Programme Aims to Accelerate Finishing Profitability

US - A new 'Accelerating Finishing Profitability' programme from Novus International is helping to bolster pig performance and the bottom line.
calendar icon 24 June 2011
clock icon 5 minute read

High feed ingredient costs are no longer a temporary blip on pork producers' radar screens. Instead, lofty corn and soybean prices seem to be here to stay and thus require a long-term strategic solution aimed at helping producers get the greatest possible returns from all their nutritional inputs.

The new 'Accelerating Finishing Profitability' programme from Novus International is designed to be one of these strategic solutions. The programme helps optimize nutrition and delivers tangible results to the performance and profitability of a pork operation during the grow-finish phase.

Randy Anderson, Novus Senior World Area Director for North America, explained: "Producers really focus on four key measures to generate the best possible profits in their operations: 1) lean growth rate; 2) carcass weight and quality; 3) feed to gain ratio and 4) reduced diet cost and improved nutrient utilisation.

"Our 'Accelerated Finishing Profitability' programme focuses on helping producers increase their feed cost ROI and overall profitability by optimising nutrition and maximizing carcass weight and yield at market."

'Accelerating Finishing Profitability' is not a 'one-size-fits-all' programme. Rather, it is a suite of technologies and tools that Novus draws on to help customise solutions that are unique to each pork producer's enterprise. Key elements of the programme include:

  • organic acids
  • minerals
  • antioxidants, and
  • enzymes

Organic acids as gut environment modifiers have been demonstrated to improve average daily gain and feed intake. ACTIVATE® DA nutritional feed acid is a concentrated feed-grade organic acid product that enhances feed palatability, modifies feed pH and favourably modifies the gut environment of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Studies have shown that including ACTIVATE DA in diets improves gain, feed intake, carcass weight, carcass grade premium and overall economic return compared to controls.

A Novus experiment demonstrated that pigs supplemented with ACTIVATE DA gained an average of 2.62 pounds per pig more than controls during the 84-day period. In addition, ACTIVATE DA has proven to improve late finishing economics with or without Paylean® supplementation. In another Novus trial, ACTIVATE DA fed at the 0.1 per cent rate during the Paylean period significantly improved average daily gain 4.4 to 6.0 per cent. Improvements in weight gain were also registered with pigs gaining an additional 1.7 to 3 pounds. In short, adding ACTIVATE DA to grow-finish rations improves performance and generates more lean weight at market, which enhances producers' bottom line profits.

Minerals are an essential component of any swine diet. MINTREX® chelated trace minerals are a highly bioavailable source of trace minerals protected by HMTBa, a methionine source designed to optimise health and productivity. Research conducted on MINTREX Cu fed at 80 parts per million (ppm) through the life of the pig generated improved average daily gain and feed/gain ratio. Pigs that received MINTREX Cu also yielded heavier carcass weights (an average of five additional pounds per pig).

Antioxidants are a critical tool for maintaining the nutrient stability and integrity of feed ingredients. AGRADO® Plus feed ingredient from Novus is a proprietary blend of antioxidants with superior efficacy in both animal- and plant-sourced fats. By maintaining the integrity of key nutrients, AGRADO Plus helps manage oxidative stress allowing pigs to better utilize the ingredients in a ration. Research has shown benefits of feeding AGRADO Plus especially in combination with alternative ingredients. When AGRADO Plus was included in a high Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles (DDGS) diet, a 0.3 to 0.5 percent increase in carcass yield was achieved. Improvements in feed efficiency, performance, intake and gain, and overall profitability have been observed.

Enzymes that improve amino acid availability and/or degrade non-starch polysaccharides have steadily gained momentum in the pork industry over the past several years. CIBENZATM feed additive enzymes are a proven technology for improving nutrient utilization while reducing feed costs. Decreasing protein excretion and/or improving fibre utilisation make a positive impact not only on the cost of production but also on pig health and the environmental footprint of modern pork production. In a recent Novus trial, the addition of CIBENZA to the diet resulted in a bottom line-boosting improvement of nearly $3 in return over the cost of feed.

Dan Meagher, President, Global Animal Nutrition Solutions, said: "At Novus, we understand that no two pork operations are exactly alike – the challenges and the opportunities for improvement vary from enterprise to enterprise. That's why our dedicated sales force is committed to developing customised programmes to help producers optimize weight gain and feed efficiency while improving carcass traits. Whether it's ACTIVATE DA, MINTREX Cu, AGRADO Plus or CIBENZA, we offer unique products that individually – and together – accelerate finishing profitability."

Contact your local Novus representative to design the 'Accelerating Finishing Profitability' programme that best meets your enterprises needs, or go to the Novus web site [click here].

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