“Live animal performance has made tremendous strides forward over the past several years,” says Paul Groenwegen who works in Canada for Alltech, Inc. “However, the nutritional requirements on which we base dietary formulations is decades old in many cases.” Groenwegen gave a presentation on this topic at the 2008 International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium, sponsored by Alltech, Inc. Here is a summary of his presentation:
We can very firmly say that nutritional requirements have not kept up with the advances in productivity, leaving us with a “growth gap.” The growth gap is measured by the difference in performance between the potential of the animal, and what we typically see on a commercial basis.
The severity of the growth gap depends on whether or not an animal gests off to a good start. It is well documented in literature that improved growth rates in early life are extrapolated into improved live animal performance through 
to slaughter. The costs associated with the growth gap are significant. Survey results from Asia and the United States indicate that the cost of the growth gap in swine can be as much as $5.00 to $17.00 per pig marketed. This is an extremely costs impact, particularly in light of the struggling pig industry.
The growth gap exists post-natal, because of factors associated with gastro-intestinal development, such as insufficient digestive enzymes, reduced absorption capacity, poorly developed gastric secretions and, in mammalian species, weaning. To further compound the dilemma, reduced feed intake in early life, coupled with environmental changes, increased disease pressure and an overall reduction in health status, increases the growth gap.
There is a direct relationship between gut morphology and body weight gain. Ingredients with functional nutrient properties (such as Alltech’s NuPro product), have been shown to improve gut morphology, resulting in increased nutrient uptake and an overall improvement in live animal performance. In sows, this product has been shown to improve daily feed intake, which results in improved piglet growth and higher weaning weights. In piglet diets, starter diets formulated with NuPro resulted in improvements in average daily gain and feed conversion by 3.9% and 3.1%, respectively. The carryover effect on grower-finisher performance is also evident, with improvements that resulted in fewer days to market and reduced feed cost.
Functional nutrients provided in products of this nature are required in animals with rapid tissue growth, limited digestive capacity and low feed intake. They can help deliver improved lifetime growth performance and reduce the overall cost of production. Formulating them into neo-natal diets optimizes nutrition and reduces the growth gap, allowing animals to grow at a rate closer to their true potential.
Editor’s Note: This commentary is the summarization of a presentation at Alltech’s 2008 International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium, and is sponsored by Alltech, Inc. For more information on animal health and nutrition, go to: www.alltech.com
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