A Review of the Ammonia Issue and Pork Production

During the last few decades, an increasing interest in, and respect for, the environment has arisen. This has consequences for livestock production. Air can become polluted by noxious odors from animal husbandry. A particular example is odor emission from pig buildings, because in several parts of the world pig production has become highly specialized, industrialized and concentrated geographically. Air quality in pig facilities, as it influences the well-being of animals and workers, has become a major concern for pork producers. Odors emanating from pig slurry are an increasing source of environmental pollution as well as a nuisance to the human population in the vicinity. Emission regulations that establish a maximum acceptable emission rate for individual pollutants released from a source are currently under debate for production agriculture in several regions throughout the United States. To meet increasingly stringent air quality demands, pork producers will be obligated to adopt technologies and innovations in production to minimize the concentration of pollutants present in the odor emitted from pig facilities. The purpose of this review is to discuss how ammonia is produced, the human health concerns involved, and the control of ammonia and odor emission

Plasma Urea Concentrations of Pigs on Commercial Operations

Research was conducted on commercial swine operations to determine whether plasma urea concentrations could be used as an indicator of the protein requirement of growing-finishing pigs. The research consisted of a 30-question survey and an on-farm visit to collect blood and feed samples. The survey included questions about genetics, nutrition, housing and health. Results showed that when plasma urea concentrations were analyzed across all phases of production, barrows had greater plasma urea concentrations than gilts. Plasma urea concentrations varied between the different phases of production, with nursery pigs having the lowest plasma urea concentrations, followed by growing and finishing pigs, respectively. An increase in dietary crude protein resulted in an increase of plasma urea in barrows and gilts in all phases of production. The comparison of dietary crude protein concentrations and age of the pigs at the time of blood collection indicates that the majority of the diets were over-formulated for crude protein. The effects of sex, crude protein, and phase of production on plasma urea concentrations in pigs raised on commercial operations were similar to those in a research setting. These results suggest that within an individual swine operation, plasma urea is a useful indicator of the protein requirement of growing-finishing pigs

The Use of Plasma Urea as an Indicator of Protein Status in Growing-Finishing Pigs

An experiment is being conducted on commercial swine operations to determine if plasma urea concentration can be used as an indicator of protein status in growing-finishing pigs. Swine producers in Eastern Nebraska are being selected to participate in this on-farm study. The experiment includes the completion of a 30-question survey and an on-farm visit for the collection of blood and feed samples. The survey includes questions about genetics, nutrition, housing and health. Preliminary results suggest that crude protein is overfed in most finishing diets. Gilts consistently have lower plasma urea concentrations than barrows when gilts and barrows are fed the same diet during the finishing growth period. This confirms the concept that gilts utilize protein more efficiently for lean growth. These results suggest that within an individual swine operation, plasma urea is a useful indicator of protein status in growing-finishing pigs

Dietary Amino Acid Utilization for Body Protein Deposition — Current and Future Research

In modern pork production it is important to maximize the animal’s potential for daily lean gain by increasing the body protein deposition with as little wastage of the ingested amino acids as possible. Therefore, it is important to maximize the efficiency with which dietary amino acids are used for protein deposition or lean gain. This efficiency is measured by using nitrogen balance studies or comparative slaughter procedures. Supplementing swine diets with crystalline amino acids and replacing part of the dietary protein can reduce diet cost and will also reduce the amount of nitrogen excreted in manure. However, it has been demonstrated that the efficiency of utilization of crystalline amino acids may be lower than that of amino acids bound in protein. Although the reasons for this are unclear, it may be associated with the frequency of feeding and differences in the rate of absorption between the two sources of amino acids. Research in progress is designed to investigate the efficiency with which crystalline lysine is utilized for protein deposition in nursery pigs. This research will obtain additional information about the relative utilization of crystalline and protein-bound amino acids

Plasma Urea Can Be Used To Identify The Protein Requirements of Group-penned Finishing (130 to 220 lb) Barrows and Gilts Fed Corn-soybean Diets

