How can Biomimicry help innovate sustainable solutions?

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Biomimicry has already generated many new technologies inspired by nature. Is there something that we can take away from it for the design of animal feed solutions for sustainable animal nutrition?

by Gwendolyn Jones

What is biomimicry?

Biomimicry, or biomimetics, is the study of nature and leveraging solutions that have evolved in nature to innovate and solve problems for the benefit of humans.  So essentially it is about piggy backing on nature or emulating what has already been proven by nature to work and to be sustainable throughout time.

Biomimicry is thought of as a field with potential to bring answers to many different disciplines, including medicine, architecture, agriculture, industry. It can pretty much apply to all sectors. Examples for innovations stemming from the application of biomimicry are architectural designs with improved thermoregulation inspired by termite mounds, robotics inspired by motor mechanisms of insects or velcro, which is derived from the observation of hooks implemented by certain plants that stick to animal coats. Aircraft engineers are inspired by birds and sharks to design lighter and more fuel-efficient aircrafts.

Advantages of applying biomimicry to innovation for sustainability

The field of biomimicry has experienced significant growth in recent years and has been popularized by Janine Benyus. It is now a tool to accelerate innovation for small and large companies.

Biomimicry is explained to be different from other bio-inspired design, because of its focus on learning from nature how to be sustainable. Designs following biomimicry are thought to be more efficient, resilient and sustainable, if they emulated biological lessons on form, process and ecosystem. The outcome is superior to that developed through any artificial means.

Biomimicry applied to the design of sustainable animal feed solutions

Farm animals possess limited physiologic responses to challenges such as for example high ambient temperatures, reproduction, oxidation or infections. However, amongst the millions of other species on earth facing the same challenges, we can find many other strategies or adaptations, which could be superior. This means that, within nature there are not just a handful of solutions, but a huge variety of strategies we could potentially adapt to solve physiological needs and equip animals to cope better with stressors.

How did nature solve this?

Plants evolved with sophisticated strategies to cope with stressors, since they can not move away from them and are bound to their locations. We can also learn from other organisms and species in nature that survive under extreme conditions, which strategies give them an advantage. What can we leverage from that in animal nutrition to support adaptive and coping mechanisms in animals?

New benchmarks in animal production and better ways of measuring improvements call for new approaches in the design and evaluation of feed solutions. Biomimicry offers a framework for innovation with sustainable outcomes. There is certainly no harm in asking how nature solved something as a source of inspiration.

Scientific abstract – presented at Midwest ASAS 2022

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Effects of feeding a whole-cell inactivated Pichia guilliermondii yeast in sow and/or pig diets on progeny nursery and grow-finish growth performance and carcass characteristics

Scientific abstract presented at Midwest ASAS, 14-16th of March 2022
Authors: Morgan T. Thayer, Matthew D. Asmus, Daniel B. Jones, Gene Gourley, and Emily Bruder

A total of 1260 weaned pigs (PIC 359´1050) from 358 sows were used to determine effects of feeding sows and/or their progeny a proprietary strain of Pichia guilliermondii as a whole-cell inactivated yeast product on nursery and grow-finish growth performance and carcass characteristics.

Sows were fed either a basal gestation/lactation control (CON) diet or CON fortified with 0.1% (0.91 kg/ton) WCY throughout gestation and lactation. Progeny were fed either a CON diet, or CON fortified with 0.15% (1.36 kg/ton) WCY in the nursery period and 0.05% (0.45 kg/ton) WCY in grow-finish. Pigs were allotted (21 pigs/pen, 15 pens/treatment) to one of 4 treatments in a 2×2 factorial design.

For the nursery period (d0-42 post-weaning), there was no difference in ADG or ADFI (P>0.05). However, pigs fed WCY in the nursery had lower G:F than pigs fed CON (P=0.029). Livability of nursery pigs produced from CON fed sows was 92.22% and was improved to 94.23% for pigs produced by WCY fed sows (P=0.157).  During the grow-finish period, pigs from sows fed WCY had greater overall ADG (d0-end; 0.89 kg/d vs. 0.92 kg/d), ADFI (2.19 kg/d vs. 2.24 kg/d), and final body weight (BW; 133.97 kg vs. 136.04 kg) compared to pigs from CON fed sows (P<0.016). A greater hot carcass weight (HCW; 98.51 kg vs. 100.48 kg) and carcass yield percentage was observed for pigs produced from WCY fed sows compared to pigs produced by sows fed CON (P<0.023). Livability during the grow-finish period was 95.09% for pigs from CON fed sows and increased to 96.92% for pigs produced from WCY fed sows (P=0.146).

