Daily diet adjustments based on predefined group feeding curves: a practical and scalable approach to enhance...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a scalable feeding strategy based on daily diet adjustments to predefined group feeding curves for growing-finishing pigs, on growth performance, nutrient efficiency, and environmental sustainability responses. Six hundred thirty 64-day-old male pigs were allocated to 30 pens (21 animals per pen), which were randomly assigned to the following treatments: control (conventional phase-feeding program) or daily adjusted diet (same diets but provided in predefined mixing ratios adjusted daily for a gradual transition between feeding phases). Growth performance and nutrient efficiency were assessed using body weight and feed intake records. Serum biochemical responses were analyzed in a representative subsample of the population. Environmental impact was inferred based on estimates of the global warming, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, and land use associated with feeding practices. All data were tested using analysis of variance, and the results were interpreted at a significance level of 5%. No differences were observed in growth performance or backfat thickness between the treatments. However, daily adjusted feeding program allowed a 5% reduction in standardized ileal digestible (SID) lysine intake (p < 0.05), consequently improving SID lysine efficiency by 6% (p < 0.05). Serum urea concentrations were consistently lower in the daily adjusted feeding program (p < 0.05), indicating more efficient protein utilization. Daily adjusted feeding program also mitigated (p < 0.05) the potential impacts of global warming (up to 6%), acidification (up to 3.5%), eutrophication (up to 9%), and land use (up to 3%). These findings demonstrate that a scalable precision feeding strategy can improve nutrient efficiency and metabolic responses without compromising growth performance, representing a practical solution for enhancing sustainability in commercial pig production systems.