Data-driven sustainable pig production

If you can not measure it, you can not improve it

In intensive swine production it has become routine to measure temperature, humidity, water flow, and animal health status, and to utilize all these performance parameters in highly digitalized stable to make regular adjustments to feed and housing conditions for optimized farm performance. Today advanced analytical tools are also available in swine production to analyse the quality and nutritional composition of feed along with farm production parameters. Feed formulation tools enable farmers to meet the nutritional requirements of pigs in different production phases at an optimized cost. Nowadays the number of tools which can calculate the full environmental footprint of livestock production is increasing. dsm-firmenich’s Sustell™ is an intelligent platform, certified to ISO 14040/44, that offers to determine 19 impact categories, including climate change, freshwater and land eutrophication, and water scarcity, as well as the emission level of 10 pollutants, among others ammonia (NH₃), methane (CH₄) and fine particle matters (PM_{2 5}). Thus, Sustell™ supports pig producers among other species to understand the full environmental footprint of their animal production and identify interventions for improvement through different simulations.

Modelling the carbon footprint of animal production

Based on the data set of the Institute of Agricultural Economics (AKI) and by using Sustell™, we undertook simulations to identify the environmental performance of pig production. Sustell™ is built on validated protocols, calculation methodologies (eg. PEF, IPCCD) , and proven processes that meet international standards of Life-Cycle Assessment calculation. It provides accurate analyses and results of environmental impact assessments, interventions, and improvements throughout the animal protein value chain. Three scenarios were analyzed to calculate the climate change impact, expressed in CO₂eq/kg produced live weight: the baseline, a second scenario with adapted/reduced crude protein levels, and a third scenario based on the baseline diet containing VevoVitall®.

In the baseline diet scenario were used farm data from 2019 from a Hungarian finishing pig producer. (Table 1). From 25 kg to 123 kg, animals required on average 114 feeding days. The total feed consumed during the fattening period was on average 275 kg and crude protein levels were 17.2% in the grower phase, and 15.56% and 14.98% in the finisher I and II phases, respectively. The average daily weight gain was 860 grams/day with a feed conversation ratio of 2.81 kg/kg (Table 2). The calculated carbon footprint based on the above data was 4.74 kg CO₂eq/kg live weight (Table 5).

Modelling ammonia-emission of pig production

Ammonia-emission receive much less attention than greenhouse gas emissions, though the monitoring and reduction of this air pollutant is important on farms intensively rearing pigs. VevoVitall® is an acidifier containing 99.9% benzoic acid. The product has zootechnical registration for all swine categories. Benzoic acid is known for being an efficient feed preservative against yeasts and molds and helps to stabilize the gastro-intestinal tract with pH reduction and microflora modulation. It can acidify urine, which leads to significantly reduced ammonia emissions (Aarnink et al., 2008). Ammonia emission levels derived from manure storage and pre-treatment decreased notably, from 1.29 kg per average animal to 0.8 kg, i.e. a more than 38% reduction (Table 5).

In the case of the reduced protein diet compared to the baseline diet we also observed a 22% reduction in ammonia emissions (Table 5). Since ammonia may significantly reduce animal performance it is vitally important to keep levels as low as possible in the stable. The human respiratory tract can detect ammonia levels of around 10 ppm, but in well-run pig houses ammonia levels should be less than 5 ppm. Ammonia levels of 50 ppm to 100 ppm negatively affect performance, impacting growth performance, pig survival and sow reproduction (Miller et. al. 2000). Furthermore, at ammonia levels of 50 ppm and above the clearance of bacteria from the lungs is also impaired and therefore the animal is more prone to respiratory disease. Additionally, it can produce coughing along with eye, mouth, and nose irritation and poor weight gain and low feed intake.

Conclusion

The aim of this article is to create awareness in our industry of the power of Life-Cycle Assestment measurement and its use as a precision business diagnostic tool to identify where and how to make productivity improvements on the farm to reduce emissions while improving animal health and performance leading to more sustainable pork production. Sustell™ is an industry-leading platform that calculates credible, reliable, accurate environmental footprints for different farm animal species (swine, broilers, layers, ruminants, marine fish, and shrimp) and helps farmers understand the full footprint of their operations and where to make real, tangible improvements through nutrition, animal performance and farm management leading to improved business profitability and more sustainable animal protein production. Based on the results of this tool, farmers can not just improve sustainability of production, but meet the obligations of policy measures, by choosing among the best available techniques (BAT) included in the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).