In conclusion, feeding sows WCY contributed to improving their progeny’s grow-finish ADG, ADFI, final BW, HCW, and carcass yield percentage. Additionally, a 3.84% combined improvement in wean-to-finish livability of progeny from sows fed WCY is very meaningful.

Related articles

Learn more about the author Dr. Morgan Thayer

CitriStim changed its look

Morgan Thayer presents at Midwest ASAS 2022

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Dr. Morgan Thayer, Swine Technical Services Manager at ADM, will be presenting our latest research involving the addition of Pichia guilliermondii yeast to pig diets at the Midwest ASAS meeting 2022.

This year’s annual Midwest meeting of the American Society of Animal Science will take place in Omaha, Nebraska 14-16th of March.

 

Abstract presented at Midwest ASAS 2022

Effects of feeding a whole-cell inactivated Pichia guilliermondii yeast in sow and/or pig diets on progeny nursery and grow-finish growth performance and carcass characteristics. (Thayer, M.T. et al 2022) View the full abstract here

Morgan Thayer

About Morgan Thayer

Dr. Morgan Thayer grew up in the small town of Hope, Indiana where she became interested in swine through 4-H. Morgan earned her B.S. at Purdue University in Animal Sciences, her M.S. at Kansas State University in Swine Nutrition, and her Ph.D. at Purdue University in Swine Nutrition. Her Ph.D. research focused on gut modifying feed additives fed to sows and nursery pigs. Additional research conducted by Thayer involved using frozen semen to evaluate growth and carcass characteristics of two different decades of swine genetics.

Morgan graduated with her Ph.D. in May of 2021 and directly transitioned into her current role at ADM as a Swine Technical Services Manager. She enjoys being involved with continued research of feed additives and supporting the sales team during key customer interactions.

About Pichia guilliermondii

Decades of research demonstrate the beneficial effects across species that Pichia guilliermondii has through its effect on parameters related to the body defense system and gut function.

Pichia guilliermondii has a unique morphology, cell wall composition, and structure which influence its behavior in the animal’s gastrointestinal system. It has a high surface area to volume ratio and high hydrophobicity, which enables it to readily diffuse through the intestinal environment.

Publications by Morgan Thayer

The effects of maternal dietary supplementation of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) and 25(OH)D3 on sow and progeny performance1

Morgan T Thayer, Jim L Nelssen, Austin J Langemeier, Jodi M Morton, John M Gonzalez, Stephanie R Kruger, Zhining Ou, Andrew J Makowski, Jon R Bergstrom

Translational Animal Science, Volume 3, Issue 2, March 2019, Pages 692–708, https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txz029

 

Thayer, M.T. (2021). Evaluation of a DFM and OA, alone or in combination, on sow reproductive and litter growth performance. abstract

Thayer, M.T. (2021). Evaluation of a DFM and OA, alone or in combination, on sow offspring’s nursery growth performance, abstract

Thayer, M.T. (2020). Feeding a whole-cell inactivated Pichia guilliermondi yeast to gestating and lactating sows in a commercial production system. abstract

Thayer, M.T. (2020). Feeding a whole-cell inactivated Pichia guilliermondi yeast to gestating and lactating sows over two consecutive parities. abstract

 

Related articles

Pichia yeast

CitriStim has changed its look

 

 

Animal resilience – economic value in livestock

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Scientists working in animal genetics are pointing out the economic value of animal resilience on farms, where labour time is restricted. Animal breeding companies are showing an increasing appetite for resilience to be included as a trait in breeding goals.

Author: Gwendolyn Jones, Product Manager Anco FIT

Can we breed for animal resilience?

Current developments and future trends in the livestock industry are giving way to a new research focus in genetics for livestock production. This research is looking to develop selection tools for farmers to improve the resilience of animals in their production system.

So far  breeding goals have not included resilience. However, research groups from Australia and the Netherlands have recently demonstrated the potential for resilience in breeding goals and suggested ways of how we could genetically select for it in livestock animals.

