VOL. 16 ISSUE 2 | SUMMER 2014

A P E R I O D I C N E W S L E T T E R P R O D U C E D B Y G R A N D V A L L E Y F O R T I F I E R S L T D .Swine GristSwine Grist

Ian Ross, President & CEO | Jim Ross, ChairmanClarke Walker, VP & COO Dr. Martin Clunies, Monogastric NutritionistDavid Ross/Patti Bobier, Publishers

Jim Ross, Chairman

Dear friends,

Greetings to you all on this beautiful spring day! Most farmers are happy these days as a good stretch of weather is providing ideal conditions for planting. For those of us involved in the pork business it has been a challenging year. In the U.S. the PED virus has cost producers millions of dollars with over 6,400 herds affected. The extent of the spread of this deadly disease has reduced the U.S. hog herd and the number of pigs marketed has been steadily dropping. This of course has led to record high hog prices and record profits for those producers not affected by the disease. More recently there is a growing concern that some infected herds, which had originally thought to have been brought under control, are beginning to see a reoccurrence of the PED virus. This is happening in the U.S. and possibly in Canada. It is thought that this might be resulting from improper feed back procedures. It is important to pay attention to every detail of the recommendations in this respect. Consult with your veterinarian to make sure of the details of this procedure. In Ontario the last recorded infection was on April 30th 2014. At that time a total of 58 herds had been reported. Manitoba has just reported its second case of the PED virus. We would remind you that although you may have made sure that no porcine plasma is included in any of your feeds, there is a potential risk of transmission of the virus through the use of other porcine origin ingredients such as pork fat, pork meal and rendered intestinal material. PEDv is a major concern today. We must be relentless in our pursuits of finding the ways and means to bring it under control. May God guide and direct us to that end.

Wishing you good farming, Jim Ross & Staff

GRAND VALLEY FORTIFIERS LTD.PO Box 726 Cambridge ON N1R 5W6 1-800-567-4400 www.grandvalley.com

Part 1: Effect of Vegetable Oils on Pig PerformanceIn swine diets, energy is the most critical nutrient determining growth rate, muscle deposition and feed conversion. Typically, fats and oils are the high energy ingredients used to increase the energy density of pig feeds. Which of these two energy sources one should use in the feeding of pigs is a constant source of debate. Fats and oils are a combination of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids connected by glycerol, to make a triglyceride.

Digestibility and performanceYears of research has shown that vegetable oils are higher in digestible energy compared to animal fats. This is due to greater proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in oils compared to fat (Figure 1). This results in improved performance of pigs fed vegetable oil compared to animal fats such as tallow or grease.

Figure 1. Percentage of saturated, monounsaturated & polyunsaturated fatty acids in different fats and oils.

Sulabo and Stein (2003) reported that nursery pigs fed diets supplemented with soy oil gained more weight and converted feed to body weight gain more efficiently compared to pigs fed diets supplemented with tallow or no fat (Figures 2a and 2b).

Figure 2a. Effect of fat sources on daily gain of weaned pigs

THE VALUE OF BIONIC® OILby: DR. MARTIN CLUNIESMonogastric Nutritionist, Grand Valley Fortifiers

A bout 6 months ago we examined the economics of using Optapro™, a combination

of essential amino acids specifically designed to reduce the amount of soybean meal needed in the diet, in both sows and grow-finish hog diets. If you haven’t implemented Optapro™ into your feeding program yet, you are missing the opportunity to capture significant cost savings.

We continue to see an average of 5–10% higher numbers of market hogs sold in Ontario and market hog prices continue to be extremely strong. Returns for market hogs are ranging 25%–50% higher than even the previous year’s numbers (week over week). With lower animal numbers expected to reach market in the future in the U.S. and Canada due to PEDv, these prices are anticipated to increase.

