean field.
“It is the sustainable farming practices of the U.S. Soy farmer that leads to the consistency and reliability that we’re talking about,” he said.
From soil stewardship to feed mill performance, D’Alfonso believes the predictability of U.S. soybean meal plays a direct role in protecting swine performance when conditions turn against the herd.
The hidden cost of variability
Respiratory disease and heat stress are among the most common causes of performance losses in modern production systems. Each stress event disrupts feed intake and growth rate, but the combination can be even more damaging.
“In cold weather, there’s more incidence of respiratory disease,” D’Alfonso explained. “But there are a number of functional compounds in soybean meal that help to alleviate the symptoms of respiratory disease at the time it happens.”
Later, when the temperature rises, the same pigs that struggled through winter respiratory issues are often more vulnerable to heat stress. Producers try to help them recover feed intake by increasing dietary protein or adding synthetic amino acids, but those interventions often miss the mark.
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