Cake mix, crowder peas, Cheetos, catfish meal, caramel, canola, Charm blowpops, coconut flakes, chickpeas, cookies and chow mein noodles.
No, this isn’t your college student’s grocery list. It’s a handful of the non-typical ingredients nutritionist Wayne Cast has used in swine diets recently that start with the letter C.
“Alternative ingredients can be a pain in the neck, but as my father said, ‘If you are willing to do something your neighbor won’t do or are able to do something your neighbor can’t do, there is usually some money to be made,’” Cast said during a presentation at the 34th Annual Swine Conference organized by Carthage Veterinary Service in Quincy, Ill.
With rapid inflation and out-of-control input costs over the past couple of years, how to grow a pig cost effectively is a question that must be answered every year, if not more often, he points out.
“Think about sources of nutrients – not feed ingredients,” Cast recommends. “People will offer you some oddball ingredients. Think about it like buying a car – you need some information before you can make a decision. You need to know make, model, year, mileage, condition and if it’s ever been wrecked.”
He recommends making a list of questions to ask possible ingredient suppliers and keep it handy to reach when those calls come.
Here are 8 questions to consider asking before you add a non-typical ingredient into your pigs’ diet.
1. What is the country of origin?
Before African swine fever (ASF) struck China, we wouldn’t have asked this question, he adds. Now, it’s an important consideration before allowing any feed ingredient into your pigs’ diet.
2. Why is it available?
Find out why this ingredient is being pitched to you. Is it outdated? Did it get wet? Does it have metal shards? Did the seal on the trailer break?
3. What’s a ballpark price?
This can save you a lot of time if the price is out of your range. Don’t wait to find out until the end of the conversation.
4. How much product is available?
Will this be a one-time offer or a continuous opportunity? Cast says you have to ask yourself if it’s worth your time based on its availability.
5. What kind of packaging will it be in?
Will it be bagged on pallets? Or will it be in totes? Will it arrive in bulk? There are different labor needs involved in each of these options. Cast says it may be easy to figure out the nutrients in a candy bar, but figuring labor, shrink and the cost of getting rid of the packaging is the hard part.
6. What are the product’s handling characteristics?
Will the product flow? That’s an important consideration both at the feed mill and at your farm. Also, Cast recommends finding out if the product will need to be ground.
7. Can they provide a picture of the product?
“A picture is worth a thousand words,” he adds. “Don’t be afraid to ask for one.”
8. What is the product’s nutritional information?
What nutrients do you need? Consider moisture, protein, fat, fiber, ash, sodium, calcium, phosphorus and amino acids. Although the supplier likely won’t have all this information, Cast says it’s important to ask for any analysis on the product or a specifications sheet. If it’s a packaged pet product, a guaranteed analysis and ingredient list should be available. And, if it’s a human packaged product, request the label, nutritional facts and ingredients list.
“Be cautious using calories off food labels – they can be high for swine,” he says. “Calculate your energy from equations in NRC.”
Other ways to get needed nutritional information include FoodData Central – USDA; Feedipedia.org; National Swine Nutrition Guide; and other swine nutrition guides and books.
“Try to do your homework and figure out what the nutrients are that will hopefully benefit a pig,” Cast says. “It’s OK not to know, but it is not OK to not try to find out.”
Is the Juice Worth the Squeezing?
Cast also recommends trying to identify a food processor or pet food place to deal with directly. There often isn’t enough margin for more people, so go straight to the source to save resources and time. They know their product mix and can tell you what is available, he adds.
Be aware an ingredient can have different values depending on the diet it is offered to, Cast says. To determine the value, offer it to more than one formula (grower versus finisher versus sow). If there is an ingredient you could use for an extended period, consider doing your own analysis.
“You have to ask yourself, is the juice worth the squeezing?” he concludes. “Each producer/nutritionist needs to determine their own risk/reward threshold on each alternative ingredient.”
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