Bypass Fat for Increasing Milk yield

Bypass Fat is a concentrated form of toatlly digestible rumen undegradable energy, which does not interfere with the normal rumen activity.
Benefits:

1. economical energy source fro enrichment with extra energy
2. High energy content
3. increase milk yield 2-3 kg per cow per day
4. reduces risk of KETOSIS
5. increases fertility and conception rate as it keeps animal in positive energy balance
6. improves milk fat abot 0.5-0.8%
7. keeps animal in good general health

Do you really know about canine nutrition

Describe the type of food you feed to your dog.
It is great that you make your own food for your dog. That way you do have control over what foods are going into it. But the digestive system of the dog is not designed to digest cooked food. Also, cooking food actually destroys the nutritional value of the food and your dog is not getting the benefit of the nutrients that you are trying to give to her.
The healthiest way to feed your dog is to feed the species appropriate diet. This will supply the nutrition that nature intended for your dog to have. The species appropriate diet for your dog is raw meat, raw bones, raw vegetables and raw fruits. These are the foods that your dog's digestive system is designed to digest and process in order to get the most nutrition possible to keep the immune system strong.
Veterinarians are seeing more immune system problems, genetic disorders and chronic diseases than ever before. Many of these conditions and diseases are caused by months and years of eating an inappropriate diet of commercially prepared food. The build up of additives and dyes act as poisons and any nutrition that was in the food is destroyed by the high temperature cooking process. The liver, kidneys and pancreas has to deal with all the toxins and this causes serious health problems.
What do you know about feeding the natural raw diet to your dog?
Stop and think about what species you are feeding. Your dog's digestive system has evolved over millions of years to be short and acidic, which can handle bacteria. Also his system is designed to get the necessary nutrients for good health from raw meat. Bacteria are not a problem for a dog with a strong immune system and a strong immune system is created by eating species appropriate raw food.
With knowledge of fresh, wholesome foods, you can provide the proper nutrition for your dog. You will see improvements in his condition, such as with any allergies, skin, coat and ear problems, liver, kidney and bladder infections, fleas and parasites, as well as digestive troubles.
Fresh foods provide the healthiest source of nutrition because many nutrients such as vitamins and enzymes are very sensitive and are destroyed by processing.
The strength of your dog's immune system and his ability to fight off disease are determined by the type of food he eats. And this directly affects his quality of life. Your dog's body is designed to be a carnivore and to receive needed nutrients from raw food.
What are the foods that are dangerous for your dog?
It is important to learn the foods that are dangerous for your dog as well as the foods that are safe.
There are several foods that are not good for dogs. Chocolate is the one most people are aware of and can certainly be toxic. Others foods to avoid are sugar, dairy products, grain, raw salmon, onions, raisins, grapes, macadamia nuts, moldy foods, seeds and pits of fruits, and bread dough.
The old saying is true ? you are what you eat. If you feed poor quality dog food to your dog, his digestive system will bear the consequences. The organs that are affected are the liver, pancreas, kidneys and skin. The liver and pancreas are affected as part of the digestive system and the liver, kidneys and skin as part of the elimination system. The most damaging thing about the majority of dry commercial dog foods on the market today is that they contain toxic dyes, chemicals and preservatives. Those toxins build up in the body and over time cause damage to the liver and kidneys.
The number one killer of dogs today is cancer. In 1997, oncologists from Colorado State University's College of Veterinary Medicine published diet recommendations to help combat cancer. Since cancer cells thrive on sugar and create lactate as a waste, they recommend excluding lactate-containing and glucose-containing fluids. The lactate poisons the dog by depleting its energy, making it weaker. So, limit sugars and simple carbohydrates. A diet that can meet the anti-cancer recommendations is a homemade species appropriate diet. That diet is the whole raw foods diet.
The 1997 study also provided knowledge of some other foods to avoid.
Chocolate ? I hope that you already know to never, never, NEVER feed your dog chocolate. It contains theobromine, which is toxic for your dog. It also contains caffeine which is a nerve irritant. Your dog can go into a coma and die from eating chocolate.
Sugar ? Sugar in whatever form, is addictive, causes damage to the pancreas, and depletes the body of vitamins and minerals.
Dairy products ? Milk has foreign hormones and lactose, which is a sugar. Most dogs do not have the lactase enzyme that is needed to digest lactose.
Grain ? Dogs do not need the carbohydrates in grains for nutrition and energy. Fats and protein in a natural dog diet provide the fuel that your dog needs. Grains break down into sugar in the body and they can also add to many health problems. They can cause your dog to have skin allergies, hot spots, bloating, ear infections, joint problems, and digestive disorders. Some vets believe that they weaken the immune system and the pancreas.
Raw Salmon ? Be careful in feeding salmon. In fact, it is better and safer to give your dog Norwegian Salmon Oil. Salmon poisoning is an infectious disease caused by a parasite fluke on salmon. Although it is mostly found in Pacific salmon, it can occur elsewhere.