In this study, growth performance data from finishing pigs indicate the response of barrows and gilts to dietary protein concentration was maximized with a 15 percent protein corn-soybean meal diet. Review of the response of plasma urea concentration to dietary protein intake indicated that, in this study, the protein requirement of barrows was between 12 and 15 percent and the protein requirement for gilts was between 15 and 18 percent. Based on the many findings in the literature documenting that protein requirements ( percent of the diet) of gilts are greater than those of barrows, we believe the use of plasma urea is an alternative approach to using growth performance data for establishing the protein (amino acid) requirements of finishing pigs. Identifying a small number of pigs for blood sampling may provide a less intensive method to help gain insight into the protein requirements of barrows and gilts during the finishing period. Future research will focus on refining the plasma urea technique to identify the response of barrows and gilts to dietary protein. Specifically, we are interested in pursuing the application of this methodology to commercial conditions

The Effect of Protein Intake on Growth Performance, Plasma Urea Concentration, Liver Weight, and Arginase Activity of Finishing Barrows and Gilts

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary protein concentration on growth performance, plasma urea concentration, liver weight and liver arginase activity of finishing (138 lb) barrows and gilts. Average daily feed intake, arginase activity and plasma urea concentration were greater in barrows than in gilts, whereas liver weight was lighter in barrows than in gilts. These data suggest gilts are affected more negatively by high protein diets than barrows. We believe the changes in liver weight and urea cycle enzymes (arginase) are related to these feed intake differences

3D-XY critical fluctuations of the thermal expansivity in detwinned YBa2Cu3O7-d single crystals near optimal doping

The strong coupling of superconductivity to the orthorhombic distortion in YBa2Cu3O7-d makes possible an analysis of the superconducting fluctuations without the necessity of subtracting any background. The present high-resolution capacitance dilatometry data unambiguously demonstrate the existence of critical, instead of Gaussian, fluctuations over a wide temperature region (+/- 10 K) around Tc. The values of the amplitude ratio A+/A-=0.9-1.1 and the leading scaling exponent |alpha|<0.018, determined via a least-squares fit of the data, are consistent with the 3D-XY universality class. Small deviations from pure 3D-XY behavior are discussed.Comment: 11 pages including three figure

PAYLEAN® Improves Growth and Carcass Merit of Pigs with 25% and 50% Nebraska Index Line Genes

The Nebraska Index Line excels in reproduction and is being used in industry breeding programs. However, because it has been selected only for litter size since 1981, growth and carcass merit of pure-line pigs are below industry standards. The objectives of this experiment were 1) to compare growth and carcass traits of Index cross pigs with either 50% or 25% Line I genes in a crossbreeding system typical of how the line is used in the industry and 2) to determine the effects of feeding 18 g PAYLEAN® per ton during the last 28 days of the feeding period on Index cross pigs. Line I was crossed with Danbred® USA Landrace (L) boars and Duroc-Hampshire terminal boars to produce F1 pigs with 50% Line I genes and terminal cross pigs with 25% Line I genes. Pigs with 25% Line I genes grew faster (2.03 vs. 1.97 lb/d) from 65 days of age to approximately 240 lb than pigs with 50% Line I genes (P \u3c 0.05). They also ate more feed per day although the difference was not significant (5.82 vs 5.76 lb per d). Thus, the difference between groups in feed conversion was small and not significant. Terminal cross pigs with 25% Line I genes had only 0.02 in less backfat at the end of the experiment than F1 pigs with 50% Line I genes, but they had significantly larger longissimus muscle area (6.42 vs 6.10 in2) and greater percentage carcass lean (52.4 vs 51 %). Pigs of both genetic groups and both barrows and gilts responded similarly to a diet with 18 g PAYLEAN® per ton. Feeding PAYLEAN® at 18 g/ton for 28 days significantly increased growth rate (2.19 vs. 1.80 lb/d), reduced feed intake (6.49 vs. 6.81 lb/d) improved efficiency of growth (0.33 vs 0.26 gain/ feed ratio, corresponding with 3.03 and 3.85 feed/gain ratios), increased carcass weight (185.4 vs 177.2 lb), increased dressing percentage (75.2 vs 74.3%), and increased carcass lean (53.6 vs 49.9%). Performance and carcass merit of pigs with 25% Line I genes were greater than for F1 pigs with 50% Line I genes, and feeding PAYLEAN® at the rate of 18 g per ton produced similar increases in performance and carcass merit of both groups

