The Rural Voice, 1990-03, Page 41Many farmers who keep their own
replacement gilts lose more than they
gain, he adds.
NEW PRODUCTS:
UNKNOWN QUANTITIES
New products in pork production
raise the question of their effects on
meat quality, noted two speakers at
Centralia's Swine Update.
Daphne Peer, a swine specialist
with OMAF, spoke about various
"beta agonists," which include porcine
somatotropin (PST) and adrenaline.
Peer noted that the use of similar
agents in human medicine drew the
attention of scientists because in some
cases they reduce weight, for many
people a desirable goal. They direct
energy away from fat production to
lean, both in humans and animals.
And their effect on pork production
can be dramatic. Peer showed that the
best trial results came from Eli Lilly's
Ractopamine. Daily gain improved by
7 per cent, feed efficiency by 10 per
cent, muscle mass by 10 per cent, and
fat mass dropped by 12 per cent.
Unknown are the effects on
meat quality (leanness, juiciness,
tenderness, and the incidence of pale,
watery, and exudating meat).
Of concern from the point of
view of animal welfare are suscep-
tibility to stress, different nutrient
requirements, and cases of lameness
and hoof lesions (as happened with the
Merck Sharp and Dohme product L-
664,696).
Perhaps the most important con-
cern from a marketing point of view is
consumer acceptance, Peer said.
SILAGE INOCULANTS: Trials
by Pioneer Hi -Bred Ltd. with Sila-bac
brand silage inoculants on high mois-
ture corn have been going since 1984,
Dave Thomas of that firm said.
The results have been inconsistent
and, as with PST, the effects on meat
quality are not known. Thomas
stressed that another five years of
trials on a bigger scale are necessary.
Answering questions from the
audience, he said that the inoculant
has no effect on mycotoxins.
R. E. Humphrey, a farm consultant
from Aylmer, expressed concern about
the health aspects of the inoculants.
He said that these inoculants are ster-
oids and can be harmful to animals.
FEEDING SOYBEANS
Agriculturalists have been studying
the use of soybeans for swine feed for
many years. Adrienne De Schutter, a
lecturer and researcher at Ridgetown
College, told farmers at the Swine
Update about the latest developments.
She is studying the feeding value
of whole soybeans that are treated
differently, and their effect on meat
quality.
Roasting is done by applying direct
heat. Extruded soys are heated by
compression. Micronizing is the use
of indirect heat. Each method gives
different results in feeding value, De
Schutter said.
In her experiments, extruded beans
produced the best results for weaner
pigs of 4 to 10 weeks old. The piglets
grew faster on less feed than with
either of the alternative methods.
The differences in market hogs
were not as pronounced. It appears,
De Shutter said, that roasting produces
more variable results than extruding
or micronizing.
There are distinct changes in
carcass quality when full -fat beans
rather than soymeal are fed to grower
finishing hogs, she added. The fat
becomes soft and changes in lean meat
occur. The changes in lean meat are
of most concern to packers, she said,
because the resulting pale colour puts
a limit on export sales.
In one test series, she added, 300
consumers couldn't differentiate
between pigs fed full -fat beans and
those fed soymeal.
SKIN LESIONS
Should a pork producer detect
diamond-shaped skin lesions on his
pigs, he will probably think imme-
diately of swine erysipelas, also
known as diamond skin disease.
But Dr. A. J. Rehmtulla of Huron
Park's Veterinary Laboratory Services
cautions farmers not to jump to con-
clusions. There are a number of skin
diseases with similar symptoms, he
says.
Many problems can affect the skin,
which is the largest single organ of
mammals, he added. The problem
could be as simple as mosquito bites,
and producers should establish the
cause of any lesions before beginning
treatment.0
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MARCH 1990 37