Lowell, J. E., B. M. Bohrer, K. B. Wilson, M. F. Overholt, B. N. Harsh, H. H. Stein, A. C. Dilger, and D. D. Boler. 2018. Growth performance, carcass quality, fresh belly characteristics, and commercial bacon slicing yields of growing-finishing pigs fed a subtherapeutic dose of an antibiotic, a natural antimicrobial, or not fed an antibiotic or antimicrobial. Meat Sci. 136:93-103. Link to abstract

Merriman, L. A., C. L. Walk, M. R. Murphy, C. M. Parsons, and H. H. Stein. 2017. Inclusion of excess dietary calcium in diets for 100- to 130-kg growing pigs reduces feed intake and daily gain if dietary phosphorus is at or below the requirement. J. Anim. Sci. 95:5439-5446. Link to abstract

Rice bran is the main coproduct of the production of white rice for human consumption, and is used in livestock diets around the world. Rice bran can be full fat (FFRB), with 14 to 25% fat, or defatted (DFRB), containing 3 to 5% fat.

The type of fat in the diet affects the quality of fat in the pig, because pigs deposit fatty acids in approximately the same proportions as they exist in the diet. A high consumption of unsaturated fat can inhibit the pig's own synthesis of fat, which tends to be more saturated. The amount of unsaturated fatty acids  in fat can be expressed using the iodine value (IV), where high IVs correspond to more unsaturated fat. Increased IV in pig fat can lead to softer bellies, which are less valuable due to reduced shelf life, increased susceptibility to oxidative damage, and reduced belly sliceability.

Stein, H. H. 2017. Procedures for determining digestibility of amino acids, lipids, starch, fibre, phosphorus, and calcium in feed ingredients fed to pigs. Anim. Prod. Sci. 57:2317-2324. Link to abstract

Navarro, D. M. D. L., E. M. A. M. Bruininx, L. de Jong, and H. H. Stein. 2017. Effects of physicochemical characteristics on in vitro and in vivo nutrient digestibility in pigs. Page 414 in Book of Abstracts of the 68th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is a co-product of ethanol production. In recent years, companies that produce DDGS have begun to remove some of the corn oil for use in biodiesel production. Conventional DDGS contains 10-12% fat, compared with 6-9% in low-oil DDGS.

Research has shown that adding fat to diets fed to pigs increases the digestibility of amino acids in the diets. However, there is limited information about how reduced oil concentration in DDGS influences the digestibility of protein when fed to pigs. An experiment was conducted to compare the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of crude protein and amino acids in conventional DDGS and in the low-oil DDGS product Dakota Gold, which is produced using a process that does not involve heating.

In recent years, companies that produce distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) have begun to remove some of the corn oil for use in biodiesel production. Conventional DDGS contains 10-12% fat, compared with 6-9% in low-oil DDGS.

There is limited information about how oil concentration in DDGS influences the digestibility of energy, fiber, and fat when fed to pigs. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of energy, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and acid hydrolyzed ether extract (AEE), as well as the concentrations of digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) in two sources of DDGS. One source was a conventional DDGS, and the other was Dakota Gold, a low-oil DDGS.

Kim, B. G., K. R. Park, and H. H. Stein. 2017. Time course of indigestible indexes in the ileal out flow of pigs fed a soybean meal-based or nitrogen free diet. J. Anim. Sci. 95(Suppl. 4):209 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Ullah, Z., Z. U. Rehman, Y. Yin, H. H. Stein, Z. Hayat, G. Ahmed, M. U. Nisa, M. Akhtar, and M. Sarwar. 2017. Comparative ileal digestibility of amino acids in 00-rapeseed meal and rapeseed meal fed to growing male broilers. Poult. Sci. 96:2736–2742. Link to full text (.pdf)