The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast

Low birth weights of piglets can result in increased mortality rates and reduced productivity. In light of this, thinking of alternatives to solve the issue is vital. In this episode, Dr. Johannes Gulmann Madsen discusses some studies that he has been working on and that focus on the matter. He talks about using creep feeding, milk replacers, and weaning transition strategies to help us potentiali...

Feed additives usually provide a myriad of benefits to swine. However, when we think about the subject, we typically take only prebiotics and probiotics into consideration and may end up forgetting about postbiotics – which are, as a matter of fact, becoming more present in swine diets. So how do postbiotics act in the gut? What are their real benefits to the herds? These additives can help preven...

Pellet quality is an important factor for swine nutrition. That is because with high-quality pellets, pigs receive a balanced amount of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that stimulates a healthy growth. Also, good pellets can improve feed efficiency and reduce waste. For those reasons, research on pellet quality and ways to improve it is crucial for the success of swine nutrition and production....

How does nutrition impact the microbiota and gut health of pigs? That question is even more important considering that keeping the gastrointestinal tracts of pigs healthy is extremely important, especially during weaning – when they are more susceptible to stress and disease. So in this episode, I talk with Dr. Sheila Jacobi about how the microbiota gut-brain axis can impact swine physiological, i...

Correct sampling is essential for comprehensively and accurately studying the biological system of swine. To achieve it, it is crucial to understand the impact of various swine sampling techniques on the collected material. Bearing that goal in mind, Dr. Sarah Elefson discusses in this episode some studies which are focusing on different sample collection methods. In a nutshell, these studies look...

Corn dried distillers grains with solubles (cDDGS) are a byproduct of biofuel and alcohol production. In pig feed, cDDGS are commonly used, since they are readily available and contain protein, fiber, and unsaturated fatty acids. But what are the best ways to use them in pig diets, and what are the limits? In this episode, I talk with Dr. Jisun Hong about a study he conducted that evaluated the ef...

What is a postbiotic, and how can it support the performance of pigs? Postbiotics are inanimate microorganisms/components which are prepared to confer health benefits to their host. In this episode, Dr. Erik Eckhardt explores their usage and benefits by discussing a study about lactobacillus fermentation as a treatment for F18 E. coli challenges in piglets and comparing it with a bacitracin treatm...

Whenever we think about critical nutrients for the performance, growth, and development of our pigs, we may need to remember to mention water. However, even though it’s often forgotten, water is a crucial nutrient for swine performance. When it comes to its usage, we must consider both its quantity and quality. So what should we measure? What should we look for? Are we doing a good job of consider...

Getting a swine barn 100% clean is incredibly difficult, if not impossible altogether. Regardless, we must continue improving our disinfection protocols in order to minimize disease contamination as much as we possibly can. In this episode, I talk with Macie Reeb about her study testing and identifying the most commonly missed areas in the post-disinfection of a swine barn. Also, we discuss potent...

Even though carnitine is more often used when feeding sows, it can also be helpful in enabling the pig to become more efficient with its energy utilization. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Jamil Faccin about a study that he performed by feeding carnitine to pigs in the finishing phase, at different time points, to see how it affected their growth performance and carcass characteristics. Meet the...

E. coli has always been a problem for pigs, especially shortly after weaning. However, there are various strategies we can use to help prevent infection, or mitigate its severity in case it does occur. In today’s episode, I talk with Dr. Yanhong Liu about the impact of E. coli issues, which reemerged in nursery period across states since 2021, and some nutritional strategies that can be used to he...

Low-protein diets can be used in the industry to meet the essential amino acid requirements while reducing the amount of total crude protein. That can help reduce the cost of the diet, as well as the nitrogen excretion, but do pigs rely on that extra nitrogen more than we realize? In today’s episode, I talk with Dr. Dan Columbus about his study that looks into whether lysine requirements may chang...

