During summer months, pig producers often face a decline in carcass weight due to the adverse impact of heat stress on pigs and the replacement of soybean meal with intake-reducing ingredients. This situation presents a significant financial hurdle for producers, especially as it usually coincides with peak hog prices, thereby missing potential revenue opportunities.

The prohibitive cost of fats makes the frequently used high-energy density diets economically unfeasible. Leveraging on extensive research that highlights the critical role of soybean meal in enhancing the growth performance of pigs, we propose a summer nutrition program that uses high levels of soybean meal and excludes feed intake-reducing ingredients. Listen and watch! 

“The persistent inferior carcass weight decline during the summer months remains a critical issue in the industry. That decline in carcass weight and resulting financial losses during this period can be greatly minimized with the strategic use of higher levels of soybean meal in grow-finish diets.” - Dr. R. Dean Boyd

“It’s critically important to understand the implication of feed intake-reducing ingredients, like DDGs, when attempting to maximize carcass weight during the summer months. Formulating based on margin over feed cost versus least cost is a profit-enhancing concept for swine nutritionists to consider.” - Dr. David Rosero

• (00:00) Introduction 
• (00:31) Impact of summer heat on carcass weight
• (01:21) Economic implications of carcass weight decline
• (02:46) Soybean meal's role in minimizing weight loss
• (05:30) Designing summer feeding programs
• (08:00) Most important takeaway for nutritionists
• (09:46) Closing thoughts

Meet the guests: Dr. David Rosero is an assistant professor of animal science at Iowa State University. His research program focuses on conducting applied research on swine nutrition and the practical application of smart farming. He previously served as the technical officer for The Hanor Company, overseeing nutrition, research, and innovation efforts.

Dr. R. Dean Boyd with Nutrition Research, LLC, is the former technical director and nutrition leader for the Hanor Company and its Triumph Foods group (2002–2020). His team managed the nutrition program for 85,000 sows and 2.35 MIL pigs. He is an adjunct professor at North Carolina State and Iowa State Universities in animal nutrition. 

This episode of the Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast is Sponsored by:

- US Soy

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