Swine Grist
A PERIODIC NEWSLETTER PRODUCED BY GRAND VALLEY FORTIFIERS VOLUME 22, ISSUE 4 | WINTER 2020
IN MEMORY OF JIM ROSS
by: IAN ROSS President & CEO, Grand Valley Fortifiers
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ear friends, On November 5th, 2020, Jim Ross our founder, passionate leader, innovator, philanthropist, mentor and father passed peacefully from this world into the arms of his Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you to the many customers and friends who have sent cards, emails, texts, floral arrangements and made donations in memory of our father, Jim. He will be greatly missed by all of us at the GVF group of companies, the livestock producers that we have had the privilege of serving over the past 60 years, the ministry organizations that he partnered with and the folks that Jim befriended through church, daily life and the local Tim Hortons. Dad loved farming and he loved farmers. Through his 60 years of work and leadership at GVF he constantly sought ways for farmers to “have a better shake”, to achieve better prices for the goods that they produced and to earn more money for their hard labour, the investment in the land and their herd and the risks that they had taken in doing so. Dad always spoke with everyone, loved everyone and treated everyone with respect and appreciation regardless of their name, their age, their skin colour, their occupation or position in life. He recognized in his life, the mercies of God, the salvation that came from the death and resurrection of God’s only Son, Jesus and blessings that God bestowed on my father, our family and on the company that he stewarded with the Lord. Dad functioned with a spirit of gratitude – always thankful for the undeserved blessings of the Lord on his life, for his wife of 52 years, his children and grandchildren, the people that chose to follow his leadership in the company and the farmers that allowed him and the company the privilege of serving their livestock nutrition needs. Dad was generous in life and with his life. The word LIFE is a great acronym for a person who is truly and fully generous. Dad was generous with his Labour – he worked hard on his farm, in building the company to serve the needs of farmers, on ministry and charity boards and in the service of others. GRAND VALLEY FORTIFIERS PO Box 726 Cambridge ON N1R 5W6 1-800-567-4400 grandvalley.com
Dad liked to get his hands dirty. He gave away and paid for literally thousands of trees and plantings for Muskoka Bible Centre, Guelph Bible Conference, Cambridge Christian School, individual homes, and the roads of Brant County – but he didn’t want to just write a cheque, he always wanted to go to the nurseries and pick out the trees, shrubs, bedding plants and hanging baskets - like a kid in a candy store – and then actually participate in planting them all. Dad taught us never to dig a ten cent hole for a 10 dollar tree. Dad was generous with his Influence – he often saw ways to make connections between people in order to help get things done and Dad knew an incredible number of people to make connections between. Whether in agriculture, or missions or church related work, Dad would often be heard saying, “You should really meet so and so, he’s a great guy”. He used his influence to help others rather than himself and the company. Our parents were generous with their Finances. Even when they didn’t have much themselves, they committed to giving to the Lord and to others, trusting that if they did so, the Lord would look after them and the business. If you read Dad’s book, Entrepreneurship with a Mission, you will learn of many stories of our parents feeling that the Lord was seeking to stretch their faith with philanthropic projects that He brought to them that seemed to be beyond their financial means at those times. Because of their obedience and faith, God always blessed them with enough to make good on their philanthropic commitments and over the years, because of this obedience and God’s blessings, they were able to be financially supportive of so very many people, ministries and charitable projects. In 2002, we shot a video of my father, where he described his heart for giving. In it, and with that Jim Ross twinkle in his eye, he shared the story of the farmer that just kept giving and giving. “Someone asked the farmer how it was that he was able to be so very generous all the time. The farmer said, well, it is like my bin of grain, I keep shovelling out but the Lord keeps shovelling in – and the best part is that the Lord has the bigger shovel.” Ian Ross, President | David Ross, VP & CMO Dr. Martin Clunies | Bruce Schumann | Adam Totafurno, Monogastric Nutritionists Michael Peckover, Publisher