Resilience definition in animal production

“The capacity of the animal to be minimally affected by disturbances/challenges or to rapidly return to the state pertained before exposure to a disturbance” (Berghof et al 2019).

Colditz and Hine (2016) describe resilience as a comparative measure of differences between animals in the impact of a challenge and the result of lower sensitivity or better adaptability to a challenge. The biological processes underlying resilience relate to adaptive responses that occur to minimize the impact of a stressor.

How to measure resilience in farm animals

From the definition of resilience as reduced sensitivity to potential disturbances, it follows that the desirable phenotype could be identified by measuring the rate of recovery to baseline and normality of behavioural, physiological, immune or production traits following the disturbance. Instead of measuring the magnitude of these variables while the animal attempts to cope with the stressor.

More recent scientific papers say resilience can be measured based on deviations of expected production and observed production over a period of time. One indicator for more resilient animals could be that they have a smaller variance in deviations of production traits over a period of time than the population average.

For example, there are favorable correlations between the residual variance of feed intake and feed duration with mortality and the number of health treatments in pigs in a challenge environment. This suggests that residual variance of feed intake and feed duration can be used to select for more resilient pigs.

Recent technological advances facilitate the increase in the number of observations that can be made on individual animals to more accurately estimate deviations and consequently genetic parameters. Routine data collection form automatic milking systems (AMS) and automatic feeding systems (AFS) for cattle and pigs are the most well-known and well-developed examples. Animal breeders expect more rapid progress with measurements from wearable sensors, which are already being used for monitoring animal behaviour, physiological changes and detecting health and disease status in animals.

Economic value of  animal resilience

Researchers point out that when determining the economic value of traits, care needs to be taken to avoid double counting. They suggest that the economic value of resilience can be based on labour costs associated with observing animals that show signs of disease or other problems. These could be visual signs or alerts generated by sensors, automatic feeding systems or automatic milking systems.

Labour time is limited. Therefore, farmers have a requirement for healthy and easy-to-manage animals, especially when the number of animals per farm employee is increasing. A reduction in time spent on an animal with an alert will reduce costs associated with labour. Improved resilience results in easier to manage farm animals, which would reduce labour requirements and thus allow more animals per farm. Consequently, selecting for more resilient animals can increase farm profit.

 

Further reading:

Animal Science turns to advancing resilience for heat tolerance

Consumer perception of feed additives in animal feed

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How can we manage the perception of feed additives effectively? Feed additives have become an essential component in animal feed for advanced farm animal nutrition strategies that consider consumer concerns on environmental impact, the use of antibiotic growth promotors, animal welfare and cost of animal protein. However, consumers are many times unaware of the positive impact feed additives are making for more sustainable production of healthy and affordable animal protein.

Perception of feed additives

Consumers often have a negative perception of feed additives used in livestock nutrition. The same is true for food additives used in food and beverages in human nutrition, which are also viewed with a high degree of skepticism, particularly if they sound chemical.

Food additives have been used for centuries to improve flavor, appearance, nutrition, freshness or texture in food and beverages. However, recent surveys carried out in the US have shown that the names of those ingredients or how they are described can make a big difference to whether a product is purchased or not.

For example, the survey found that consumers are more likely to seek out additives that are described as natural, when it comes to flavors, sweeteners, colors or preservatives. However, a greater proportion of survey participants would avoid food and beverages with the same additives if they are described as “artificial”. Unfamiliarity of terms used to describe food additives are also likely to cause concerns or avoidance.

Others have found that the acceptability of food additives was highly influenced by the perceived benefits and risk associated with them. Health benefits in particular have an impact on choosing food additives.

Importance of educating the consumer

The perception of what is good and what is healthy for consumers can lead to substantial challenges for the food industry, which carry through to the animal feed industry for obvious reasons. Educating the consumer about what is in their food is important, because consumer perception and trends can be very powerful.

The same is true for what is going into animal feed, as it is part of the food chain that leads to what eventually ends up on the plates of consumers. What consumers generally are also not aware of is that the rules and regulations regarding the evaluation of the safety and efficacy of feed additives are in many cases even stricter than those regarding food additives.

 

How are feed additives helping to tackle consumer concerns about animal protein production?

