Formulation Key to Maximizing the Value of Swine Rations
CANADA - The Canadian International Grains Institute says understanding how ingredients should be formulated is key to maximizing the value of rations in swine production, writes Bruce Cochrane.
27 February 2007
3 minute read
The Canadian International Grains Institute, in partnership with the University of Manitoba will be hosting a one day workshop for on-farm feed manufacturing March 16 at the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment's new feed processing facility at the Glenlea Research Station.
GIGI director of feed Dr. Rex Newkirk suggests it's critical to ensure the feed ingredients have been processed correctly and that diets are formulated in a way that will maximize the quality of the product, maximize production and reduce the cost of production as much as possible.
Dr. Rex Newkirk-Canadian International Grains Institute
I think the biggest thing to look for is formulation, looking at understanding your ingredients.
By understanding what the ingredients have in it and formulating based on the nutrient profile of those ingredients then you can use those ingredients to their fullest extent.
You need to look at how variable the product you're using is.
You need to look at, rather than just using a book value for your materials, understand where the product comes from and have a better sense for example protein content because the values that you might find for say some U.S. products may not be suitable for Canada.
The other areas to look at is make sure you're formulating to meet that animals needs.
You can hire nutritionists to do that and that's probably wise but having an understanding of that process will help you work with that nutritionist to formulate diets so that you get the lowest cost diet with the greatest production capacity.
Dr. Newkirk notes Canadian swine producers are fortunate to have a number of ingredients to work with including feed peas and canola, wheat, barley and corn as well as distillers grains and understanding how these ingredients can fit into the ration can open up new some options.
He says sometimes people get tempted to only use what they can find on their own farms and miss other opportunities to reduce their costs by bringing in other ingredients.
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