Catalin Nicolaiciuc is one of our nutritionists working for the Global Nutrition Services. This team of specialists provides advice to customers, feed producers and advisors on nutritional requirements and how to unlock the genetic potential of Topigs Norsvin products.
Over the time the pig industry had to navigate through rough waters with low meat prices, labor scarcity, environmental and societal constraints, in other words, in an unstable environment. On top, volatile feed prices have been making profitability uncertain for pig producers as the feed cost still is a big part of the cost of production.
Below you will find some measures to follow to reduce your feed bill and improve efficiency of your finishing unit:
- Spending more can bring you better efficiency and performance compared with reducing the cost and diminishing outcome. It might be counterintuitive but investing in a more expensive diet, especially in the early phases, will help the finishers to have a better start and finish them faster.
- Focus on precision feeding.
Ask your nutritionist to check if the nutritional requirements are met in each phase. Overfeeding or underfeeding is lost profitability. Precision feeding combined with a good health status helps to reduce some of the additives you are using. - Manage your diets properly.
Feed the diets as they have been formulated to be used. Feeding for a diet for a longer period of time leads to extra cost while switching to fast to the next diet can lead to diminished performance. Always look at the big picture, maybe it looks like a profit on short term but it can be a loss on the long run. - Health status is often overlooked. Healthy pigs with good gut health convert better feed into meat and they can reduce the total amount of feed needed. Focusing on gut health from early life will pay off later on in life.
- Improve your management.
Reduce feed wastage by setting the feeders correctly and not allowing the overflow of feed. Check water flow, quality and density per source as water intake goes hand in hand with feed intake. Deliver the pigs on time, not too early, not too late, this can lead to lower efficiency and even worse pay.