In today’s episode, I talk with Dr. Stacie Crowder about trial data for a product that addresses post-weaning scours in nursery pigs. This product focuses on agglutination of bacteria to support gut integrity and nursery pig performance. Meet the guest: Experience Current: Monogastric Product Development Manager – PMI Additives, Land O’Lakes Inc. Background Ph. D. in Physiology and Monogastric Nut...

There are several ways to compare nutrient digestibility. Three common methods are with in vitro studies, ileal digestibility, and indicator amino acid oxidation analysis. In today’s episode, I talk with Dr. Cara Cargo-Froom about her studies, which compare these analysis methods in order to determine how we can improve them and understand nutrient digestibility coefficients in an easier and cost-...

A common practice in the swine industry is to remove feed prior to marketing. This helps with feeder management as you don't have feed to clean out of the feeder, but it also helps the packer as full guts can create problems at the packing plant. In this episode, I talk with Hilario Cordoba about his study testing different feed removal times to find out how soon is too soon and what shifts in...

We know that the microbiome can have an effect on a pig’s performance, and that it can be manipulated. However, can we predict a pig’s performance based on their microbiome classification, ie. their enterotype? In today’s episode, I talk with Dr. Andres Gomez about his work trying to answer that question and determine if a pig’s enterotype can affect the efficacy of some feed additives. Dr. Andres...

Given the growth rate of pigs, meeting nutritional needs for bone development and density are important for the proper growth and development of the animal until it reaches market weight. But in order to determine those requirements, we need to observe the animal’s bodily response to different dietary levels, and that requires a set of standard measurements and reference values. In this episode, I...

Fiber is very commonly used in gestating sow diets for a variety of reasons. One such reason is that sows are capable of utilizing more energy from the fiber as they have increased hindgut fermentation capacity; can it have other effects that we haven’t considered? In today’s episode, I talk with Garrin Shipman about his study feeding different levels of dietary fiber to gestating sows with differ...

In the US, the two main ingredients used to meet the protein requirement of pigs are soybean meal and synthetic amino acids. For the most part, whether to rely on one or the other depends on how the market is behaving – but do pigs respond differently to each method? In this episode, I talk with Dr. Henrique Cemin about a study he performed that tested two diets with different soybean meal inclusi...

Preferred selection criteria have changed drastically over the last several decades. When it comes to that matter, increasing growth rate is typically high on the priority list – but should you select for increased gain in the nursery or in the finishing period? In this episode, I talk with Madie Wensley about her study that evaluated 2 different sire lines – one selected for early maturing pigs a...

Increasing pig growth performance is a topic that I am sure you are all familiar with. It has direct economically applicable results and can increase the health of the herd at the same time. In this episode, I talk with AJ Warner about a study he performed feeding Tri-basic copper chloride in conjunction with an ionophore to grow-finish pigs and evaluating their affects on growth performance throu...

Pelleting swine feed increases theits temperature, of the feed which has made people worry about causing the Maillard reaction and, thus, making the amino acids less digestible. Several studies in the past have evaluated the pelleting process and have shown that this reaction is not likely to occur, but what if more reducing sugars weare added? In this episode, I talk withto Dr. Kara Dunmire about...

The two most important nutrients in a swine diet are widely known to be energy and amino acids (AA). Before we even think about adding in other additives or new ingredient sources, we need to make sure we are feeding the most efficient energy and AA ratios we can. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Jorge Estrada about his study feeding different energy and AA levels to determine the impacts of diffe...

Most evaluations of swine feeding programs focus on the economic impacts each program has. However, to achieve sustainable pork production, we can’t forget to pay attention to the environmental impacts the feeding program has as well. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Edward Yang about his study testing four different feeding programs and evaluating their impact on productivity, nutrient efficiency...

The first several weeks of a piglets life can be very stressful. Not only do their bodies endure physical and mental stress, but also oxidative stress, which can lead to increased cell and tissue damage. In this episode, I talk with Dan Bussières about a study testing a polyphenol fed to sows to see if it can increase the piglets resistance to oxidative stress by absorbing antioxidants from the mi...