Dad was also very generous with his Expertise – he was innovative, forward looking, able to think outside of the box and always sought to bring fresh insights to livestock production that would result in “the best possible production at the lowest possible cost”. This has been his motto for GVF for the past 60 years. Beyond that, our Dad always saw the connection between livestock nutrition and human nutrition and his reading and ideas flowed back and forth between them. How many friends and family have been Jim working on the family farm, 1955 advised by our Dad to take selenium for their immune system and for allergies, take, B vitamins for stress, and use oregano oil for…well pretty much everything? Today, because of our parents and our friends at Alltech, there are about 35,000 people in various African countries that are consistently taking selenium to rebuild their immune system and protect them from secondary diseases often associated with HIV. Dad was always fascinated with the way people and livestock were fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator and sought to understand to the best his ability, the ways to promote health and well being without the use of pharmaceuticals. As he penned in our corporate values so many years ago – He acknowledged the Lord as over all – Dad knew that he wasn’t in control and he never took credit when things went well – to him it was always the result of the Lord’s blessing and the work of others – team members within the company or people in ministry, when we witnessed achievement, success or positive impact. Dad was never proud, he had the humble confidence to serve others without seeking recognition, to always give credit to the Lord and to others for achievement and to humbly accept, deserved or undeserved, chastisement from anyone who felt that he needed to hear it. Dad was a peacemaker who never wanted to leave unresolved conflict. Our father walked humbly with his God and he wasn’t at all afraid to share his faith with others. Whether teaching Sunday School, leading Bible studies, speaking with staff and customers, leading business meetings or penning company newsletters, Jim wasn’t bashful about sharing the gospel message. Even in sharing his faith, he did
so humbly and graciously – truly caring for other’s spiritual well being, as well as their physical and emotional well being. Dad knew that love without truth and truth without love are not the gospel message and he aptly Jim with GVF team members at OPC, 2012 held and displayed these in the way he shared his life and faith with others. Micah 6:8 is a verse that by God’s grace, my father embraced and lived and displayed to all those that had the privilege of knowing him. His life and his person will be significantly missed by many. But we have the blessed knowledge and confidence that he is with his Lord and heard those blessed words from Him, “well done my good and faithful servant”. My brother, David and I, the leadership team and the staff of the GVF group of companies are extremely grateful to Jim for the culture, the vision, the mission and the positive impact that the company he built, has had and is having. We have a significant responsibility to carry his passionate vision and legacy forward, in the days ahead, as we continue to serve the needs of livestock and poultry producers and give generously for the spread of the gospel, the relief of the poor, the sick and the hungry. n To read Jim’s full story, visit http://bit.ly/jimrbook
SIMPLE THINGS SAVE MONEY!
by: VICTORIA SEIP Production Improvement Specialist, Grand Valley Fortifiers
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n tough times like these it is important to identify all ways to save money in your pork production system. Things can be as simple as fixing broken equipment. The following is an example of how fixing a nursery feeder can save $1/pig. After tracking performance for continuous batches throughout one of our research nurseries, it appeared that a particular room and feeder went through more feed then the rest of the nursery. We investigated previous batches fed the same feed budget and it turned out that one feeder in particular was going through more kilograms of feed on average with no substantial improvement in overall gain of the pigs coming out of this pen. So what was happening? This feeder was broken, missing the head spaces that divide up the long trough area of the feeder. That brought us to the question, was this additional feed intake or feed wastage? Feed Days in Nursery Weight in (kg) Weight Out (kg) Average Weight Gain (kg) Average Daily Gain (g/d) Feed Consumed (kg/pig) Daily Feed Intake (g/d) FCR Feed Cost/Pig ($) Feed Cost/kg LWG ($/kg)
Jim at the Grand Opening of the original GVF Retail Store, 1972
Rooms 1-5 42 7.50 29.67 22.17 527 32.3 769 1.46 $15.42 $0.70
Room 6 42 7.91 30.26 22.35 531 34.74 827 1.56 $16.46 $0.74
Swine Grist This comparison showed us that the suspect feeder was costing an additional $1/pig in feed cost with only an additional 4 grams per daily gain more in Room 6. This led to a $0.04/kg higher cost than the rooms with intact feeders and a higher feed conversion. Feed wastage was likely the driver for increased cost. This pen cost the producer ~$170 more to feed in total over four turns when compared to the remaining five rooms being monitored. Think about that impact over a full year. The take home message here is “do not let the simple things get past you”. Little things like fixing and welding a broken feeder over time will help you save money. It may not be huge amounts, but every little bit counts! n
When comparing these two products we know that the BioSure™ Boost is formulated for a lighter pig that cannot as easily digest solid ingredients. Respond is developed primarily as a first stage nursery starter for pigs that are 6.5-7+ kg with more cereal grains and less milk proteins than what is found in the Boost. When choosing the right creep feed, it is critical to look at the farm’s objective. Do you want to promote solid feed intake or pay a little more for a product that will allow the piglet to gain and convert more efficiently? There are several other creep feeds in the BioSure™ line up, these two feeds only represent two of the different weights and ages these feeds are formulated and targeted for.