Soybean meal cost remains high while the cost of wheat and corn are on a downward trend (Figure 1). The wider the spread between corn and soybean meal costs, the larger the potential savings from incorporating Optapro™ in your feeds. The market hog outlook and current commodity prices have created the scenario for tremendous profitability in the hog industry.

Figure 1. Last 3 month tracking of soybean meal, corn and wheat.

SummaryVegetable oils with high polyunsaturated fatty acid contents are more digestible than animal fats. Pigs fed vegetable oils gain more weight, convert feed to gain and muscle more efficiently and wean more and heavier pigs compared to those fed animal fats. n

by: BRUCE SCHUMANNB.Sc. (Agric.), M.Sc., Monogastric Nutritionist, Grand Valley Fortifiers

Figure 2b. Effect of fat sources on feed/gain of weaned pigs

Research completed at Ridgetown Agricultural College revealed that 30 kg of a vegetable oil blend could be used to replace 50 kg of tallow in growing-finishing pig diets (Table 1) with no difference in pig performance. In fact, there was a 1% improvement in the carcass index for pigs fed the vegetable oil blend compared to the tallow fed pigs.

Table 1. Comparison of supplemental Vegetable oil & tallow in growing finishing pigs. (4 phase program)

Grower Finisher

Tallow Vegetable Oil Tallow Vegetable Oil 50 30 30 20 30 20 – – Average Performance

Initial wt, kgs 41.0 40.2 40.2 41.0Carcass wt, kgs 81.0 80.5 80.0 80.5ADG (g/d) 921 911 872 863

Carcass qualityDespite the differences reported above, there has been some reluctance to using vegetable oils in swine diets. These include fear of the resulting fat deposited in the carcass being too soft and the cost of vegetable oils compared to animal fats. Table 2 shows the results of an experiment completed in 2002 where there was very little difference in the proportion of saturated to unsaturated fatty acid in the fat deposits of pigs fed diets supplemented with 2% soybean oil compared to of choice white grease, as indicated by NRC for Swine, 1998.

Table 2. Effect of feeding 2% soybean oil on carcass fat composition

NRC Choice White 2.0% Soybean Grease (CWG) Oil Fed Pigs Fatty Acid CompositionsSaturated Fats 40.8 38.98Unsaturated Fats 59.2 61.02Polyunsaturated Fats 12.2 13.2Linoleic Acid 11.6 12.08

SowsIn a field evaluation two groups of sows were fed either a diet supplemented with animal fat or vegetable oil. One group of sows was fed a vegetable oil blend consisting of soy and flax oils, while the other group were fed an animal – vegetable blend of fats. Sows fed the purely vegetable oil blend consumed more feed, weaned more and heavier pigs compared to the sows fed the animal – vegetable blend of fats.

Table 3. Effect of feeding vegetable oil & animal fat on sow performance.

Vegetable Oil Animal Fat Parameters 30 kg/MT 50 kg/MTSaturated Fats 15 17# Pigs weaned/sow 10.55 10.10Pig weight at weaning, kg 7.06 6.35Litter weight weaned, kg 74.43 64.13

Phase 1Phase 2

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Swine Grist

T he introduction of the new BioSURE™ nursery feeds has allowed us the opportunity to run numerous field trials to demonstrate the

performance of this new range of diets. The removal of porcine origin ingredients posed a challenge from an early feed intake perspective post weaning. We are pleased to say, that these new diets are indeed perform-ing very well and in some cases outperforming the discontinued Bionic® and BioForce® nursery feeds that contained a porcine origin ingredient. We want to highlight one trial completed recently and make some observations on the performance and variation this producer experienced. This trial involved 150 pigs on the new BioSURE™ program and 150 on a competitors program. The numbers are summarised below:

Nursery trial March 2014 Trial Result

GVF Competitor GVF BioSURE™: Relative Performance

# Pigs In 150 150 -# Pigs Out 147 149 -Days on Trial 40 40 100%Weight In (kg/Pig) 8.01 7.93 101%Weight Out (kg/Pig) 32.40 30.80 105%Average Weight Gain (kg) 24.39 22.87 107%Daily Liveweight Gain (g) 610 572 107%Food Consumed (kg/Pig) 30.99 32.63 95%Daily Food Intake (g) 775 816 95%FCR 1.27 1.43 89%Feed Used (kg/Pig) Ignite 0.20 Phase 1 2.21 Surge 0.50 Phase 2 30.42 Respond 1.95 BioForce 180 pmx 3.72 BioForce 32 pmx 24.62

A Better Start… a Better Finish!

