13 Story Idea? Contact Paul.Nolan@Farms.com Better Pork | February 2024 the metabolism or physiology of the sow is still the same, so I’ve been working on that for quite a while,” she says. Maximizing mammary development using nutrition Huber is also building on research by Agriculture and AgriFood Canada research scientist Dr. Chantal Farmer, which found that increasing lysine in late gestation by 40 per cent increased mammary development in sows by a corresponding 40 per cent. Her follow-up work is looking at whether increasing lysine at lower levels – 20 per cent or 30 per cent, for example – would result in similar improvements. “We need to give nutritionists solid recommendations they can use on the farm, so I’m following up to see if we can refine the recommendation,” Huber explains. “Also, in the previous study, we didn’t follow the gilts into lactation, so we are following up now to see if they actually produce more milk as well.” Farmer’s original research used soybean meal as a lysine source, so Huber has added a side project to investigate whether it is the lysine itself or something about the soybean meal that caused the improvement in mammary development. Novel ingredients The fourth pillar of Huber’s research is a more general evaluation of novel feed ingredients and their suitability for use in swine diets. As new ingredients become available, research is needed to gauge whether pigs can use them efficiently for growth, or whether there might be effects on health or reproduction. A large project currently underway is looking at whether including small amounts of yeast products in sow diets can increase passive immunity transfer to piglets through colostrum. The team began feeding sows in late gestation through to lactation and then followed their offspring from birth right through to market weight. Lab work and data analysis are now underway. “The idea is to see if we can wake up the sow’s immune system and transfer that to the piglets, and if piglets have better immunity from their mothers, the theory is they should have better lifetime performance, particularly in stressful times like weaning,” she says. New swine research facilities The new swine facilities in Elora – owned by the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario – are dramatically increasing the scope of research Huber can undertake. The advanced feeding system precisely controls and automates the amount and composition of the diet that the animals receive each day of a study, a task previously done by grad Dr. Huber’s Research Dr. Emily Miller (previous grad student), Doug Wey (animal technician), Huber, and Victoria Stewart (previous MSc student). Lee-Anne Huber photo
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