MONITORING CREEP FEED CONSUMPTION: THE BENEFITS OF WEIGHT GAIN VS. INTAKE
by: VICTORIA SEIP Production Improvement Specialist, Grand Valley Fortifiers
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reep feeding in the farrowing room is an effective way to try and promote solid feed intake before the loss of passive transfer of maternal antibodies to piglets. By trying to increase creep intakes, the management objective is that piglets will have a less stressful weaning period since they are familiar with solid feed, particularly what it tastes, smells and feels like. The addition of piglet weight gain at weaning is an added bonus if increased consumption will increase the piglets’ neonatal gain. The best practice for creep fed piglets is to continue feeding the same creep for a designated time post-weaning to add to familiarity and help the gut at a stressful time. The objective of this trial was to look at feeding Grand Valley Fortifiers’ most nutrient dense BioSure™ creep feed (BioSure™ Boost) versus a quality creep feed with less digestible nutrients (BioSure™ Respond). Individual piglet weights were taken at birth, 10 days of age (prior to starting creep feed) and at weaning. Overall, 26 litters were fed Boost and 18 litters were fed Respond. Sow parity, number of pigs born and weaned was also collected. All this information was used to determine weight gain (kg) and average daily gain (ADG g/d). Creep consumption was tracked from day 10-17 and day 18 until weaning. This information was used to calculate total creep consumed per litter (g) and creep consumed per pig (g). The average results from this trial can be seen in Table 1. Litters fed Respond had improved creep intake over the Boost fed piglets. The big difference however, was that the piglets fed Boost had almost a 1 kg higher weight gain overall with a half day younger weaning age. Livability was also improved by over half a pig for the litters fed Boost. These results demonstrated that even though the pigs that were fed the Boost did not eat as much solid feed, they were able to convert the digestible ingredients more effectively contributing to a heavier weaning weight and ADG. Table 1: Piglet Performance and Feed Intake in Farrowing Avg Parity # Born Alive Weaned/Litter Birth Weight (kg) 10 Day Weight (kg) Weaning Weight (kg) Age at Weaning ADG on Sow (g/d) Creep/Litter (g) Creep/Pig (g)
Boost n=26 Min Max
3.6 14.9 11.6 1.5 3.4 9.4 28.6 276.5 879.2 76.8
1.0 6.0 9.0 0.8 1.7 5.3 23.0 139.6 320.0 35.6
6.0 22.0 13.0 2.1 5.2 14.0 31.0 415.9 2320.0 193.3
Respond n=18 Avg Min Max 2.1 14.1 10.8 1.4 3.0 8.3 29.2 230.1 1066.2 92.9
1.0 7.0 8.0 0.8 1.3 4.4 23.0 109.7 320.0 36.4
4.0 18.0 14.0 2.1 5.1 15.0 31.0 416.6 2240.0 203.6
We look forward to sharing in future Grist issue’s the continued nursery data along with shipping trends looking at days to market on these animals. For more information on achieving creep feeding goals and choosing the right creep feed tailored to your operation, contact your Swine Sales Specialist for more information on the quality and proven BioSure™ line up of feeds. n
MOLD AND MYCOTOXIN UPDATE
by: BRUCE SCHUMANN B.Sc. (Agric.), M.Sc., Monogastric Nutritionist, Grand Valley Fortifiers
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s winter approaches and with the majority of the crops now in, it is a time for reflection on the quality of our harvest from this year. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) and the Ontario AgriBusiness Association (OABA) took a pre-emptive look at the quality of 2020 corn crop in their DON survey. In their survey, they collected 245 ear corn samples straight from the field from across Ontario between September 23rd and October 2nd, 2020. The results of the DON analysis are displayed in Table 1.0 This is good news for the 2020 Table 1: OMAFRA-GFO-OABA Fall 2020 DON harvest. As a part of this survey, those same sample results were DON Concentration All also plotted by location and their parts per million (PPM) Samples DON range (See Figure 1.0 on Total Samples 245 next page). This illustrates the < 0.50 ppm 58% fact that there does not appear 0.50 to < 2.00 ppm 31% to be any specific regionality to 2.00 to < 5.00 ppm 10% the level of DON this year and it 5.00 ppm and greater 0% emphasizes the importance of testing as results can be variable regardless of region. We have also received preliminary results from our producers who have submitted samples from their harvest to Activation Laboratories. These initial results substantiate what was found in the joint field survey, with respect to DON. However, we must remember that there are over 300 mycotoxins that have been identified and samples of grains are only tested for DON and/or the big three (DON, Zearalenone and T-2).
