Several studies have shown that feeding increased lysine soon after a health challenge can improve performance and help mitigate the negative effects associated with the infection, but how long after infection will those high lysine diets still be effective? In this episode, I talk with Kayla Miller about 2 studies she performed testing different nutritional strategies for poor health pigs, including a delayed feeding of a high lysine diet to PRRSV infected pigs.

Kayla Miller is a Swine Nutrition Ph.D. student at Iowa State University. She received her B.S. in Animal Sciences in 2020 and her M.S. in Swine Nutrition at Iowa State in 2022. She has gained industry experience by interning at both Smithfield and AMVC and has done a number of research projects at Iowa State.

Visit us at https://swinenutritionblackbelt.com

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:

- Trouw Nutrition (https://www.trouwnutrition.com/en/)

- Phibro (https://www.pahc.com/)

- Eastman (https://www.eastman.com/Markets/Animal-Nutrition/Pages/Overview.aspx)

- Kemin (https://www.kemin.com/na/en-us/markets/animal/swine)

- Hubbard Feeds (https://www.hubbardfeeds.com/)

- Alltech (https://www.alltech.com/animal-nutrition/pig)

- DSM (https://www.dsm.com/anh/species/swine.html)

- Land O'Lakes (https://www.purinamills.com/swine-feed)

Several new research studies have demonstrated the mechanisms behind branched-chain amino acid transporters and nutrient utilization in pigs. Better understanding this concept can be crucial in some diets due to the high leucine content of dried distillers grains. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Woongbi Kwon about his study delving deeper into this topic, feeding elevated levels of leucine and tryptophan to study the effects on growth performance and serotonin metabolism.

Dr. Woongbi Kwon grew up on his family’s swine farm in South Korea where he attended Konkuk University to receive his B.S. and M.S. in Animal Sciences. He then transferred to the University of Illinois and worked under the guidance of Dr. Hans Stein to earn his Ph.D. in Swine Nutrition under Dr. Hans Stein in 2020. His research focused on branched chain amino acid metabolism and interaction in pigs. He now works as a swine nutritionist for Furst-McNess.

Visit us at https://swinenutritionblackbelt.com

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:

- Trouw Nutrition (https://www.trouwnutrition.com/en/)

- Phibro (https://www.pahc.com/)

- Eastman (https://www.eastman.com/Markets/Animal-Nutrition/Pages/Overview.aspx)

- Kemin (https://www.kemin.com/na/en-us/markets/animal/swine)

- Hubbard Feeds (https://www.hubbardfeeds.com/)

- Alltech (https://www.alltech.com/animal-nutrition/pig)

- DSM (https://www.dsm.com/anh/species/swine.html)

- Land O'Lakes (https://www.purinamills.com/swine-feed)

When it comes to different pig preweaning parameters, which ones are the most important? That is a question that has had a variety of answers over the years, and hopefully after this study we can better understand exactly how large of an effect each parameter has. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Mark Knauer about his study with over 3,000 pigs that used linear modeling to measure how much of the piglet variation was explained by a variety of different preweaning parameters.

Dr. Mark Knauer was born and raised on a pure-line pig and cattle operation in southern Wisconsin. He received his B.S. in Agriculture Education and M.S. in Animal Breeding at Iowa State University. Following his time at ISU, Dr. Knauer completed his Ph.D. in Animal Breeding and Genetics at North Carolina State University. After graduating, he completed a short Postdoc at the Institute for Pig Genetics in the Netherlands before accepting a position with the National Pork Board as the Director of Animal Science. Dr. Knauer is currently a Swine Extension Specialist at North Carolina State University where he focuses on genetics and production management.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

Visit us at https://swinenutritionblackbelt.com

The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:

- Trouw Nutrition (https://www.trouwnutrition.com/en/)

- Phibro (https://www.pahc.com/)

- Eastman (https://www.eastman.com/Markets/Animal-Nutrition/Pages/Overview.aspx)

- Kemin (https://www.kemin.com/na/en-us/markets/animal/swine)

- Hubbard Feeds (https://www.hubbardfeeds.com/)

- Alltech (https://www.alltech.com/animal-nutrition/pig)

- DSM (https://www.dsm.com/anh/species/swine.html)

- Land O'Lakes (https://www.purinamills.com/swine-feed)

Vitamins can sometimes be overlooked due to their cheap and easy inclusion in swine diets. With stabilization issues under certain conditions, we tend to put more in the diet than is required, but how much extra is everyone adding? In this episode with Dr. Jami Faccin, we talk about his survey of many large swine facilities in the United States and how he compared their vitamin inclusion levels to see what the averages may tell us.

