Global production of rice is third in terms of total tonnage after corn and wheat. Rice is grown to produce polished white rice for human consumption. However, harvested rice, called paddy rice or rough rice, needs to be dehulled, which results in production of brown rice. The outer brown bran layer of brown rice, known as rice bran, also needs to be removed before polished white rice is produced. Approximately 20% of the paddy rice is hulls and the bran fraction is 8 to 10%, so only 70% of the paddy rice will become polished rice. Rice bran is high in fiber, and also contains about 15% crude protein and 14 to 20% fat. Rice bran can be fed as full fat rice bran or defatted rice bran. During milling of the rice, some kernels may get broken and cannot be used for human consumption. These broken kernels are known as broken rice or brewers rice and may also be used in animal feeding. Broken rice is high in starch and contains little fat, fiber, or protein.

Both rice bran and broken rice may be fed to pigs, but these ingredients are poorly characterized in terms of nutritional value. An experiment was, therefore, conducted to determine the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of crude protein and amino acids in broken rice, two sources of full fat rice bran (FFRB), and defatted rice bran (DFRB) fed to growing pigs.

Liu, Y., R. C. Sulabo, T. E. Sauber, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Different corn hybrids fed to growing pigs. II. Concentrations and digestibility of amino acids. J. Anim. Sci 92(E-Suppl. 2):668 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Curry, S. M., J. K. Htoo, H. V. Masey O'Neill, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Digestibility of amino acids in distillers dried grains with solubles produced in Europe from wheat, maize, or mixtures of wheat and maize and fed to growing pigs. J. Anim. Sci 92(E-Suppl. 2):643 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Lowell, J. E., Y. Liu, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Comparative digestibility of energy and nutrients in feed ingredients fed to sows and growing pigs. J. Anim. Sci 92(E-Suppl. 2):226 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Jaworski, N. W., Y. Liu, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Energy concentration and amino acid digestibility in two sources of canola meal fed to growing pigs. J. Anim. Sci 92(E-Suppl. 2):220 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Results of experiments in Europe have indicated that the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of gross energy and nutrients, as well as the concentration of digestible (DE) and metabolizable (ME) energy, is greater in gestating sows fed close to their maintenance requirement than in growing pigs allowed ad libitum access to feed.

However, no data from North America for the comparative digestibility of energy and nutrients in sows and growing pigs have been reported. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to compare the digestibility of energy and nutrients in sows and growing pigs. A second objective was to develop equations to predict digestibility of energy and nutrients in sows from digestibility values obtained in growing pigs.

Stein, H. H. 2014. Illinois soybean farmers can support the livestock industry. Page 5 in Illinois Field & Bean, March 2014. Link to full text (.pdf)

Soybean meal is the most common source of protein in swine diets in the United States. However, conventional soybean meal contains antinutritional factors such as antigenic proteins, oligosaccharides, lectins, and trypsin inhibitors that limit its use in diets fed to weanling pigs. Methods of processing soybean meal to remove antinutritional factors have been developed. These include enzyme treatment, fermentation, and the removal of soluble carbohydrates.

Like soybean meal, rapeseed products are usually not fed to weanling pigs due to the presence of glucosinolates and relatively high concentrations of fiber in these products. Previous research has shown that fermentation of soybean meal can reduce antinutritional factors and fiber concentrations. It is possible that fermentation can make 00-rapeseed meals and 00-rapeseed expellers suitable for feeding to weanling pigs, but no research has been conducted to confirm this hypothesis. An experiment was conducted to determine the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) by weanling pigs of crude protein and amino acids in four sources of processed soybean products, conventional soybean meal, conventional 00-rapeseed expellers, and in a fermented mixture of co-products including 00-rapeseed expellers, wheat bran, potato peel, and soy molasses.

Baker, K. M., Y. Liu, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Nutritional value of soybean meal produced from high protein, low oligosaccharide, or conventional varieties of soybeans and fed to weanling pigs. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 188:64-73. Link to full text (.pdf)