The Scale Up Program for Grow-Finishers from Novus International will help pork producers maximize their economic return.
By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com
Nutrition company Novus International, Inc., has released its new Scale-Up Program for pork producers in the Americas. The program is expected to help maximize the financial return for pork-producing grow-finishers.
"Whether the focus is increasing the pounds of pork or kilograms of meat produced, extending sow productivity, improving piglet mortality and uniformity, or raising grow-finish profitability, the Scale Up Program takes a comprehensive view of production systems and each life stage to identify opportunities," said Marisol Castillo, the Senior Manager of Global Swine Solutions for Novus International.
According to Marcela Garcia, the Swine Solutions Senior Manager for Novus, the program can help pork producers in North and South America improve feed conversion ratios and sustainably improve performance.
"With feed costs cutting into profits, it’s vital for producers to identify nutritional solutions that go beyond what is expected to maximize their return," explained Garcia. "NOVUS offers solutions that are made of more, and producers can see the results in their grow-finishers."
Created to meet the demands of today’s pork producer, the Scale Up Program delivers science-based nutrition solutions to optimize production at every stage of a pig’s life, helping each animal meet its genetic potential.
The Scale Up Program has the backing of XpertLink, a network of leading industry experts that cover nutrition, management, health, feed manufacturing, and meat quality.
"We developed XpertLink to establish a network of people from around the world, with different perspectives and experiences, to work with our customers in helping them overcome issues and identify opportunities to take their operation to the next level," related Castillo.
MINTREX Cu bis-chelated trace mineral is a key tool in the Scale Up Program for grow-finishers to help improve efficiency and economic return in that stage of production.
Brad Lawrence, Ph.D., the Senior Technical Services Manager with Novus, said that the copper contained in the MINTREX Cu bis-chelated trace mineral is bound to a hydroxyanalogue of methionine, HMTBa, a precursor to L-methionine.
Novus said this makes the additive less susceptible to antagonisms throughout the gastrointestinal tract and allows more minerals to reach the site of absorption in the gut while also supplying a source of essential amino acids.
This unique makeup is shown to lower feed conversion by three to five points over traditional inorganic copper sources.
"With MINTREX Cu, we see over US$1.00 per pig return on an adjusted feed conversion ratio (FCR) and over US$2.00 per pig return on a closeout basis," said Lawrence. "We have also observed 0.5 to 1.0 percentage points fewer removals. This translates to five to 10 more pigs marketed per 1,000 pigs placed."
MINTREX Cu can be supplemented at 50 ppm vs. 150 ppm from TBBC while seeing the same or improved performance. From an environmental sustainability perspective, this can result in 60 percent less copper excreted simply from the lower inclusion rate.
"Feeding MINTREX Cu at a significantly reduced rate than inorganic sources means feeding up to 650 fewer pounds of elemental copper per 10,000 pigs marketed," Lawrence commented. "The four-point lower feed conversion that has been observed equates to 45 tons less feed per 10,000 pigs, or about two truckloads."
By adding the methionine value from HMTBa, producers are able to reduce the amount of supplemental methionine included in other areas of the food. It's another reason why MINTREX Cu holds an advantage over traditional inorganic sources.
Novus can also help producers looking to further improve FCR in grow-finishers with ACTIVATE DA nutritional feed acid, a proprietary blend of organic acids that supports pig health.
Garcia said that when fed at two pounds per ton during the late-finish stage, pigs fed ACTIVATE DA consistently improved FCR by up to nine points during the 200-pound-to-market period.
"ACTIVATE DA is a powerful tool that producers can use to improve late-finishing performance," explained Garcia. "Along with supporting FCR, it is also shown to support weight gain in the last-finishing stage up to 3.7 percent and support survivability by one percent."
Headquartered in Saint Charles, Missouri, Novus is privately owned by Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Nippon Soda Co., Ltd.
Producers in the Americas who are interested in learning more about how the Scale Up Program for grow-finishers can maximize economic returns and pig performance can visit www.novusint.com to contact their local NOVUS representative.