Dr. Jamil Faccin graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. He worked with the biggest swine production company in Brazil for 4 years before returning to the same University in Brazil to receive his M.S. and Ph.D., including a visiting period with the Applied Swine Nutrition team at Kansas State University. His research focused on management and nutrition strategies in the nursery and finishing period. Currently, he is a Post-doctoral researcher at K-State, leading and being involved in a wide variety of projects in applied swine nutrition.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

Visit us at https://swinenutritionblackbelt.com

The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:

- Trouw Nutrition (https://www.trouwnutrition.com/en/)

- Phibro (https://www.pahc.com/)

- Eastman (https://www.eastman.com/Markets/Animal-Nutrition/Pages/Overview.aspx)

- Kemin (https://www.kemin.com/na/en-us/markets/animal/swine)

- Hubbard Feeds (https://www.hubbardfeeds.com/)

- Alltech (https://www.alltech.com/animal-nutrition/pig)

- DSM (https://www.dsm.com/anh/species/swine.html)

- Land O'Lakes (https://www.purinamills.com/swine-feed)

Transitioning the weanling pig onto solid feed presents several nutritional challenges, as the body has not been producing all of the required digestive enzymes until this point. In this episode, I talk with Brenda Christensen about her study testing different forms of creep feed and nursery diets with varying protein sources to see how it affects the mucosal enzyme activity and the intestinal morphology in piglets.

Brenda Christensen is a Ph.D. student at the University of Guelph studying animal nutrition. She received her B.S. and M.S. from the University of Guelph in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Her research focuses on nutritional modifications in the nursery and amino acid requirements in gestation and lactation.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

Visit us at https://swinenutritionblackbelt.com

The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:

- Trouw Nutrition (https://www.trouwnutrition.com/en/)

- Phibro (https://www.pahc.com/)

- Eastman (https://www.eastman.com/Markets/Animal-Nutrition/Pages/Overview.aspx)

- Kemin (https://www.kemin.com/na/en-us/markets/animal/swine)

- Hubbard Feeds (https://www.hubbardfeeds.com/)

- Alltech (https://www.alltech.com/animal-nutrition/pig)

- DSM (https://www.dsm.com/anh/species/swine.html)

- Land O'Lakes (https://www.purinamills.com/swine-feed)

With the looming threat of ASF and other issues potentially disrupting our normal feed supply chain, we must be prepared and have a proper plan to hold off our pigs until we can get more feed while avoiding the onset of gastric ulcers. In this episode, I talk with Kayla Miller about two studies she ran determining the efficacy of different feed supply management strategies and the effects of particle size and feed disruptions on the development of gastric ulcers.

Kayla Miller is a Swine Nutrition Ph.D. student at Iowa State University. She received her B.S. in animal sciences in 2020 and her M.S. in swine nutrition at Iowa State in 2022. She has gained industry experience by interning at both Smithfield and AMVC and has done a number of research projects at Iowa State.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

Visit us at https://swinenutritionblackbelt.com

The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:

- Trouw Nutrition (https://www.trouwnutrition.com/en/)

- Phibro (https://www.pahc.com/)

- Eastman (https://www.eastman.com/Markets/Animal-Nutrition/Pages/Overview.aspx)

- Kemin (https://www.kemin.com/na/en-us/markets/animal/swine)

- Hubbard Feeds (https://www.hubbardfeeds.com/)

- Alltech (https://www.alltech.com/animal-nutrition/pig)

- DSM (https://www.dsm.com/anh/species/swine.html)

- Land O'Lakes (https://www.purinamills.com/swine-feed)

We continue to adjust amino acid requirements to meet best the needs of pigs for growth or protein synthesis. Multiple studies have shown that AA intakes above current requirements improve various body functions. That is the focus of Christian Ramirez’s work, and he and I talk about it in this episode to discuss how the performance of a gestating sow could improve with additional nutrients.

