The potential ability of swine nutrition to influence environmental factors positively

Environmental issues are a growing concern within agriculture. Several of them can be categorized under the following headings: manure storage and handling, air quality, manure nutrient concentrations, and amounts of soil nutrients. Recently introduced, EcoCare feed (Land O'Lakes Purina Feed LLC, Shoreview, MN) is a dedicated and affordable feeding program addressing manure management, ammonia emissions, and nutrient excretion while optimizing pig performance. Components in EcoCare feed reduce manure solids and viscosity, resulting in improved physical uniformity of the manure, making it easier to agitate in manure storage pits and manipulate through manure-handling equipment. Internal research trials have indicated a reduction of 14% in solids and 22% in viscosity over a 45-d collection period; these physical changes may have positive implications for manure pit pump-out and facility sanitation. EcoCare feed also has the potential to reduce ammonia emissions. This is achieved primarily by inclusion of crystalline AA, specific Bacillus bacteria, and saponin-derived compounds. Emissions measured in a manure-pit simulation trial performed at LongView Animal Nutrition Center (Gray Summit, MO) demonstrated that pigs consuming EcoCare feed excreted manure in which ammonia volatilization was reduced by 18% over a 45-d period when compared with control pigs. Over time, EcoCare feed may result in reduced production of ammonia by up to 40% in commercial situations. Nutrient manipulation of feed can help greatly in the reduction of nutrient waste. Reducing N loss can be achieved by incorporating supplemental crystalline AA in the diet and by using specific feed additives that can reduce the volatilization of N-containing ammonia from manure pits. The excretion of P can be reduced by using phytase in the diet, thereby improving P digestibility and reducing the requirement for dietary inorganic P. These types of manipulations can be achieved without limiting swine growth performance. In fact, EcoCare feed has been shown to improve the feed conversion ratio by up to 4% over other standard feeds in field conditions.