Kil, D. Y., F. Ji, L. L. Stewart, R. B. Hinson, A. D. Beaulieu, G. L. Allee, J. F. Patience, J. E. Pettigrew, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Effects of dietary soybean oil on pig growth performance, retention of protein, lipids, and energy, and the net energy of corn in diets fed to growing or finishing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 91:3283-3290. Link to full text (.pdf)

The metabolizable energy content of corn ground to smaller particle sizes is greater than that of corn ground to larger particle sizes, because the reduced particle size provides more surface area for digestive enzymes to act on. This results in more starch being digested in the small intestine with a subsequent absorption of glucose.

Currently, nutritionists recommend feeding corn ground to an average particle size of 650 to 700 µm. However, it may be advisable to formulate diets containing corn ground to smaller particle sizes due to the greater ME in these diets. If diets are formulated to a constant ME, the inclusion of added fat can be reduced if corn ground to a smaller particle size is used.

In a previous experiment, growth performance did not differ among growing-finishing pigs (average initial body weight: 32 kg) fed diets containing corn ground to particle sizes ranging from 339 to 865 µm if diets were formulated to the same ME by reducing the concentration of added fat as corn particle size was reduced. The experiment discussed in this report was conducted to test the hypothesis that added fat can be reduced in diets fed to weanling pigs if corn ground to a smaller particle size is used.

Stewart, L. L., D. Y. Kil, F. Ji, R. B. Hinson, A. D. Beaulieu, G. L. Allee, J. F. Patience, J. E. Pettigrew, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Effects of dietary soybean hulls and wheat middlings on body composition, nutrient and energy retention, and the net energy of diets and ingredients fed to growing and finishing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 91:2756-2765. Link to full text (.pdf)

Canola meal is the second most used plant protein source, after soybean meal, in livestock diets. The production of canola meal involves a step in which the meal is treated with steam for 35 to 50 minutes at temperatures from 95 to 115°C. The application of heat and moisture to feedstuffs results in the Maillard reaction, which reduces the concentration and digestibility of amino acids. Lysine is particularly susceptible to the Maillard reaction, so it is important to determine accurate digestible lysine levels in feedstuffs that may be heat damaged. Amino acid analysis that does not account for lysine recovered from acid hydrolysis of Maillard products may overestimate the amount of digestible lysine in a sample. Therefore, methods other than simple lysine analysis must be used when assessing feed that may be heat damaged.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of heat damage on the digestibility of crude protein and amino acids in canola meal fed to growing pigs. Another objective of the experiment was to develop regression equations to predict the concentration of standardized ileal digestible (SID) amino acids in canola meal.

Almeida, F. N., J. K. Htoo, J. Thomson, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Comparative amino acid digestibility in US blood products fed to weanling pigs. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 181:80-86. Link to full text (.pdf)

Lowell, J. E., M. Song, J. K. Mathai, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Effects of including microbial phytase in diets fed to pigs and broilers. J. Anim. Sci. 91(Suppl. 2):121 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Rodríguez, D. A., R. C. Sulabo, J. C. González-Vega, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Energy concentration and phosphorus digestibility in canola, cottonseed, and sunflower products fed to growing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 91(Suppl. 2):116-117 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Almeida, F. N., J. K. Htoo, J. Thomson, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Amino acid digestibility in heat damaged distillers dried grains with solubles fed to pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 91(Suppl. 2):110 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Curry, S., Navarro, D., Almeida, F., and H. Stein. 2013. Amino acid digestibility by growing pigs in distillers dried grains with solubles with conventional, medium, or low concentrations of fat. J. Anim. Sci. 91(Suppl. 2):102-103 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)