A Question of Digestion

For producers, feed costs are hard to swallow.

As their biggest expense, it is a prime focus of research, from lower cost ingredients to greater feed efficiency. Optimizing swine diets is also top of mind in SIP’s Swine Cluster 4, including the trial “optimized field pea utilization in animal feed”.

“We wanted to explore alternate ingredients that would be less expensive for producers,” says Dr. Martin Nyachoti, professor in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the University of Manitoba. “We chose field peas for this trial. They have been included in swine diets to some extent in the past, but there is a lack of information that has limited their use.”

The trial aimed to gather new data on field peas as a more cost-effective option. When swine nutritionists formulate pig diets, they need accurate numbers on the digestibility of energy and nutrients in any given ingredient. Armed with those figures, they can create a feed regime that more precisely meets the pig’s energy and nutrient needs.

“As far as feed ingredients go, energy is one of the most expensive components of swine diets,” says Dr. Nyachoti. “That is followed by protein and phosphorus. Those three elements account for the majority of producer costs, so we have tried to generate information on energy values and protein digestibility of field peas.”

More Than Just Another Ingredient

Researchers are also gauging the digestibility of amino acids in field peas, as they play a crucial role in swine diets by providing essential nutrients that support growth, health and performance.

“During diet formulation, it’s vital to know what each ingredient brings to the formula,” says Dr. Nyachoti.

Thus far, scientists have found that field peas, particularly Amarillo peas, offer favorable amino acid digestibility, making them a potential alternative to traditional protein sources like soybean meal.

While there were no significant differences in digestibility of amino acids between field pea varieties, the amino acid digestibility values are significant. Moving forward, these values create commercial opportunities for field peas to be marketed as a cost-effective, sustainable and local protein source for swine feed, especially in regions of Canada where field peas are abundant.

As an added benefit, field peas are plants that add to soil nitrogen levels, thereby improving soil quality.

Small Changes, Big Results

The team also explored the impact of enzyme supplements and particle size on energy and protein utilization in pig diets.

“We have done some trials in the past showing that ingredient particle size has a profound impact on nutrient utilization,” said Dr. Nyachoti. “The goal was to further explore the impact of particle size on the nutritive value of field peas.”

Though the impact of particle size on energy and protein was less than expected, reducing the size did improve the digestibility of some amino acids.

Like much of swine research, this trial highlights the power of knowledge to make a tangible difference on farm.

“Through our work, we hope to make swine nutritionists highly confident in working with an ingredient like field peas based on its nutritive value for pigs,” says Dr. Nyachoti. “Also, because they now have estimates of phosphorus and amino acid digestibility, they can craft those diets more precisely.”

Feeding Sustainability

By boosting pig diet efficiency, producers also reduce the volume of nutrients excreted through manure, which supports sustainable nutrition for the sector.

Of course, part of sustainability is protecting the planet, and this trial does its part.

“If we can use locally grown ingredients such as field peas, we will reduce the need for shipping ingredients to any production area from another region,” said Dr. Nyachoti. “As a result, we will use fewer fossil fuels for hauling and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) stemming from pork production.”

Research Never Stops

An often-overlooked benefit of research is that, even when you don’t produce the results you envision, the findings can inform future studies.

“One thing that surprised me was our work with protease and carbohydrate enzymes,” said Dr. Nyachoti. “Based on the chemical composition of the field peas, we expected to see significant effects in terms of improving nutrient utilization. We are now performing further experiments to understand why those improvements did not occur, and the results could help guide subsequent research.”

Looking ahead, scientists will continue to investigate the nutritive value of other ingredients that are locally grown and means of enhancing the utilization by swine. This combination of local sourcing and processing improvements offers farmers and feed producers an opportunity to utilize competitively priced feed ingredients, lowering feed costs and promoting regional agriculture. 