Feed additives are designed, according to regulatory definition, to improve the quality of feed and the quality of food from animal origin. The negative image of feed additives in the consumer’s perception is partly due to a lack of understanding of their function and benefits in animal nutrition and not knowing the diversity in feed additives that is available. Otherwise, the awareness that most of the feed additives are designed to reduce the concerns regarding livestock production would be far greater among consumers and reduce their reservations and skepticism about feed additives.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of the functions different feed additives fulfill in modern farm animal nutrition and their benefits related to key consumer concerns:

  • Enhanced digestibility of feed materials – reduction in environmental impact
  • Supporting the animal’s natural defense mechanisms – animal health and reduction in the need for antibiotic growth promotors
  • Greater efficiency in nutrient utilization to reduce the cost of production – more affordable animal protein
  • Supporting animal resilience – consistency in high animal wellbeing

 

Does how we describe and name feed additives matter?

Education that leads to a better understanding in the consumer of why feed additives are used in animal nutrition, their origin and overall benefits can certainly help to improve the image of feed additives among consumers.

Additionally, similarly to what was concluded regarding food additives, how we describe feed additives could also make a difference to whether they are perceived positively or negatively by the consumer.

 

Related articles

Pancosma feed additive categories do you know them all?

IFIC Survey: From “Chemical-sounding” to “Clean”: Consumer perspectives on food ingredients

The consumer’s perception of food additives: Influences on acceptance, risk and benefit perceptions

 

Zinc oxide ban in 2022 – now what?

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As the zinc oxide ban (June 2022) is literally just around the corner pig producers in the European Union are forced to take a fresh look at feeding and supporting pigs during their most stressful period of their life. History tells us taking a fresh look at things and keeping an open mind, quite often paves the way for much bigger and better things ahead. Maybe that is the attitude to bear in mind as we embark on a new chapter in European pig production.

by Gwendolyn Jones

Zinc oxide ban 2022 in a nutshell

Effective June 2022, the maximum level of zinc permitted in the feed will reduce to 150 ppm in the European Union. As a result, using high level of zinc oxide in the feed will no longer be acceptable.  The marketing authorizations for veterinary medicinal products containing high levels of zinc oxide (2000ppm or more) prescribed by veterinarians, which were used to ease the weaning process and manage post-weaning diarrhea will be withdrawn by June 2022.

ZnO can still be used as a feed additive after this date, but only at the maximum permitted dose rate of 150 ppm total dietary zinc. This is still higher than the physiological requirements of weaned piglets. The requirement for Zn supplementation in the diet of weaned piglets decreases from 100 to 60 ppm when their body weight increases from 5 to 50 kg.

The decision to ban pharmacological doses of ZnO for piglets was made because more recent reports demonstrated its contribution to environmental pollution and increase in antimicrobial resistance.

Although to date the EU is imposing the strictest regulations on ZnO in piglet production, other markets are also starting to reduce the levels of ZnO in piglet diets. For example, Canada has already announced its plan to reduce the levels allowed to 3o0ppm and others are likely to follow suit in the future.

What does the zinc oxide ban mean for pork producers?

Post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) due to Escherichia coli is an economically important disease in pig production worldwide, affecting pigs during the first 2 weeks after weaning. It is one of the main reasons why pig farmers are using pharmacological levels of zinc oxide. The biggest issues associated with PWD in piglets are reduced growth rates, followed by increased finishing times and mortality.

Not being able to prevent PWD in piglets could therefore result in significant financial losses to the farmer and reduction of the wellbeing of the pigs.

Weaning is one of the most stressful periods in a pig’s life. Removed from the sow and confronted with dietary changes, having to adapt to a new environment, mixing of pigs from other litters and/or farms can lower the immune response and feed intake and thus make piglets more vulnerable to infectious diseases. The ability to cope with these stressors will also determine the susceptibility of the pig to PWD.

This means that farmers need to take extra care to prepare piglets for weaning and develop multifactorial approaches for a smoother transition if they can no longer rely on the use of pharmacological doses of ZnO post weaning.

How to take the right action for your pigs and stay competitive

Just as being open to new ways of doing things and learning about new things is critical, so is an understanding how we got to where we are now. Talk to your veterinarian and trusted nutritional advisors. Gain different perspectives from outside to plot a strategy for a new path forward. Ideally it should be more holistic, combining optimal nutrition and best practices in biosecurity, management and health programs. This includes optimal management of sows and piglets during the lactation period to optimize resilience in pigs at weaning. There is no silver bullet to replace zinc oxide and each plan should be farm-specific.

