Pigs have a poor utilization of phytate-bound P derived from plant feed ingredients and thus supplemental phytase is used in pig diets (Selle and Ravindran, 2008). Use of phytase in diets has been a very effective way to increase P digestibility, but the digestibility of amino acids, energy, and other minerals may also be increased by super dosing phytase (Kies et al., 2006; Arredondo et al., 2019), which ultimately increases growth performance and bone ash of pigs.

Bestzyme has recently been developed as a novel phytase, but there is limited information on how this phytase works on growth performance and bone ash of pigs. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to test the hypothesis that dietary P and Ca in diets for growing pigs can be reduced without negatively impacting growth performance and bone ash of pigs if Bestzyme phytase is included in the diets.

Ibagon, J. A., S. A Lee, and H. H. Stein. 2025. Can soy isoflavones, extra nitrogen improve the immune system in growing pigs? National Hog Farmer. On-line edition. Jan. 30, 2025. Link to full text.

Stein, Hans H. Jimena A. Ibagon, Minoy Cristobal. 2024. Soybean meal or crystalline amino acids in diets for growing pigs: Impact on diet net energy, pig growth performance, and nitrogen retention. Proc. 23^nd Annual Midwest Swine Nutrition Conf. Danville, IN, Sep. 5, 2024. Pages 45-51.

Velayudhan, Deepak E., Ester Vinyeta-Punti, Rachael Hardy, Leon Marchal, Charles Martin Nyachoti, Hans H. Stein, Yueming Dersjant-Li. 2023. The Effect of a Novel Consensus Bacterial 6-Phytase Variant on Ileal Digestibility of Energy in Growing Pigs: Meta-Analysis of 4 Trials. J. Anim. Sci., Volume 101, Issue Supplement_2, November 2023, Pages 117–118, doi.org/10.1093/jas/skad341.131. Link to abstract.

Cristobal, M., S. A. Lee, and H. H. Stein. 2023. Evaluation of soybean expellers fed to growing pigs. National Hog Farmer, On-line edition, March 23, 2023. Link to full text.

Corn is harvested at a high moisture level, and thus must be dried to less than 15% moisture to ensure safe storage. Improvements to reduce the energy consumption of the dryers have been implemented, especially by increasing the inlet air temperature. However, overheating may have a negative impact on the stability of nutrients, especially amino acids (AA), because Maillard reactions may occur if heat and moisture are applied to feed ingredients. Consequently, Maillard reactions result in a decrease in the concentration and digestibility of AA, and it is possible that energy digestibility is also reduced. Therefore, the objective of these experiments was to test the hypothesis that both the temperature used in drying and the time that heat is applied will affect the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of AA, and concentration of digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) in corn fed to growing pigs.

McGhee, M. L.,  H. H. Stein. 2023. Preference for feed, but not growth performance, is reduced if hybrid rye replaces corn in diets for growing pigs. Animal Feed Science and Technology 296 (2023) 115566. doi.org/10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2022.115566. Link to full text.

Soybean meal is the principal amino acid (AA) source in diets for pigs, and it is recognized that the AA profile of soybean meal is superior to that of other oilseed meals. However, new varieties that have different characteristics are sometimes developed and an example of such a new variety is the Photoseed variety of soybeans that captures more carbon and sunlight leading to a more nutrient rich ingredient and a reduced footprint from crop production. There is, however, no information about the nutritional value of the soybean meal produced from the Photoseed variety of soybeans. Therefore, the objective of this research was to test the hypothesis that the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of crude protein (CP) and AA, and the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of CP and AA are not different in soybean meal produced from Photoseed soybeans compared with control soybean meal when fed to pigs.

Velayudhan, D., T. Christensen, S. Knudsen, L. Marchal, Y. Dersjant-Li, and H. H. Stein. 2022. Effect of a novel consensus bacterial 6-phytase variant on inositol hexa-phosphate degradation profile in growing pigs. 15th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs. Animal - Science Proceedings 13(Issue 2): 180. Link to abstract.