Nutritional characteristics of the diets in organic pig production

Summary in the original language of the document

A better knowledge of the rations pigs receive, should help identify weaknesses and hence improve the efficiency of organic pig production. A research project was initiated in 8 EU countries (ProPIG from the ERANET CoreOrganic II) involving 72 farms: 59 with sows (53 farrow-to-finish = FF, 5 with and 1 without weaners), 11 fattening (F) and 2 with weaners and fatteners. Farmers were asked to describe their feeding practices and the nutrient content of feeds used was recorded, either from the manufacturer claim or calculated from ingredients. Four FF farms used a single diet for all pigs. For sows, 46% of the farms fed the same diet. For fatteners, 58% of the farms used a single diet, 38% used two diets and 5% used 3 diets. For weaners, 73% of the farms used a single diet and 27 % used two diets. Nutrient feed contents were 13.3 ± 1.0 MJ ME, 141 ± 19 g crude proteins (CP) and 5.0 ± 1.2 g total P (tP) /kg for pregnant sows, 12.8 ± 0.9 MJ ME, 159 ± 19 g CP and 5.2 g ± 1.2 tP/kg for lactating sows, 12.8 ± 1.0, 175 ± 23 g CP, 5.3 g tP/kg for weaners, 12.7 ± 0.1 MJ ME, 165 ± 23 g CP and 4.7 ± 1.1 g tP/kg for fatteners (means ± sd). Major ingredients were triticale (from18% in weaners to 27% in fatteners, 51% homegrown = HG), barley (from 22% in lactating sows to 28% in weaners, 48% HG), wheat (from 18% in weaners to 27% in fatteners, 23% HG), maize (from 13% in pregnant sows to 16% in fatteners, 52% HG), peas (from 8% in pregnant sows to 12% in fatteners, 38% HG), and fava beans (from 3.9% in fatteners to 10.4% in weaners, 67% HG). Results suggest using specific feeding for different types of pigs may improve feeding efficiency and reduce the environmental impact.