As you can see, an impressive 7% improvement in average daily gain and an 11% improvement in conversion was achieved on BioSURE™ nursery feeds and BioForce® premix. These pigs on BioSURE™ were 1.52kg heavier leaving the nursery. Based on research, every 1kg extra out of the nursery, will equate to 3kg heavier at slaughter. Therefore, 1.52kg X 3kg equates to 4.56 kg at slaughter. In other words, these pigs will get to market approximately 4 days sooner than the pigs on the competitor diet. In today’s market environment getting pigs to market as quickly as possible is the key to enhanced profitability. Getting them through the nursery as fast as you can to take advantage of excellent market prices while providing excellent feed conversion through the lifetime performance of the animal pays big dividends to producers!

Another observation from this trial was the group’s weight variation observed. We weighed groups of five pigs at different days and plotted them to look at weight variation. This was a commercial trial, not a scientific

Source: Nasdaq.com

If we look at two scenarios using Optapro™, one with current market cost for corn, and the second an actual input cost for home-grown corn (cost of seed, fertilizer, etc.) against the current SBM cost, we realize the potential savings that can be gained from using Optapro™ (Table 1). Optapro™ is used at 3 kg/MT for a corn-soybean meal diet and 1.5 kg/MT for a diet which also contains DDGS.

Table 1. Estimated savings using Optapro™ in rations with fluctuating corn commodity costs.

Savings Using OptaPro™ in Corn-SBM & Corn-SBM-DDGS Diets

Corn Cost ($/MT) SBM Cost ($/MT) Savings ($/MT) Savings($/MT)

Corn/SBM1 DDGS Rations2

$204.00 $649.00 $14.07 $7.26

$125.00 $649.00 $17.39 $8.951Inclusion rate of Optapro™ – 3 kg/MT 2 Inclusion rate of Optapro™ – 1.5 kg/MT

The use of Optapro™ will reduce soybean meal in your rations by 45kgs /MT in a corn-soybean meal diet and 23kgs /MT in a diet that also includes DDGS. There is between $7.26–$17.39 savings per MT of feed (or $1.82–$4.35 per hog) from using Optapro™! Additionally a 4000 hog grow-finish operation will save the equivalent of 45 MT of soybean meal per turn (a value of $29,000.00) that can be used later or potentially sold. These dollars are difficult to ignore even in the eyes of the current profitable hog market!

Optapro™ can be added to your existing Grand Valley Fortifiers grow-finish and sow premixes, so it doesn’t require another premix bin on the farm. It will also allow you to capture savings when you don’t have opportunity bins for alternative protein commodities. It is RWA/NAB approved, so it can be included in our Natures Blend line of premixes too.

For more information on how Optapro™ can be implemented in your particular situation, please contact your Grand Valley Fortifiers Swine Specialist. n

NURSERY FEEDS FIELD OBSERVATIONS by: KEVIN DOLAN, Nursery Specialist, Primary Diets

L ast August we were pleased to have Jeff Crossman join our Swine Specialist team. Jeff

has been part of our company for over 10 years now as he started working part time in our Valley Feeds retail store while he was in high school and

later moved onto be a valued member of our manfacturing team. As a result Jeff gained a valued understanding of ingredient mixing, and the importance of quality control when blending premixes.

