NEWS ▶▶▶ Study shows that sows favour flavoured feed


Researchers in China set out to evaluate the effect of flavoured feed on the reproductive performance and faecal microbiota of sows during late gestation and lactation. An overall positive effect on feed intake of sows and the performance of piglets was evident. Increasing the feed intake of lactating sows might be beneficial for maternal condition as well as the growth of nursery pigs. Feed flavours as palatability enhancers and feed attractants to increase feed intake have been widely used in nursery pig diets from as early as the 1960s. However, according to the researchers, the effect of flavour addition on the performance of sows was not well known. Furthermore, gut microbiota undergo a shift during preg- nancy and lactation, which is widely believed might be passed onto the developing foetus or newborn piglets through the placenta or maternal milk, indicating that the gut micro- biota of the sows play an important role in the performance of both maternal and offspring pigs. There is, however, limited data on the effect of dietary flavour on gut microbiota,


although the team hypothesised that flavour supplementation during late gestation and lactation periods would improve reproductive performance by improving feed intake and regulating gut microbiota of the sows. In this study, 20 healthy Yorkshire sows were artifi- cially inseminated with semen from Landrace boars and fed a soybean basal diet either unsupplemented or supplemented with 1g of flavour/kg diet (milk flavour) from day 90 of gestation to 25 days post-farrowing. Sows were fed twice a day during gestation with a total of 2.7 kg/day gestational diet, and three- times a day during lactation with a total of 1.5 kg/day lactational diet on day 1 and 2.5 kg/day on day 2. Sows were fed 0.5 kg more feed each day from day 3 to day 7, and then ad libitum from day 8 to 25. The piglets were weaned and the reproductive performance and the faecal microbiota of sows were analysed.


Performance of sows and piglets There was a trend of increasing average daily feed intake of sows with the addition of flavour


in maternal diets. Furthermore, compared with the control group, flavour supplementation in maternal diets increased weaning litter weight, litter weight gain, weaning body weight, and average daily gain of piglets. Backfat thickness and litter size were not affected by flavour supplementation. Flavour supplementation significantly increased the abundance of Phascolarctobacterium, but significantly de- creased genera Terrisporobacter, Alloprevotella, Clostridium sensu stricto 1, and Escherichia-shi- gella. Phascolarctobacterum was positively correlated with the average daily feed intake of sows, the litter weight gain and the average daily gain of piglets. In contrast, Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and unclassified Lachnospiraceae were negatively correlated with litter weight gain and average daily gain of piglets. Taken together, dietary flavour supplementation improved the reproductive performance of the sows, which was associated with enhanced beneficial microbiota and decreased potential- ly pathogenic bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract of the sows.


UK government urged to support insect farming industry


Using insect meal to replace soy in fish and live- stock feed could cut the UK’s future soy foot- print by a fifth, protecting vital ecosystems such as the Brazilian Cerrado, according to a new re- port. The study, published by the UK’s largest retailer Tesco and environmental charity WWF, says total demand for insect meal from the UK’s pig, poultry and salmon sectors could reach around 540,000 tonnes/year by 2050. It calls on the UK government to research the potential and regulatory requirements for adding extra substrates for insect farming, urges it to provide financial support to scale up the industries and asks suppliers and retailers to work together to increase demand for insect meal, supporting the move away from a feed system that drives the destruction of nature. The report comes just after the European Commission confirmed that the European Union is set to allow insect- derived protein to be fed to poultry and pigs. Speaking at the launch of the report, Molly Gupta, WWF forestry commodities manager, explained the key benefits of using insect meal.


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She said its high protein level (56-82%) was equivalent to fishmeal (65%) and higher than soy (48%), adding that it had huge potential to upcycle surplus and by-products. Gupta argued that if the insect meal sector reached 540,000 tonnes, this could result in 524,000 tonnes of soy and 16,000 tonnes of fishmeal being replaced – equivalent to a fifth of the UK’s projected soy imports in 2050 or Tesco UK’s entire 2018 soy footprint. Around 150,000 hectares of land are required to produce this amount of soy annually. She said around 240,000 tonnes of insect meal could come from 20-25 UK production facilities by 2050, adding


▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 29, No. 7, 2021


that, while the cost of producing insect meal in 2030 would still be greater than soy (£500/ tonne v £400/tonne), the cost of production would fall with economies of scale. Helena Delgardo Nordmann, Tesco partnership and marine lead, said the retailer had been working with insect start-ups for the past four to five years and recognised there was an urgent need to provide greater feed sustainability for farm animals to help to move to a circular economy. “We need to see government playing an im- portant role in providing financial incentives and industry collaboration to drive up insect meal demand,” she said. James McCulloch, Ag- ricultural Industries Confederation spokesman, added that, while the sector had potential, it would not replace soy overnight: “The report has been honest – soy will be with us for some time to come.” Mr McCulloch said the feed sector was looking at other soy alternatives too – rape seed meal, peas, beans, lupins and sunflower meal as well as other high-protein alternatives such as synthetic amino acids.


PHOTO: ELECTRIC ROBIN


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