It’s always hard to prove the disappearance of something, says Chris Hostetler, director of animal science at the National Pork Board. But just because you can’t always see it happen, doesn’t mean it’s not.
Feed wastage and spillage is a great example. According to an informal poll of swine nutritionists, Hostetler says between 7% and 12% of the feed that is manufactured for pigs is never consumed by pigs.
“That’s a pretty staggering figure when you think about the cost of feed and how feed cost is our No.1 cost associated with producing pork,” Hostetler points out. “Any improvement we can make in reducing feed spills and reducing feed wastage, or opportunities we can take to refeed feed to pigs, is important in reducing cost for our producers.”
Sustainability, at its most basic definition, is doing more with less, Hostetler says. That’s why the National Pork Board is looking at feed wastage, among many things, to help producers improve sustainability in the pork industry,
“I like to tell the story of the 4,000-pound sow,” he says. “It’s this idea that in 1986, let’s say, a sow would typically produce about 1,200 pounds of pork a year. Today, that same sow produces about 4,000 pounds of pork a year. That’s a great sustainability story.”
When it comes to the National Pork Board’s approach to improving sustainability, Hostetler says it’s ultimately about helping producers make money, save money or save time – which is essentially money. The economic component of sustainability is just as important as the more talked-about environmental component.
“If the farm is not economically viable, they’re not going to be sustainable in the long term. Helping producers find alternative revenue streams is extremely important as well,” he says.
That’s why they are engaging with Eric Weaver, assistant professor at South Dakota State University, to develop a feed systems audit. The audit is an end-to-end identification of opportunities where farmers can expect feed to be lost and then mitigate against that.
“Those opportunities for loss could be things like rusty or cracked boots at the bottom of feed bins, overfilling a feed bin and getting spillage across the top, or cracked auger lines where feed leaks out and falls into the pit. There are a variety of opportunities for feed wastage and loss,” Hostetler says.
Although it’s a small project, he believes it can develop into something that will have a great impact on producers to go through their system end to end and identify places where feed could be leaving the system or disappearing from the system.
He says this research may provide justification to implement extra effort to capture feed otherwise lost.
“We know that sweeping up a feed spill under a bin is good for a variety of reasons, including rodent control. And yet, if you visit farms, it’s a common sight to see moldy and crusty feed on that concrete slab,” Hostetler says. “Would recapturing that feed and then actually feeding it to the pigs make a noticeable impact?”
Hostetler says the study is in progress now. Producers are encouraged to stay tuned to Porkbusiness.com to learn more when the study is complete.
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