Preliminary results from a swine feeding trial with rations high in distillers’ dried grains with solubles (DDGS) suggest an opportunity for Canada’s pork producers to load up on cheap feed.
Eduardo Beltranena, a pork research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s competitive livestock production wing in Edmonton, was quoted Feb. 8 in a release from the U. S. Grains Council explaining DDGS’ potential as a feed ingredient for hog farmers in Canada and worldwide.
Beltranena, whose work was funded partly by the USGC, was addressing the council’s international marketing conference and annual meeting in Guatemala City.
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“At this stage in the study, DDGS is proving to be an economical, quality feed for pork producers to utilize in their rations,” he said in the release. “As the project continues, further effects on pork quality can be determined, therefore creating a broadened market for the abundant and valuable co-product of ethanol production.”
The study, he said, is now in the process of determining the impact on growth performance and pork quality with the inclusion of high levels of DDGS in the swine diet. So far, though, he reported “no concern whatsoever” in the growth performance of the pigs when fed DDGS.
The preliminary results, he said, point to a slightly higher yield of pork with a lower level of intramuscular fat compared to swine fed on a soybean meal-based diet. The lower intramuscular fat, he said, would be an attraction for consumers.
