feeding is the feeder itself, but we are expecting them to be similar in price to existing commercial feeders when they are launched onto the market.” Cost savings come from making two feeds (instead of three feeds for three-phase feeding) and feeding less crude protein, from decreased feed waste and the possible incorporation of by-products. “We often associate using by-products with loss in performance,” Remus said. “It is true that in conventional feeding, to prevent any performance loss, you need to slowly increase the amount of the by-product over time so that the pigs adapt. However, in precision feeding, whether PFG or PFI, the by-products are given all the way along, in a very low percentage to start. With oat hulls for example, they would make up a maximum of 15% in a B diet, and some pigs at the start would receive a blend of 20% B diet and 80% A diet, but at finishing most pigs are receiving 80%of B diet, and their performance is not affected at any point.” In addition to its strong sustainability benefits, Remus has deter- mined that PFI can provide savings of CAD$8 to $15 per pig, which makes return-on-investment (ROI) quite rapid. In terms of when PFI feeders will be commercially available, she expects this within five years. Remus notes that PFI is being explored in Europe, including in the Feed-a-gene project in Italy. Regarding PFG, Remus knows of one system that is already commercially available, the Gestal Evo from JYGA Tech. However, Remus notes that whilst PFG is more accurate in terms of meeting the nutri- ent requirements of the herd compared to three-phase feeding (and therefore is more sustainable with less N excretion into the environment) and saves costs compared to three-phase feed- ing, PFI is even more accurate, sustainable and cheaper.
More than sustainability and cost savings However, beyond sustainability and lower costs, PFI is going to provide pig producers with exciting additional benefits, name- ly increased lean gain (versus lean and fat gain) and the ability to provide much-improved herd health management.
Figure 1 - Dietary lysine levels for pigs in a three-phase feeding programme (3P) or in a daily-phase feeding programmes provided individually to meet 110% (MP110), 100% (MP100), 90% (MP90) or 80% (MP80) of the nutritional requirements estimated daily throughout the trial.
Precision feeding applied to growing pigs
1.0 1.2
0.4 0.6 0.8
0.2 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 48 ▶ SUSTAINABILITY AND WELFARE | OCTOBER 2020 3P
MP110 MP100 MP90 MP80
That is, a system of simple cameras and software in a pig barn, along with data from the precision feeder, can provide a wealth of information that can be used to adjust the carcass composition of individual pigs and to address individual health issues much more quickly than in conventional farming systems. This is done through the development of mathematical models. “In the experimental setup, we use x-ray technology to measure protein deposition over time, and measure weight gain at the same time, and then correlate the two in an equation,” Remus explains. “Protein deposition matters because only do we want pigs to grow quickly but we want them to be efficient in creating muscle, in lean gain. We want to have nutrient utilisation be as fast as possible, to go into as much lean gain as possible, to reduce costs and maximise sustainability, to get the most value possible from feed. PFI makes this possible.” How much, however, do genetic differences matter? Remus says that there is much to be learned about this. “There is variability in protein deposition and many other metabolic processes even within litters with the same parents, so one of the things we are working on is understanding why protein deposition varies in pigs with the same genetic background and provided the same feed. It’s a matter of identifying genetic markers.”
Improving herd health management Remus is even more excited about how precision feeding can improve individual and herd health management. “With soft- ware and cameras – the software being capable of identify- ing each pig through physical characteristics – we can follow each pig’s behaviour and feeding pattern of the pig, and de- tect illness a day or two before other symptoms start,” she ex- plains. “The first sign of illness is not eating as much. So, we can therefore treat that pig earlier, isolate it for better care and prevent disease spread as well, all of which is better for the pigs and reduces costs. Software trained to identify indi- vidual pigs has already been developed at University of Ne- braska and they’ve followed activity levels (energy expendi- ture). The relationship between activity and differences in carcass composition may be explored, but the biggest poten- tial I see is with disease detection.” Looking forward, Remus and Pomar both believe that further understanding of metabolism and nutrition at the individual pig level will allow animal science to progress, opening up new opportunities for individualised nutrition. “It is clear that continuous and automatic monitoring of animals and farm resources through precision feeding systems can support better production decisions at the farm level,” Remus says, “ul- timately enhancing farm profitability, efficiency, and sustain- ability of the overall production system.”
* Reproduced from the study ‘Precision feeding can significantly reduce lysine intake and nitrogen excretion without compromis- ing the performance of growing pigs’ in the journal ‘Animal.’
Digestible lysine in diets (%)
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