Christian Ramirez is a Ph.D. student at South Dakota State University. He received his M.S. in Animal Science in 2019 and then an M.S. in Data Science in 2020, both from SDSU. His work combines different statistical models to best model amino acid requirements in sows to fit their nutritional requirements better.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

Visit us at https://swinenutritionblackbelt.com

The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:

- Trouw Nutrition (https://www.trouwnutrition.com/en/)

- Phibro (https://www.pahc.com/)

- Eastman (https://www.eastman.com/Markets/Animal-Nutrition/Pages/Overview.aspx)

- Kemin (https://www.kemin.com/na/en-us/markets/animal/swine)

- Hubbard Feeds (https://www.hubbardfeeds.com/)

- Alltech (https://www.alltech.com/animal-nutrition/pig)

- DSM (https://www.dsm.com/anh/species/swine.html)

- Land O'Lakes (https://www.purinamills.com/swine-feed)

As we continue to genetically select for sows to produce more pigs, it is important that we ensure they are getting adequate milk from the sow, but there may be more ways to help this other than maximizing feed intake during lactation. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Chantal Farmer about her recent study on increasing lysine in the gestation period to further increase mammary development in gestating gilts and hopefully consequently increase the milk yield capacity during lactation.

Dr. Farmer is a research scientist in sow lactation biology working at the Sherbrooke Research and Development Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. She obtained her B.Sc. from McGill University (1980), her M.Sc. from the University of Saskatchewan (1982), and her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University (1986). Dr. Farmer’s research goal is to increase sow milk yield, hence piglet growth. She was a pioneer in studying mammary development in gilts and sows and identifying factors affecting it. She has published over 150 scientific manuscripts, 7 book chapters, and is the sole editor of a recently published book entitled “The gestating and lactating sow” that was also translated and published in Chinese.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

Visit us at https://swinenutritionblackbelt.com

The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:

- Trouw Nutrition (https://www.trouwnutrition.com/en/)

- Phibro (https://www.pahc.com/)

- Eastman (https://www.eastman.com/Markets/Animal-Nutrition/Pages/Overview.aspx)

- Kemin (https://www.kemin.com/na/en-us/markets/animal/swine)

- Hubbard Feeds (https://www.hubbardfeeds.com/)

- Alltech (https://www.alltech.com/animal-nutrition/pig)

- DSM (https://www.dsm.com/anh/species/swine.html)

PRRSV and E. coli continue to remain a problem for farms everywhere, and nursery pigs, with their often underdeveloped immune systems, can take a major toll if infected. In this episode, I talk with Jenna Bromm about her work at Kansas State University studying the effects of alpha-linolenic acid supplementation in nursery pigs infected with PRRSV or E. coli to see if it can help alleviate the reduced growth typically seen in affected pigs. 

Meet the guest:

Jenna Bromm is a master's student at Kansas State University on the swine nutrition team studying under Dr. Mike Tokach. She first joined the swine nutrition team as an undergraduate student while receiving her B.S. from KSU and enjoyed it so much that she decided to stick around to work towards earning an M.S. Her work primarily revolves around the use of alpha-linolenic acid in nursery pigs.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

Visit us at https://swinenutritionblackbelt.com

The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:

- Trouw Nutrition (https://www.trouwnutrition.com/en/)

- Phibro (https://www.pahc.com/)

- Eastman (https://www.eastman.com/Markets/Animal-Nutrition/Pages/Overview.aspx)

- Kemin (https://www.kemin.com/na/en-us/markets/animal/swine)

- Hubbard Feeds (https://www.hubbardfeeds.com/)

- Alltech (https://www.alltech.com/animal-nutrition/pig)

- DSM (https://www.dsm.com/anh/species/swine.html)

Past studies have shown that increasing stocking density will decrease the performance of the pigs. However, when commercial systems are backed-up due to logistic issues or disruptions in the supply chain, barns may be stocked at a lower floor space allowance to avoid bottlenecks. In this episode, Chloe Hagen returns to talk with me about her study where she increased stocking density while also increasing energy level to see if it can help mitigate the reduction in performance historically seen with overcrowding.

We’re back with a second episode with Chloe Hagen! Chloe is a Ph.D. student at Iowa State University. She received her both B.S. and M.S. from ISU in 2020 and 2022 respectively. She was also a nutrition intern for Christensen Farms back in 2019 and is currently doing an internship as a swine nutrition intern for Cargill. Her M.S. thesis focused on the effects of floor space and lysine restricted diets on the growth rate of finishing pigs and compensatory gain analysis.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

Visit us at https://swinenutritionblackbelt.com

The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:

- Trouw Nutrition (https://www.trouwnutrition.com/en/)

- Phibro (https://www.pahc.com/)

- Eastman (https://www.eastman.com/Markets/Animal-Nutrition/Pages/Overview.aspx)

- Kemin (https://www.kemin.com/na/en-us/markets/animal/swine)

- Hubbard Feeds (https://www.hubbardfeeds.com/)

- Alltech (https://www.alltech.com/animal-nutrition/pig)

- DSM (https://www.dsm.com/anh/species/swine.html)