Onions ? Raw or cooked, one quarter cup of onions can make a 20 lb. dog sick. Onions cause toxicity by oxidizing hemoglobin in the red blood cells. When this happens, it forms clumps in the red blood cells which prevent them from carrying the oxygen that is needed. These small clumps are called Heinz bodies and when veterinarians see them, they strongly suspect onion toxicity. The signs of onion toxicosis are the same as anemia and low oxygen in the body ? lethargy, weakness, red urine, decreased stamina, and pale or bluish gums.
Raisins and Grapes ? Can cause toxicity in dogs. Some dogs may never be affected, but for the ones who are, it is best to avoid feeding to any dog. Some dogs will develop kidney damage within the first days of eating grapes and/or raisins, which can lead to kidney failure and death. So, it is in the best interest of your dog to avoid this food altogether. If you dog should accidentally eat grapes or raisins and have a reaction to them, their first reaction will be vomiting. Get them to a Vet immediately in that if they are treated early, they can recover. At this time, it is not known what the toxin is.
Macadamia Nuts ? They are toxic to dogs and create hind limb weakness, tremors, depression, vomiting and fever. Dogs usually recover.
Moldy Food ? Dogs can have indiscriminating taste, as we know. And moldy food can produce tremor syndrome that can result in seizures.
Peach Pits ? The pits and seeds of most fruits are toxic to dogs. Signs of poisoning are drooling, vomiting, and lethargy. If you suspect that your dog has eaten a peach pit or pit or seed of any fruit, take him to the veterinarian as soon as possible.
Bread Dough ? A ball of dough can obstruct your dog's gastrointestinal tract. Also, the yeast can ferment in your dog's stomach and cause signs of ethanol ingestion or drunkenness.
As you can see, not all foods that may be good for you are appropriate for your dog's health. Many can cause very severe health problems and do damage to organs. By avoiding potentially dangerous foods, and providing healthy foods, you can add to the quality and joy of your dog's life as well as adding years to his life.
How do you build your dog's immune system?
You are very aware of what is good for your dog. The immune system is a network of specialized tissues, organs, cells, and hormones. There are two main types of immunity. Innate immunity is a system built into your dog's body to resist disease. Acquired immunity is the immune system's ability to adapt as the body comes in contact with pathogens through exposure, illness or vaccines.
The symptoms of a weak immune system may show as skin infections, recurring parasites, allergies, and mild illnesses that develop into more serious health issues. This occurs because the body's immune system is not strong enough to defend itself.
Diet is the starting point as it is the foundation of good health and the first line of defense against disease. Fresh food is the key. A varied diet of fresh meats, fruits and vegetables provide the essential nutrients that your dog's body needs.
It is important for your dog to have a healthy gastrointestinal tract in order to get the most benefit from these foods. If your dog's system is weakened by allergies or digestive disorders, the nutrients will be harder to process and absorb. Digestive enzymes, probiotics and essential fatty acids all contribute to your dog having a healthy system and proper digestion.
Antioxidants, in vitamins A, C and E are an easy way to boost the immune system and help the body get rid of free radicals.
Two other contributors to a strong immune system are exercise and weight control.
These are just some of the things that are available to you to help your dog's immune system improve.
What do you know about the digestive system of your dog?
In order to know what to feed your dog, you must first understand the canine digestive system, and then understand their natural diet. The fact is that your dog is a carnivore (although not a true carnivore such as cats) and you need to look at their evolutionary past to realize why diet is important and why certain foods are required.
To appreciate what is in the natural diet, you have to look at what nature and evolution have done to the canine digestive system, and you need to recognize how their digestive system works and what it is designed to do.
Describe the type of food nature intended for your dog's digestive system.
Your dog has a digestive system that is intended to process raw foods. It has not changed over the millions of years that they and their ancestors have been around. As a species, the canine has been shaped by eons of evolution to eat specific foods.
Your dog's digestive system is short, is designed to process foods quickly, and has enzymes and other natural chemicals that are needed to digest the specific foods that he has evolved to eat. His system does not have time to breakdown and process grains and cooked food.
Your dog's teeth are designed to rip and tear meat from bone and swallow his food in chunks. His teeth and jaw can not chew and grind food before it goes to the stomach.
His stomach produces a very acidic environment that breaks down and mixes food before it passes into the small intestine. There the pancreas and liver add more digestive enzymes and the nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream.
When food reaches the large intestine, most nutrients have been processed and absorbed. Here water and electrolytes are assimilated and friendly bacteria breaks down undigested fiber, and the waste is excreted.
Because of his short digestive tract, the enzymes that are produced, and the pH level in the stomach, your dog is intended to eat raw food without danger of getting sick.
Humans have teeth and a jaw that are made to chew and grind food, and a long digestive tract that is designed to digest grains, lots of vegetables and cooked foods. Raw meat would be in our system too long and would putrefy and make us ill.
exam) or a mercenary issue.

