“The past year has brought a unique set of challenges,” said Jeremiah Nemechek with senior technical services manager with DSM. “Now we've reached a time where we're starting to feel like we're getting our feet back on the ground, but we're still dealing with some of the old problems we've seen in the industry - a lot of the same disease challenges. And feed costs are a very big issue for the pork industry."

Looking to the future, DSM is continuously talking to producers and looking at new ways to target these industry challenges.

DSM has a broad portfolio of solutions and extensive knowledge on how nutrition and health are connected, and they suggest looking at vitamins as a herd health opportunity.

“Our 25-hydroxy D3 product is very exciting and getting a lot of promising results in the industry,” said Nemechek. “Originally, we really focused on the sow. Because in our industry, we have a problem with sow mortality and high culling rates - those sows are going through a lot of stressors. We found that Hy-D, which impacts bone strength and bone health, is a good entry point into focusing on sow health, but it also impacts areas like immunity.”

Change is coming

Some producers have been worried that they will lose some of the tools they have had in the past. When and if needed, DSM can help producers and veterinarians use the right antibiotics strategically. They are also focused on researching products that can replace antibiotics and are looking at management techniques to improve sow and pig health and performance on-farm.

Vitamins can optimize the immune system of pigs, he noted.

“You need a certain level, and not just to prevent a deficiency of a vitamin, but to often elevate levels to optimize the immunity and the physiology of that animal,” said Nemechek. “Vitamins are a great start, but we've also looked at organic acids and nursery pig diets to look at diet acidification. Also with the addition if Biomin to our business, it's going to add a lot of tools to the toolbox.”