MORRIS SUN TRIBUNE - FARM
Morris, Minnesota 56267
Saturday, March 15, 2014 - Page 3D
Immunological castration and ethanol co-products studied to improve pork production
Global competitiveness for grains commonly fed to pigs, such as corn and soybeans, continues to grow. By utilizing alternative feed ingredients such as distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and reducing the amount of resources (feed, water, and land) needed to produce lean, high quality pork, production systems can remain competitive while helping to keep pork affordable for consumers. Historically, pork producers have surgically castrated male pigs (barrows) within the first few days of life. Barrows eat more feed, grow slower, and are fatter than uncastrated male pigs (boars). Thus, barrows require more feed and utilize feed less efficiently compared to boars. It would be economically advantageous for pork producers to raise boars instead of barrows. However, boars naturally produce compounds, as part of their re-
productive system, that cause unpleasant, offodors in the meat which consumers find unpalatable and unacceptable. Castration eliminates these off-odors. Recently the swine research group at the University of Minnesota has been evaluating the use of a new, FDA-approved product called Improvest, at the West Central Research and O u t re a c h Center (WCROC) in Morris, Improvest works like any vaccine by using the pig's own natural immune system to produce antibodies. In the case of Improvest, the reproductive system is temporarily turned off to give the body time to remove the compounds that cause off-odors before pigs are harvested. Improvest replaces traditional surgical castration in the first few days of life, and replaces it with immunological castration which occurs later, between 3 to 10 weeks before harvest. Immunologically castrated pigs remain as boars for a longer period of time during which they consume less feed, are leaner, and grow faster than surgically-castrated pigs. Additionally, since these pigs consume less
Research made easy Jon Starr is fine-tuning a sophisticated climate change computer program to predict how crops and soils in the Chippewa River Watershed (CRW) in west-central Minnesota will respond to current and future climate change. His work is part of a funded project by The Land Stewardship Project, one of the long-term collaborators of the Soils Lab in Morris. In this screen shot, Jon is looking at a “model” cropping system where renewable inputs are maximized and recycled within the farm, non-renewable inputs are minimized, soil physical, chemical and biological characteristics are optimized, and leakage of water, nutrients and greenhouse gases are minimized to the extent possible. One of the objectives of his computer modeling work is to test a wide range of conventional and organic management practices, crops, crop rotations and inputs, then select the most appropriate to fit “expected” climate change scenarios. Based on Jon’s work, farmers in CRW are encouraged to diversify current cropping systems, enhance the buffering capacity of their land, and help mitigate the impact of future climate change by adjusting land-use to accommodate more perennials in future crop rotations. This will help develop multifunctional production systems that can produce standard commodities as well as a wide range of other ecosystem services.
feed and are leaner, nitrogen and phosphorus excretion in manure and urine is reduced which benefits the environment. Several countries around the world are moving away from surgical castration of pigs. In 2018, the European Union will begin
a voluntary ban of surgical castration. In the U.S., use of Improvest by producers at this time is limited, but widespread use of Improvest would reduce the amount of feed consumed and improve efficiency compared to surgically castrated pigs. The increased leanness of immunologically castrated pigs would also provide additional value to pork producers while still minimizing offodors in pork products that are unpalatable to consumers. A t t h e W C R O C , re searchers have evaluated the growth performance, pork quality, and pork fat quality of immunologically-castrated pigs fed DDGS. DDGS is a co-product of ethanol production from corn. The fiber and fat content of DDGS are greater than traditional ingredients fed to pigs, such as corn and soybean meal. Fat of pigs, especially immunocastrated pigs which are leaner than barrows, reflects the fat the pig consumes. The type of fat in DDGS is high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, which makes pork fat softer. So,
feeding DDGS to immunocastrated pigs could create problems with softer pork fat. This is especially evident in pork products that have a higher fat content such as bacon. Soft fat in bacon can reduce slicing yield for meat processors, decrease shelf life of the bacon, and create an overall 'greasy' appearance that is unappealing to consumers. Research at the WCROC determined that the combination of DDGS feeding strategies and timing of Improvest did not impact growth performance of pigs. Therefore, selection of DDGS feeding strategy and timing of Improvest can be made independently. Regardless of Improvest, pigs fed no DDGS or fed decreasing amounts of DDGS during growth had greater growth rate and improved gain efficiency compared to pigs fed 40 percent DDGS. Dressing percentage (percentage of liveweight that results in carcass weight) determines carcass value to pork producers. Results from this research study showed that pigs fed 40
percent DDGS had reduced dressing percentage compared to pigs fed diets with no DDGS. However, dressing percentage of pigs fed decreasing amounts of DDGS, or pigs fed 40 percent DDGS but no DDGS during the last 5 weeks, was not different compared to pigs fed no DDGS. Regardless of the amount of DDGS in the diet, timing of the second Improvest dose did not affect growth rate, but pigs receiving the second Improvest dose five weeks before harvest had improved gain efficiency, less backfat and reduced dressing percentage compared to pigs receiving the second dose at nine or seven weeks before harvest. While less fat is desirable to both pork producers and consumers, reduced dressing percentage decreases the value producers receive. Effects of Improvest and DDGS feeding on pork quality and pork fat quality in this study are currently being evaluated.
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Erin Harris, Department of Animal Science, St. Paul; Lee Johnston, West Central Research and Outreach Center, Morris, University of Minnesota; Jerry Shurson, Department of Animal Science, St. Paul