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Figure 1.0 DON Levels by Region from OMAFRA-GFO-OABA DON survey
Figure 2: Piglet Performance and Feed Intake in Farrowing 106 104 102 100 98 96 94 92
Feed Intake Control
Activation laboratories tests for 12 mycotoxins and preliminary results show that we are seeing low but present levels of zearlenone, T2 and Fumonisins in some samples. The mycotoxin load in corn that is received into an ethanol plant results in approximately a 3-fold increase in mycotoxins in the DDGS. This week, we received information from some of the ethanol plants that the DON level in DDGS is now ranging between 3.6-5.8 ppm depending on your source of supply. This would indicate that the corn that is being sent to the ethanol plants is higher than the average level for DON. DDGS should be limited in use, particularly if there is significant mycotoxin load coming from any other grains. For producers who did not have the opportunity to take composite samples of their corn, wheat, etc. directly from the field prior to harvest for analysis, or from grains they purchase in, we look to the finished feed. Mycotoxins are never uniformly distributed in feeds, and unless the nutrients required for mold growth (ex. oxygen) are removed, molds can still remain active during storage and will alter the nutrient composition of the stored grains. This can significantly reduce both the fat content of feedstuffs (metabolizable and net energy) as well as significantly alter the amino acid composition (the building blocks for protein deposition) in the grain. This could cause you to overestimate the nutrients in your feed, resulting in lower growth or feed conversion. If you suspect a mycotoxin issue, you should obtain a sample that reflects the relative proportion of “hot spots” to clean areas of the feed. You are most interested in what is in front of the animal. Mycotoxin formation is dynamic; the closer to the animal the more likely they are present. A good protocol for sampling feed includes: From feeders, whether static or belt/chain/auger driven, sample multiple times, 200-250 g per sample. Mix all in a large container, on a tarp by rolling, or by whatever means is convenient. From that take 4-5 samples, ~100 g each. Pool these to make up a 450-500 gm sample to be sent to the lab. Ziploc bags are generally perfect. This amount is all the lab will want to put through their dryers. Make sure the bag is clearly labeled with your name, date, and sample description in permanent marker. Once you have obtained your sample, send it by quickest means possible to the lab. If you collect on a Friday afternoon and can’t get it mailed, keep it in a freezer to slow mold activity, but get it out again first thing on Monday. Fusarium toxins will form under standard freezer conditions. A couple important things to note are that every mycotoxin identified to-date has a negative impact on immunity in some manner, so animals, even those vaccinated, may be more at risk of infection. Secondly, multiple toxins present in a feed will act synergistically with one another, causing more harm than they would separately. One of the first indicators of a problem is reductions in feed intake, particularly when DON and T-2 are present.
Weight Gain C + Toxin
Feed/Gain
C + Toxin + Assure
Figure 2 shows the results of a study where we examined the relative percent change (from a control group) in feed intake, weight gain and feed/gain. There were three treatments; a positive control, a negative control with naturally contaminated grains and the negative control feed with Assure® feed flavour in it. At the end of the trial, pigs fed the negative control diet containing our Assure® feed flavour, rebounded in feed intake and showed improvement in both weight gain and feed conversion compared to negative control fed pigs. For more information on how Grand Valley Fortifiers can help you assess the impact of mycotoxins on your farm, please contact your GVF swine specialist. n
2020 Christmas & New Year’s Schedule Dear Friends, In order for us to help you prepare for the holidays, please be advised that our holiday hours are as follows: Thursday, December 24 7:30am - 2pm Friday, December 25
Closed Christmas Day
Monday, December 28 8am - 5pm (customer service desk open, deliveries resume Dec 29) Thursday, December 31 7:30am - 4pm Friday, January 1, 2021 Closed New Year’s Day We would like to wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and New Year!
Thought for the Day It is only through the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose birth and life we celebrate each Christmas, along with the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts and minds that we can hope to embrace the call of Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” - Micah 6:8