Join the Pancosma webinar hosted by Misset to learn about synergistic alternative approaches to pharmacological levels of zinc oxide in piglet diets. If you missed the date of our webinar, you will be able to view a recording of the webinar on demand.

Go to webinar

Relevant articles

Benchmarking trace mineral levels in pig feed

Effects of alternative feed additives to medicinal zinc oxide on productivity, diarrhoea incidence and gut development in weaned piglets

Scientific abstract: Potential of a combination of bioactives, sweeteners and organic acids as alternative to high Zinc oxide concentration to support piglets’ growth performance

Pancosma product categories – do you know them all?

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Pancosma has a wide range of feed additives covering your needs. But do you know the product categories in which they belong? We have recently expanded our portfolio to a more complete offer and added new innovations to existing product categories.

Explore where we specialize and innovate

Understand our feed additive offer better. Our product category pages are designed to help you answer questions like, how our product categories benefit you in achieving your goals, support your needs and what we do to ensure their quality and effectiveness.

Pancosma feed additive product categories

GUT AGILITY ACTIVATORS  – more

ORGANIC ACIDS  – more

ORGANIC TRACE MINERALS – more

PALATANTS – more

Palatant subcategory:    SWEETENERS – more

Palatant subcategory: Animal feed FLAVORS – more

PHYTOGENIC BIOACTIVES – more

PICHIA Yeast  -more

Discover our feed additive brands ->

Advance your learnings

The product category pages sum up the details of our product categories in a nutshell. If they spark your interest and you would like to learn even more about our offering and the services we provide, there are several options for you to learn more.

 

  1. If you have more specific questions on our product categories, you can get in direct contact with one of our product experts.

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    Zinc oxide alternative by 2022 – Webinar

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    Hear about the Pancosma feed additive synergistic approach as a zinc oxide alternative in a webinar hosted by Misset, Group, through All About Feed media.

    Our 3 speakers came together to discuss opportunities and challenges awaiting European pig producers due to the Zinc Oxide ban in June 2022.

    We invited Professor emerita Hanne Damgaard Poulsen from the Aarhus University, to provide an independent perspective on how the role of zinc in weanling piglet diets will change next year and explain in practical terms what this means for the actions producers need to take and the challenges they may encounter.

    Her talk is followed by Sebastien Constantin, Business Development Manager and Dr. Richard Sygall, Customer Technical Services Director EMEA from Pancosma. They present a synergistic approach using feed additives from Pancosma to support feeding strategies for successful and more sustainable piglet production post ZnO ban.

    View a recording of the webinar here

    Webinar recording

    About the speakers

    Professor emerita Hanne Damgaard Poulsen, Aarhus University,

    Public sector consultant on nutrient utilization

    Professor emerita Hanne Damgaard Poulsen, Aarhus University, Foulum is MSc (Aarhus University) and PhD (The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen). Pig nutrition and physiology has for more than thirty years been her main working area bringing sustainability into focus. Her main scientific activity has been dedicated to improve pigs’ utilization of nutrients and reduce the excretion of nutrients by addressing pigs’ requirement, nutrient bioavailability, feeding management, mineral sources, enzymes etc. Concurrently, HDP has acted as public sector consultant on nutrient utilization/excretion in animal production for ministries and boards (mainly N and minerals (P, Zn, Cu)).

     

    Sebastien Constantin

    Business Development Manager, Pancosma

    Sebastien is Business Development Manager for the Bioactives range. He joined Pancosma in January 2019.He holds a MSc in animal nutrition from Ecole Superieure d’Agriculture d’Angers – France . He has 15 years of experience in the field of animal nutrition with technical support and product management functions.

    Dr. Richard Sygall

    Customer Technical Services Director EMEA, Pancosma

    Richard was born in the Netherlands and obtained the degree of Veterinary Medicine at the State University of Ghent, Belgium in the year 2000. After graduation he went to work in the United Kingdom where he practiced as a mixed and equine practitioner for seven years. In 2007 he joined Janssen Animal health in the UK as Technical Services Manager. Since 2010 he has been employed by Perstorp Performance Additives in the Netherlands and held the position of Market Development Manager for the Innovation department Feed and Food with a special interest in Gut Health. In 2019 he joined Pancosma and is currently the Customer Technical Services Director EMEA responsible for the additive range.

