Investigating Organic Forage Feeding With Alternative Sources of Protein
The pig industry is currently facing a number of significant challenges.
The wide-scale intensification of pig production and the legislative exclusion of feeding waste food and bi-products are driving increasing demand for cereal-based protein feeds. Soybean production has increased by more than 400% in the past 40 years, more than any other commodity crop but increasing demand for all feed commodities are adding significant cost pressures to pig production.
There is a growing need to develop cost effective, sustainable feed production systems that meet the nutritional requirements of pigs. Behavioural research shows that pigs need to root, forage and manipulate materials and will spend up to 70% of their time engaged in these behaviours. A forage-based ration can meet the pigs’ behavioural needs, cost effectively.
Results: This study demonstrated that silage-based rations with locally-grown sources of protein are a viable means of feeding grower-finisher pigs in straw-yard systems. There was no significant difference in the growth performance of pigs fed the silage-based ration with peas, and the pigs fed the ration with soya.