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The potential ability of swine nutrition to influence environmental factors positively

Land O’Lakes Purina Feed LLC, Shoreview, MN 55126

stpetersen{at}landolakes.com

Abstract

Environmental issues are a growing concern within agriculture. Several of them can be categorized under the following headings: manure storage and handling, air quality, manure nutrient concentration, and soil nutrient levels. Recently introduced, EcoCare feed (Land O’Lakes Purina Feed LLC, Shoreview, MN) is a dedicated and affordable feeding program addressing manure management, ammonia emissions, and nutrient excretion, while optimizing pig performance. Components in EcoCare feed reduce manure solids and viscosity, resulting in improved physical uniformity of the manure that is easier to agitate in manure storage pits and manipulate through manure-handling equipment. Internal research trials have indicated a reduction of 14% in solids and 22% in viscosity over a 45-d collection period; these physical changes may have positive implications on manure pit pump-out and facility sanitation. EcoCare feed also has the potential to reduce ammonia emissions. This is achieved primarily by using crystalline amino acid inclusion, specific Bacillus bacteria, and saponin-derived compounds. Emissions measured in a manure pit simulation trial performed at LongView Animal Nutrition Center (Gray Summit, MO) demonstrated that pigs consuming EcoCare feed excreted manure that had ammonia volatilization reduced by 18% over a 45-d period when compared with control pigs. Over time, EcoCare feed may result in reduced production of ammonia by up to 40% in commercial situations. Nutrient manipulation of feed can help greatly in the reduction of nutrient waste. Reducing N loss can be achieved by incorporating supplemental crystalline amino acids in the diet and by using specific feed additives that can lower the volatilization of N-containing ammonia from manure pits. The excretion of P can be reduced by using phytase in the diet, thereby improving P digestibility and reducing the requirement of dietary inorganic P. These types of manipulation can be achieved without limiting swine growth performance. In fact, EcoCare feed has been shown to improve feed conversion ratio by up to 4% over other standard feeds in field conditions. EcoCare is a registered trademark of Land O’Lakes Purina Feed LLC.

Key Words: air quality • ammonia • Ecocare • environment • manure • swine