As part of research being conducted on behalf of Swine Innovation Porc to improve feeding programs for growing-finishing pigs, scientists with the University of Alberta have been evaluating the inclusion of canola press-cake and canola expeller in diets for young pigs.

Like Canola meal, canola press-cake and canola expeller are by-products of canola oil extraction.

Dr Ruurd Zijlstra, the chair of the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences with the University of Alberta, says in the energy dependant phase, it appears to be cost advantageous to add more of these co-products into the diets.

Dr Ruurd Zijlstra-University of Alberta:

These two ingredients are being produced without the final step of solvent extraction and desolventization toasting that would happen in a large solvent extraction plant and, as a result of that, there is much more residual oil that remains in these feedstuffs that make them very attractive to be included in diets for pigs, in particular in young pigs that have a high energy demand.

Same as what we discovered for canola meal, also these novel canola products, pigs tolerate them very well, generally limited concern about feed intake or growth performance and that means that the anti-nutritional level in these feedstuffs is below the limit that they can actually hamper animal performance, so that's good news.

Then overall on the financial side, when you then compare that by using these novel co-products, you can take part or all of the soybean meal out of the diet and part or all of the canola oil out of the diet, there's generally a saving on the financial side as well.

Dr Zijlstra says, once the pigs are accustomed to solid feed, you could switch to substantial levels of these canola co-products and scientists have gone as high as 20 per cent, 1 to 2 weeks after weaning.