Comparison of Swine Performance When Fed Diets Containing Corn Root Worm Protected Corn, Parental Line Corn, or Conventional Corn Grown During 2000 in Nebraska

This experiment was conducted to evaluate growth performance and carcass quality measurements in growing-finishing pigs fed diets containing either Corn Root Worm Protected Corn (CRW0586), the parental control corn (RX670), or two commercial sources of non-genetically modified corn (DK647 and RX740). The experiment used 72 barrows and 72 gilts with an average initial body weight of 50 lb. The pigs were allotted to a randomized complete block design with a 2 x 4 factorial arrangement of treatments (two sexes x four corn hybrids). The experiment continued until the average body weight was 260 lb, at which time all pigs were slaughtered. Real-time ultrasound measurements were taken on the final day of the experiment. Carcass quality measurements were made 24 hours postmortem. Corn hybrid did not affect average daily gain (ADG) or average daily feed intake (ADFI), but there was an effect of sex, with barrows having greater (P\u3c0.01) ADG and ADFI than gilts. Feed efficiency was not affected by the different corn hybrids, but gilts had improved (P\u3c0.01) feed efficiency compared to barrows during Finisher 1 (0.37 versus 0.35) and Finisher 2 (0.32 versus 0.30). Real-time ultrasound measurements were similar corns; however, a sex effect was detected for backfat (BF) depth, with gilts having less (P\u3c0.01) BJ than barrows (0.78 versus 0.98 in). There were no differences in carcass midline BF measurements among corns, but there was a significant difference between barrows and gilts, with gilts having less (P\u3c0.05) BF than barrows. Hot carcass weight was greater (P\u3c0.01) in barrows than gilts (210 versus 190 lb). Also, the percent carcass lean was greater (P\u3c0.01) in gilts than barrows (51.7 versus 49.5%). Longissimus muscle quality scores were similar among corns and between barrows and gilts. Analysis of longissimus muscle composition revealed no main effect of corn (P\u3e0.20) or sex (P\u3e0.30) for protein, fat, and water percentages. However, Corn Root Worm Protected Corn (73.1%) differed (P\u3c0.04) from parental control corn (73.6%) but not commercial corns (73.3 and 73.3%) in longissimus water content. In summary, there were no differences in growth performance or carcass measurements in growing-finishing pigs fed diets containing either Corn Root Worm Protected Corn, the parental control corn, or two commercial sources of non-genetically modified corn. Thus, the replacement of non-genetically modified corn. Thus, the replacement of non-transgenic corn with Corn Root Worm Protected Corn in growing-finishing diets will result in similar growth performance and(or) carcass measurements

Addition of Fat to Diets of Lactating Sows. I. Effects on Sow and Pig Performance

Sow energy intake during lactation is an important factor to consider when trying to maximize sow and pig performance. It has been shown that inadequate energy intake during lactation results in decreased litter weaning weight. Poor energy intake during lactation is also thought to result in a reduction in postweaning reproductive performance by extending the period from weaning to rebreeding. This reduction in postweaning performance is typically preceded by the excessive loss of weight and backfat during lactation. One method that has been used to increase sow energy intake, and thus alleviate the problems described above is to add dietary fat. The addition of high concentrations of fat (e.g., 7.5 to 15% of the diet) has been shown to result in increased sow energy intake during lactation, and if consumed for approximately one week before farrowing, increased survival rates for pigs with light birthweights. This article reports the effects of high fat diets on sow lactation performance, litter performance, and sow feed and energy intake. A subsequent article will discuss the effects of added dietary fat on energy intake, meal patterns, and blood hormones and metabolites. A specific objective of this research was to determine the effects of dietary fat on milk production and composition