Dr. Brent Frederick

GLOBAL TRENDS IN PIG NUTRITION

It is increasingly important for pork production to meet the needs of a growing world population in an efficient, sustainable manner, yet global economic trends and new regulatory constraints have made this task more difficult in recent years. Global increases in energy costs have resulted in lower energy diets being fed, even in regions of the world that have historically fed fats and oils. Thus, strategies to improve feed efficiency through means other than manipulating dietary energy are gaining interest. Further refining nutrient requirements to meet and not exceed the pig’s needs remains critical for minimizing waste and optimizing profitability. Likewise, technology continues to improve precision of ingredient knowledge, allowing for the application of more accurate and precise feeding regimes. Enzymes, amino acids, and other feed technologies continue to be leveraged while the industry explores additional solutions, such as renewable protein sources and new feed additive technologies. The sense of urgency to identify alternative solutions continues to grow and is compounded by the pressures of government regulations restricting use of tools such as antibiotics and pharmacological levels of dietary Zn. In turn, the industry’s interest in investigating health by nutrition interactions has increased. Extensive work continues relative to dietary modifications on gastrointestinal function and microbiome changes, and linking these changes to measurable outcomes to the producer is an important element. Now more than ever, there is much activity and interest in understanding what role nutrition plays in optimizing pork production and how to fully leverage new information and technologies.