    CitriStim has changed its look

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    CitriStim and the sun, what is the link? Challenges, pathogenic and physiological are like a grey cloud, threatening optimal animal welfare and performance. CitriStim may support animals to more efficiently weather such challenges clear the clouds, supporting them to shine! Bring out the sun with CitriStim.

    What does it do?

    CitriStim is produced through specialized fermentation, processing and heat treatment of whole cell Pichia guilliermondii.  An extensive body of research involving in-vitro, ex-vivo and in-vivo peer-reviewed studies across several species, have examined various unique morphological and structural properties of Pichia guilliermondii, and demonstrate that its use in animal feeds may help the animal strengthen its defense against health challenges by supporting and optimizing gut function, gut integrity, and body defense responses, strengthening production. CitriStim provides proven benefits.

    Why is CitriStim an asset in animal feed ?

    CitriStim promotes resilience in animals for better outcomes.

    What animals might benefit from CitriStim?

    CitriStim can be used in all animal species and all life stages. We have strong data for its use in swine, poultry and ruminants.

    Benchmarking trace mineral levels in pig feed

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    Did you ever wonder about the trace mineral levels in pig feed your neighbour is using compared to you? Well researchers surveyed animal feed companies in the Brazilian pork sector to find out the actual levels of trace minerals used in commercial pig diets in different regions of Brazil compared to recommendations and what is used in North American commercial diets. Here is a summary of some of the findings that might give you a few pointers if you are looking for benchmarks amongst your peers.

    By Gwendolyn Jones

    Are reference tables for trace mineral levels in pig feed outdated?

    Nutritional requirements for most trace minerals in pigs were determined with a focus on avoiding nutritional deficiencies and go as far back as the 1990s. They are based on minimum requirement levels of supplementation (NRC 2012, US) or values to optimize cost/benefit in feed formulations (Rostagno 2017, Brazil). However, there is evidence that commercial pig diets quite often contain nutrient levels that are greater than the recommended levels. This practice seems to partly originate from the belief that productivity can be improved by increased supplementation or the fear of not meeting requirements otherwise. However, between pig farms there is a great deal of variation when it comes to the supplementation of trace mineral levels in pig feed, which can also be due to differences in pig genetics used, feed composition, management objectives or differing opinions on requirements.

    What level of trace minerals is my neighbour feeding in pig diets?

    In a 2020 survey (Dalto and da Silva 2020) involving 30 feed companies and co-operatives of the Brazilian pork industry the levels of trace minerals in commercial pig diets were identified and compared against the Brazilian reference tables as well as those from the North American industry. The results showed that Brazilian companies added significant safety margins for trace minerals to commercial pig diets and the supplementation levels were higher compared to those reported in a 2016 survey carried out in the North American pig industry. More details are summarized below.

    Trace mineral levels in pig feed reported on farms in Brazil

    Nursery diets (21-70 days):
    Trace minerals levels were 0.9- to 15.3-fold the respective levels from Brazilian recommendations and 0.5- to 2.2-fold those from those found in a survey of US commercial nursery diets.
    Means reported in Brazilian nursery diets (21-35 days):
    – Copper (mg/kg): 141.4
    – Zinc (mg/kg): 1876.1

    Grow-finishing diets (71 days to slaughter):
    The highest variation seen in trace mineral levels was for Cu, Mn and Co between companies and Manganese and Iodine levels were markedly higher compared to US commercial finisher diets.
    Means reported in Brazilian commercial finisher diets for Cu, Co and Mn (120 days to slaughter):
    – Copper (mg/kg): 85.8
    – Cobalt (mg/kg): 0.44
    – Manganese (mg/kg): 35.8

    Lactation diets:

    The trace mineral levels in sow lactation diets were 1.0 to 12.4 times higher compared to Brazil reference tables and higher compared to what was reported in US commercial sow lactation diets. Trace minerals that were found to be markedly higher were, Cu, I, Mn. The trace minerals with the highest variation between companies were Cu and Co.
    Means reported in Brazilian commercial sow lactation diets for Cu, I and Mn:
    – Copper (mg/kg): 54.1
    – Iodine (mg/kg): 0.98
    – Manganese (mg/kg): 49.6

    More details on the levels of trace element levels in Brazilian pig diets are reported in:
    Dalto and da Silva (2020). A survey of current levels of trace minerals and vitamins used in commercial diets by the Brazilian pork industry—a comparative study. Translational Animal Science, Vol 4.

