On-demand: Webinar on sow nutrition and production
In an age when sows are becoming increasingly prolific, long-standing approaches to sow nutrition and production need to be permanently re-evaluated. A new book aims to update everyone’s knowledge to 2025 standards. A free webinar, broadcast on 3 October, highlighted the launch.
Click here to view the sow nutrition and production webinar
The webinar was held in cooperation with animal nutrition company Novus International. This October, the company is launching the book Nutrition and production strategies for today’s sows. Many renowned experts share their experiences on the theme.
Dr Carlo Lasagna
First speaker, Dr Carlo Lasagna is a veterinarian and pork chain manager at the Italian integrated pig producer Martini, located in Ravenna province. He delved into the background of the reason why behind publishing the new book and discuss key challenges in modern sow production.
In his closing words, he warned that if “we do not take the issue of sow longevity seriously, we will find ourselves weaning 35 piglets, but with a lot of stress and pressure for the farm staff.” Not to mention that the 35 will not all reach the slaughterhouse he added, which would require a multidisciplinary approach.
Prof Dr Hans Stein
Next speaker was Prof Dr Hans H. Stein, attached to the University of Illinois in the United States. His topic zoomed in one of the components of a multidisciplinary approach – in his case proper nutrition and mineral management. As how much calcium and phosphorus do gestating and lactating sows need exactly to have a great basis for lifetime sow performance?
He started off by writing that digestibility values for sows for calcium and phosphorus are not well understood – contrary to those ones for developing gilts. Assumptions is what is guiding the way at the moment, using factorial calculations, he said.
What he could say is that it is clear that gestating sows have a greater needs for calcium and phosphorus in the last third of gestation due to foetus development. In addition, he said that requirements for both calcium and phosphorus are greater these days than previously has been estimated. And lastly, he concluded, the sows’ needs to those minerals during lactation are increasing with increased litter size – a development that is due to higher milk production. The chapter on calcium and phosphorus needs of gilts and sows was already summarised at Pig Progress.
Prof Dr Bruno Silva
Prof Dr Bruno Silva is a leading authority on swine nutrition and environmental adaptation. He is a professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil. In a video he focused on managing heat stress through the management tool called nutrition, as heat stress does impact feed intake and feed efficiency.
He pointed to the adaptation of feeding strategies to reduce the thermal effect of feed and improve palatability and digestibility. In addition, he said, functional nutrients and food additives play an important role in protecting metabolism and the intestine under challenging conditions.
Click here to view the sow nutritoon and production webinar
