Our Knowledge / Farm Solutions / Feed Efficiency

Feed Efficiency

Feed efficiency is a key factor in animal farming, indicating how effectively livestock convert feed into products like meat, milk, or eggs. High feed efficiency lowers feed costs, which are the largest expense in animal production, thus increasing farm profitability. It also reduces the environmental impact by lowering greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and waste. Improved feed efficiency ensures a steady supply of animal products, aiding global food security. Advances in genetics, nutrition and management practices help enhance feed efficiency, benefiting both farm economics and the environment.

Feed efficiency — Development over the years

Effective weaning management is crucial for promoting the health and development of piglets, leading to improved performance and welfare in later stages of production. Strategies for successful weaning include providing high-quality, easily digestible starter feeds, maintaining a clean and comfortable environment and implementing gradual weaning practices to minimise stress. Feed efficiency has developed a lot over the last decades. Through genetic development/breeding, the animals have become better at utilizing feeds. Improved nutritional knowledge and secured nutrients availability alowes for formulating and producing feeds that meets the animals’ needs more precisely. This also lowers the excreetion of excess nutrients to the urine and manure.

Massive improvements have been made since the 1970s, when the acceptable FCR was 3.5 kg feed/kg gain. In the early 2000s 2.8 kg feed/kg gain was considered good. Today, the best farms
are pushing 2.0 kg feed/kg gain. The advancements seem to be slowing down, because we are beginning to reach the limits of what is possible through traditional nutrient formulation.
Further advancements must be achieved through new approaches, and this is where NutriSpar comes in useful. NutriSpar enables the pig to extract more nutrients from the diet than what the traditional approach indicates.

General Management Tips

Monitoring and Adjustments: Regularly monitor animal performance. Adjust feed as needed.
Feeding Practices: Feed animals at regular intervals. Ensure constant access to clean water.
Record Keeping: Keep detailed records of feed intake, growth, and health. Analyse data to make informed decisions.
Feed Storage and Handling: Store feed properly to prevent spoilage. Handle feed carefully to maintain quality.
Genetic Selection: Select animals with traits related to feed efficiency. Work with breeders for better genetics.

NutriSpar

Proofed by several national and international trials, vilofoss nutrispar saves up to 8 kg soybean meal per slaughter pig and approx. 3 eur/pig without any negative impact on performance and carcass quality.

Dosage:

The dosage of NutriSpar varies depending on the specific needs of the livestock and the particular formulation of NutriSpar slet used.

Applicable for all growing animals: recommended for all pigs >15 kg.
Suitable for boar fattening
Farm-specific mineral feeds with NutriSpar complexare available

Use:

Ensure even distribution by thoroughly mixing NutriSpar into the feed.
Use appropriate equipment to achieve a homogeneous blend.
Only use Vilofoss certified NutriSpar formulations for optimal benefit

ABOUT:

Improves digestibility: The product includes ingredients that make feed easier to digest, allowing animals to absorb more nutrients and reduce waste.
Enables reduced feed protein content, without affecting performance negatively.
Enhances performance: NutriSpar supports overall animal performance by supplying optimal nutrition, improving the feed conversion rate and leading to better feed conversion into lean growth.
Is a feeding strategy with minimised nutrient levels.

This means that using NutriSpar

Saves protein feedstuffs and reduces feed costs: With better feed efficiency, farmers can achieve high productivity, using less feed, lowering overall feed costs.
Has environmental benefits: Improved feed efficiency means less feed is needed, leading to reduced resource use (water, energy) and waste (minimised N-excretion from eller through the manure, less release of ammonia), thus lowering the environmental impact of farming.
Reduced protein levels are used, reducing the risk of protein-induced digestive challenges.
Offers tailored solutions: NutriSpar offers customised solutions based on the specific needs of different farms, ensuring optimal feed efficiency for each operation.

1 formulated with the standard NutriSpar amino acid matrix, 2 formulated with an extended NutriSpar amino acid matrix, 3 formulated according to the recommendations of Seges (Denmark) for liquid feed, taking potential fermentation lysine losses into consideration. 4 Weighted average of multiple feeding phases. 5 former Danish equation