    Trace mineral levels in feed reported on pig farms in the US

    A 2016 survey (Flohr et al 2016) involving 18 swine nutritionists from US pig producers representing 40% of the US sow herd revealed that adding a margin of safety in trace minerals supplementation above the estimations for requirements by NRC (2012) is standard practice in many US pig diet formulations. The variation seen between pig producers was quite high and was thought to reflect the differences in opinions regarding requirements and productivity goals.

    Chelated trace mineral supplementation was mainly practiced in early nursery and breeding herd diets, whereby chelated selenium was the most frequently used of all the chelated trace minerals (up to 69% of producers used chelated selenium in early nursery diets and up to 77% in breeding herd diets).

    Trace mineral levels found in commercial US nursery diets:
    Weaning to 7kg: Whereby Iron and selenium were supplemented according to recommendations (NRC 2012), copper and zinc were supplemented well above the requirement estimate at 18.6 and 30.3 times higher, respectively.
    Mean levels found for zinc and copper
    – Copper (mg/kg): 111.1
    – Zinc (mg/kg): 3032

    7 to 11kg: Trace minerals were supplemented at rates of 1.0 (selenium) to 9.1 times their NRC requirement estimates, except for zinc (20.8) and copper (19.7).
    Mean levels found for zinc and copper
    – Copper (mg/kg): 118.2
    – Zinc (mg/kg): 2081

    Trace mineral levels found in commercial US finishing diets (55-100kg):
    There was a high variability seen in copper levels and copper as well as manganese supplementation was particularly high compared to NRC recommendations.
    Average levels found for copper and manganese:
    – Copper (mg/kg): 82.3
    – Manganese (mg/kg): 21.4

    Trace mineral levels found in commercial US sow lactation diets:
    Trace-mineral supplementation in sow lactation diets was 0.8 to 3.8 times higher compared to NRC recommendations.
    Average levels found for copper, iodine and manganese:
    – Copper (mg/kg): 16.1
    – Iodine (mg/kg): 0.53
    – Manganese (mg/kg): 37.6

    More details on the levels of trace element levels in commercial US pig diets are reported in:
    Flohr et al (2016). A survey of current feeding regimens for vitamins and trace minerals in the US swine industry. J Swine Health Prod. Vol. 24(6).

    Need for precision in trace mineral feeding for pig production

    In modern pig production trace mineral levels in pig feed are not just important in terms of meeting requirements for productivity and animal welfare, but also in terms of meeting environmental concerns.

    When trace elements are supplemented in doses above the gross requirement, they accumulate in urine and faeces and consequently in manure. This is why a low precision in trace element feeding in livestock production can represent a potential threat to the environment.

    The need to reduce heavy metal emissions from animal production to minimize the impact on the environment, calls for increased precision of trace element feeding. This requires accurate feed table information on trace element digestibility under varying feeding conditions.
    Furthermore, feedstuffs contain innate levels of trace minerals, which are often ignored in feed formulations. However, since the use of feed enzymes and modern feed processing methods can increase the availability of innate trace minerals, their contribution to overall trace element levels in pig feed should be considered.

    Supplementation with more bioavailable organic trace minerals such as B-TRAXIM allow a reduction of up to 50% of dietary trace element supplementation versus supplementation of trace minerals in their inorganic form while maintaining performance. Therefore. organic trace elements can be a cost-effective tool when it comes to precision livestock feeding and reducing the environmental footprint of pig farms.

    Find out more about the Pancosma organic trace mineral portfolio B-TRAXIM here.

    References and related articles

    Dalto and da Silva (2020). A survey of current levels of trace minerals and vitamins used in commercial diets by the Brazilian pork industry—a comparative study. Translational Animal Science, Vol 4.

    Flohr et al (2016). A survey of current feeding regimens for vitamins and trace minerals in the US swine industry. J Swine Health Prod. Vol. 24 (6).

    Zoon and Robin (2021). How to improve animal production sustainability with organic trace – minerals. 

    Video: Interview with Christian Bogues about B-TRAXIM minerals