Jeff has a great personality and has a servant’s heart and has been able to connect with many producers at industry events and while making farm visits. Jeff has assisted our valued swine producers with regular feed mill calibrations, and the weighing of trial hogs. Jeff recently has been accredited as an SGS External Auditor and will be assisting with audits for our PC Free From™ producers.

We believe Jeff is a keen, young individual who will continue to grow in his role of Swine Field Support. Having Jeff join our team has been a huge benefit to GVF and our customers as we strive to provide you with excellent service and support. n

GROWING OUR GVF SWINE TEAM

Thought for the Day Spring time – Seed time, a time once again when we can trust God’s promises.

The Lord will open His heavenly store house so the skies send rain on your land, at the right time and He will bless everything that you do. – Deuteronomy 28:12

In November 2013 we shared with you exciting benchmarking performance numbers for our new generation of grow-finish premixes. We continue

to compile those performance metrics, but more recently we have invested a significant amount of time and effort in our nursery research and development. Grand Valley Fortifiers in collaboration with Primary Diets has created a new late stage nursery premix, BioForce® Piglet 32.

Our goal was to design an economical, yet nutritionally advanced premix that could be used in a late stage nursery period (12.5kgs to 25kgs) manufactured on-farm, to meet the needs of today’s fast-growing, lean genetic piglet. We know that the faster an animal grows, the higher the oxidative stress and metabolic demand for antioxidants becomes, such as vitamin E and selenium. As a result, we have ensured that BioForce® Piglet 32 has been fortified with high levels of antioxidants to meet those requirements.

We’ve balanced our macro-minerals to minimize competition of mineral absorption in the GI tract and provided enzymes in the BioForce® Piglet 32 so that we can maximize the digestibility of nutrients in this late stage nursery feed. We understand that feed intake is a tremendously important precursor to maximizing average daily gain at this stage of development. BioForce® Piglet 32 includes proven flavours and sweeteners to ensure that we are maximizing consumption and therefore gain.

We’ve tested this new premix in 16 separate trials involving over1600 piglets. Table 1 summarizes the performance measures collected to date from these individual trials using BioForce® Piglet 32 premix in the late stage nursery feed.

Table 1. BioForce Piglet 32 Results Summary

# of Pigs Started 1619

Average Starting Weight 13.36

# of Pigs Finished 1591

Average Ending Weight 33.85

Average Gain/Pig 20.26

Average # of Days 29.81

Mortality % 1.63

Average Daily Gain 683

Average Daily Feed Intake 1.23

FCR 1.83

We’ve been extremely pleased with the performance of this product. The average daily gain over these 16 trials was very good. Feed conversion, especially when we consider the heavier final body weights, is excellent. We hope that sharing these results with you will excite you and interest you in trying this product for yourself.

For more information on whether BioForce Piglet 32 premix is a fit for your operation, please contact your Grand Valley Fortifiers swine specialist today. n

BIOFORCE PIGLET 32 by: BRUCE SCHUMANNB.Sc. (Agric.), M.Sc., Monogastric Nutritionist, Grand Valley Fortifiers

Premixes & Starters

®trial, so these graphs simply indicate some trends that producers are seeing in the BioSURE™ fed nursery pigs. Looking at the weaning weight graph and comparing it to the ending weight graph, one will note that the BioSURE™ pigs started with close to the same weaning weight and weight distribution but they gained significantly more weight while becoming more “even” than the competitor fed pigs as the trial progressed. I was present throughout this trial and visually noticed the variation between the two groups of pigs that the graphs bear out.

It is encouraging to see that nursery feeds that do not contain porcine origin ingredients can provide impressive Average Daily Gains and Feed Conversions, with very “even” groups of pigs that will continue to grow and convert well through their lifetime, resulting in quick finishing barn turnover and increased profitability for producers. Talk to your Grand Valley Foritifers Swine Specialist to further discuss using the new BioSURE™ program. n

Weaning weight variation

Final weight variation