A combination of higher feed ingredient costs, particularly for corn, and growing public pressure to reduce the environmental impact of hog production is making it increasingly important for swine producers to be able to optimize their feed formulations.

Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Initiatives business development specialist Dr. Ian Seddon suggests, in order to provide the optimum ration for a given stage of development, producers need to have a good handle on the genetics they're using and on the management systems in their barns and they need to be more aware of the nutrient levels of their ingredients.

Dr. Ian Seddon-Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Initiatives

From our energy sources we interchange between corn, wheat and barley, again, for different production stages of our pigs and we interchange on the protein side often between soybean meal, canola meal and peas.

Again it depends on their cost and the nutrient composition.

Yes, the ethanol situation in the U.S. has driven up the price of corn so therefor we probably won't be using very much if any at all, right now in western Canada especially here in Manitoba.

As ethanol production comes on stream in Manitoba, again, that could have an impact on feed ingredient prices.

On the flip side to that though is that there will be then a lot of distillers grains available that we can use to some extent in various rations.

Again we need to know the composition of these products to make sure we utilize them properly.

Dr. Seddon says producers need to maintain the proper balance of energy, protein and minerals to optimize productivity and he recommends working with a nutritionist to determine what's optimal for their farm.

He notes feed mixing equipment has improved dramatically allowing producers to more accurately prepare rations to meet the needs of their animals.