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)

Palm kernel expellers is a coproduct of the production of palm kernel oil. Unlike palm kernel meal, which is produced after the oil is removed from the fruits of oil palms using solvent extraction, palm kernel expellers are produced via mechanical extraction. The lysine content of palm kernel expellers is low relative to soybean meal. Additionally, the high fiber content of palm kernel expellers means that it contains less digestible and metabolizable energy than soybean meal or corn. These factors limit the inclusion rate of palm kernel expellers in swine diets.  However, despite these limitations, palm kernel expellers can provide significant protein in swine diets and may be used to reduce feed costs.

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that palm kernel expellers may replace some corn and soybean meal in phase 2 diets fed to weanling pigs without negatively affecting growth performance.

Copra meal is a coproduct of the production of coconut oil. Although the amino acid profile and digestibility in copra meal are less favorable than in soybean meal, it can provide significant protein and energy in swine diets and may be used to reduce feed costs.

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that copra meal may replace some corn and soybean meal in phase 2 diets fed to weanling pigs without negatively affecting growth performance.

Song, M., B. G. Kim, O. Osuna, and H. H. Stein. 2012. Dietary clay does not negatively affect growth performance, nitrogen and iron status, or diarrhea score of weanling pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 90(E-Suppl. 3):68 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Harris, E. K., E. P. Berg, T. C. Gilbery, A. N. Lepper, H. H. Stein, and D. J. Newman. 2012. Effects of replacing soybean meal with pea chips and distillers dried grains with solubles in diets fed to growing-finishing pigs on growth performance, carcass quality, and pork palatability. Prof. Anim. Sci. 28:1-10. Link to full text (.pdf)

Animal proteins such as milk products, blood products, fish meal, chicken meal, and poultry by-product meal are usually used as amino acid sources in diets for weanling pigs because the nutrients in these ingredients are highly digestible and because they do not contain the anti-nutritional factors that are present  in conventional soybean meal. Due to the cost of animal protein sources, other alternatives have been investigated. One alternative is soybean meal which has been fermented to destroy antinutritional factors and increase protein digestibility. Fermented soybean meal (FSBM) may partly replace milk and blood proteins in diets fed to weanling pigs from seven to 21 days post-weaning. However, there are no data on the inclusion of more than 10% FSBM in diets fed to weanling pigs. Therefore, two experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that FSBM may be included in diets fed to weanling pigs to replace all animal protein sources.

Corn germ is a co-product of the wet milling industry that is available for use in swine diets to partially replace the more expensive corn grain. Results of arecent experiment indicated that including 15% corn germ in diets containing 30% DDGS had no negative effects on pig growth performance, carcass composition, or pork fat quality. However, it is not known if greater quantities of corn germ may be included in diets fed to growing-finishing pigs. Therefore, we conducted an experiment to determine if greater levels of corn germ may be included in diets fed to growing-finishing pigs without negatively affecting growth performance, carcass characteristics, muscle and fat quality, or belly quality. The experiment also determined if the presence of DDGS in the diets influences the responses to the inclusion of corn germ.

Stein, H. H., A. A. Pahm, and J. A. Roth. 2010. Feeding wheat to pigs. Swine Focus #002. Link to full text (.pdf)

Most corn hybrids grown in the US are genetically modified to resist certain pests or to tolerate certain herbicides. Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the nutritional value of corn that is genetically modified for pest resistance, but there are no published reports about feeding corn that has been modified for both pest resistance and insecticide tolerance to pigs. Investigation into the nutritional value of such corn is, however, warranted, because the use of crops with multiply stacked traits is rapidly increasing; approximately 35 million acres of crops with double- and triple-stacked traits were planted in the United States in 2006.

Two experiments were, therefore, conducted to determine if the nutritional value of corn grain with multiple genetically modified traits is different from that of nontransgenic corn. The hypothesis in both experiments was that pigs fed transgenic corn would not differ in growth performance or carcass characteristics from pigs fed nontransgenic corn.