Swine production discussed at Orffa symposium

On Wednesday 16th of January Orffa Skandinavien A/S held its yearly symposium. The focus was entirely on swine production. The presentations covered the latest research on amino acid nutrition for pigs.

The symposium was attended by 35 participants from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, both from the feed industry and national advisory centres. Venue was Hotel Legoland, Chairman of the day was Associate Professor Jan Værum Nørgaard from Aarhus University.

The first presentation was held by Dr. Mathieu Gloaguen from INRA (Rennes, France), who presented new research on amino acid nutrition in piglets. Todays piglet diets are formulated with a low CP level to support gut health. Knowledge on amino acid requirement is key in this context, not only on the first limiting amino acid, but also the amino acids further down the line. Dr. Gloaguen presented the latest update from his PhD and post doc work in this field.

He was followed by Etienne Corrent and Aude Simongiovanni from Ajinomoto Eurolysine, who gave an update on recent advances in amino acid nutrition in growing and finishing pigs. The audience was updated on the results of a meta-analyses on L-tryptophan requirement in growing and finishing pigs.

Dr. Detlef Kampf from Orffa Additives gave a presentation on a new form of trace elements, hydroxy trace minerals with the brandnames Intellibond C and Intellibond Z. These new types of copper and zinc have been introduced in Europe recently and have shown benefits both from technical and nutritional point of view. Dr. Kampf emphasised on the benefits for piglet nutrition.

Dr. David Sola from Universitat Autonoma from Barcelona gave a presentation on amino acid nutrition in sows after lunch. With increasing production in sows this topic gains more and more interest amongst nutritionists. Dr. Sola give insight in this challenge with focus on L-valine.

The use of antibiotics in piglet production

The last presentation of the day was done by Marc Rovers from Orffa Additives, who discussed the use of antibiotics in piglet production through Europe. All over Europe reduction of the use of antibiotics is high on the agenda. Scandinavia is clearly a pioneer in this field. An overview was given of the status in other European countries as well as what the contribution of nutrition can be in this debate.