Feed Management to Maximize Feed Efficiency and Net Revenue

Abstract

<p>Feed represents 55 to 70% of the total cost of pork production. Furthermore, about 85% of the total cost of a diet formulation accrues from simply meeting the energy specification (Gutierrez and Patience, 2012). Thus, meeting the energy specifications for feed represents between 50% and 60% of the total cost of pork production; no other single production budget item comes close. For this reason, any discussion on feed efficiency and financial success must include a very serious consideration of how to best meet the energy needs of the pig. While feed costs have dropped substantially in the past 6 months, concern about high feed costs remains a recent memory. For example, over the past 3 years, the annual average price of barley (fob Lethbridge) has ranged from CAD 252 to CAD 181 per tonne and corn (fob Chatham) has ranged from CAD 257 to CAD 170.</p>