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Pig Journal Volume: 55
Publication date: May 2005

Education Section

REDUCED COPPER LEVELS IN PIG DIETS: IS THE LOSS OF PERFORMANCE GREATER THAN EXPECTED?
P. Toplis

Abstract
Copper is one of the oldest minerals known to man. It has been routinely added to pig diets to increase growth rates for the last 50 years, due to the work of Dr Braude and his team at the National Institute for Research into Dairying at Shinfield in the UK. This led to the widespread use of around 200 mg/kg of copper in pig feeds for growth promotion. However, the intensification of agriculture has increased the addition of heavy metals to agricultural soils and spreading of slurry onto arable and grassland has itself constituted an increasing threat to the sustainability of agriculture. Animal manures alone contribute 42% to the 1700 tonnes of copper and 38% of the 5100 tonnes of zinc applied to agricultural soils each year. Hence the need for a review of copper usage in pig diets set out in this paper.

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