34 Pork News & Views Better Pork April 2021 Pork News & Views Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Better Pork | April 2024 micro-ingredients or premixes should be added midway through the loading process to make sure they are completely flushed into the mixer and to prevent separation. Horizontal mixers should be loaded first with major ingredients, then with supplements, minerals or premixes. Liquids should only be added, in either mixer type, after the dry materials have been mixed because liquids change the flow pattern and can stop the mixing action altogether. Build-up in the equipment or carryover into the next batch must be avoided. Fines, sticky feeds or liquids increase build-up and carryover. Remove build-up as soon as possible, flush after additive or antibiotic use, follow recommended feed sequencing and clean by hand as required. Enzyme Inclusion There are many different enzyme products available on the market that can be added to swine rations with the goal of improving nutrient utilization. Enzymes work by helping to break down specific feed components, making the nutrients more available for digestion and absorption. The most used enzymes for pigs are phytases, proteases and carbohydrases. Phytase assists with phosphorus availability in the gastrointestinal system by breaking the phytate phosphorus bond found in plant-based feed ingredients. Not only does this allow the pig to utilize more of the plant-based phosphorus found in the diet, but it also reduces the need for supplementing additional phosphorus and reduces excretion of excess phosphorus into the environment. Phytase is included in most commercial swine rations. The use of carbohydrases and proteases in swine rations can provide variable results. Proteases are enzymes that degrade proteins, whereas carbohydrases degrade carbohydrates. Inclusion of enzymes into rations needs to match the type of substrate in the diet. For example, if you are trying to assist with the breakdown of protein in soybean meal then a protease should be used. However, if you are trying to break down carbohydrates (especially in high fibre ingredients such as wheat or barley) then xylanase (wheat) or β-glucanase (barley) would be selected. Proteases can be used in conjunction with carbohydrases. Inclusion of enzymes into swine rations needs to be economical and provide performance improvements. There are many different products available, so work with your nutritionist to select one that is right for your situation. Laura Eastwood, Swine Specialist, OMAFRA Southwestern Ontario Pork Conference On February 21st the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus hosted the 60th Southwestern Ontario Pork Conference. (If this is not the longest running pig-focussed educational event in Canada, please let me know and I’ll stop telling people that. It started in 1961.) A great turnout of pork producers and related industry personnel heard some great presentations and had a chance to meet, chat, network, and learn from each other. Dinner was very good, too. The speaker lineup featured a broad range of timely topics. An Ontario producer reflected on his ideas and methods for fine-tuning the focus on production in his operations, OMAFRA specialists reviewed the results of a study into the benefits of a healthy barn environment, a team of production managers reviewed new technologies revolutionizing record-keeping and sow management, and a veterinarian discussed the state of swine health in Ontario and highlighted things to watch out for. The feature speaker presented his farm’s experiences over the past 15 years in renovating or installing group sow gestation systems. One common theme that I felt emerged across this variety of topics was PEOPLE. It is important that the owners, managers, staff and all the partners from the various service industries the production sector depend on all work together for an operation to be its best. I think it’s like an engine, where a hiccup in any of the many components can cause the whole thing to stutter or even stall. The London Swine Conference was mentioned earlier – I’ll again quote Andy Bunn from a 1983 issue of Pork News and Views: “Symposiums of this calibre can help keep Ontario pork producers competitive on a world-wide basis.” Ontario is fortunate to have several events like these that bring the entire industry together for the benefit of all. Another event to look forward to this year is the Ontario Pork Congress, which is to be held on June 19-20. Mark your calendars and keep and eye on porkcongress. on.ca for details. Jaydee Smith, Swine Specialist, OMAFRA jaydee.smith@ontario.ca
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