Azolla Farming Pond

Azolla species

Azolla spp.
6 tropical and warm species (A. filiculoides, A. pinnata, etc.). The aquatic fern Azolla contains a symbiotic, heterocystous, blue-green alga, Anabaena azollae within cavities in its leaves. By the process of nitrogen-fixation the alga is capable of fulfilling the N requirements of the association.
An Azolla plant consists of a short, branched, floating stem, bearing roots which hang down in the water. Each leaf is bi-lobed, the upper lobe containing green chlorophyll while the lower lobe is colourless. Under certain conditions, an anthocyanin pigment, also occurs giving the fern a reddish-brown colour. This is particularly associated with over-fertilization of ponds, pollution and excess sunlight. Shaded conditions are preferred to full exposure to tropical sunlight.
The plant is highly productive with the ability to double its weight in 7 days. It can produce 9 tonnes of protein per hectare of pond per year. It is used as green manure (in rice paddies), stock feed and for controlling mosquitoes by blocking water-surface. Because the fern can form dense mats on water surfaces, it is classified as a water weed in many areas.
Azolla has reportedly been used as a feed for pigs and ducks in SE Asia; for cattle, fish and poultry in Vietnam; and for pigs in Singapore and Taiwan. It is described as an excellent substitute for green forage for cattle in Vietnam and may replace up to 50% of the rice bran used as feed for pigs in that country.
Although very low in DM, it contains a high level of protein (24% CP). The amino acid composition of Azolla compared well with reference protein sources. Methionine is low, as with many leaf proteins, but the value for lysine is more than twice that of corn.
As a supplement for growing pigs, performance was reduced compared to controls in the growing phase but the animals compensated and grew faster in the period from 24-89 kg. It has been used as a sole feed for lactating sows which have a higher intake to deal with the low DM content.
Ducks (650-1800g LW) consumed 350g Azolla when given free-choice with sugarcane juice and soya (about 5% of the diet). It is also used for grazing ducks and geese in paddy fields where the Azolla is used as a fertilizer.

Azolla Farming _ Alternative Fodder

The demand for milk and meat in India is creating new potential in the profitability of animal husbandry as an occupation. Yet, at the same time, there is a substantial decline in fodder availability. The area under forest and grasslands is decreasing as is the amount of various crop residues available for feed, largely due to the introduction of high yielding dwarf varieties. The shortage of fodder is therefore compensated with commercial feed, resulting in increased costs in meat and milk production. Moreover, as commercial feed is mixed with urea and other artificial milk boosters, it has a negative effect on the quality of milk and the health of the livestock.
The search for alternatives to concentrates led us to a wonderful plant azolla, which holds the promise of providing a sustainable feed for livestock. Azolla is a floating fern and belongs to the family of Azollaceae. Azolla hosts a symbiotic blue green algae, Anabaena azollae, which is responsible for the fixation and assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen. Azolla, in turn, provides the carbon source and favourable environment for the growth and development of the algae. It is this unique symbiotic relationship that makes azolla, a wonderful plant with high protein content.
Nutrient content and its impact on growthAzolla is very rich in proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin B12 and Beta- Carotene), growth promoter intermediaries and minerals like calcium, phosphorous, potassium, ferrous, copper, magnesium etc. On a dry weight basis, it contains 25 - 35 percent protein, 10 - 15 percent minerals and 7 - 10 percent of amino acids, bio-active substances and bio-polymers. The carbohydrate and fat content of azolla is very low. Its nutrient composition makes it a highly efficient and effective feed for livestock (see Table 1). Livestock easily digest it, owing to its high protein and low lignin content, and they quickly grow accustomed to it. Moreover it is easy and economic to grow.
The Natural Resources Development Project (NARDEP), Vivekananda Kendra, carried out trials in Tamil Nadu and Kerala using azolla as a feed substitute. The trials on dairy animals showed an overall increase of milk yield of about 15 percent when 1.5 - 2 kg of azolla per day was combined with regular feed. The increase in the quantity of the milk produced was higher than could be expected based on the nutrient content of azolla alone. Hence, it is assumed that it is not only the nutrients, but also other components, like carotinoids, bio-polymers, probiotics etc., that contribute to the overall increase in the production of milk. Feeding azolla to poultry improves the weight of broiler chickens and increases the egg production of layers. Azolla can also be fed to sheep, goats, pigs and rabbits. In China, cultivation of azolla along with paddy and fish is said to have increased the rice production by 20 percent and fish production by 30 percent.
Azolla productionNARDEP has been working on azolla for the last three to four years, studying its potential as a feed and exploring cost effective methods for the mass multiplication of azolla in farmers’ homesteads.
Close-up view of an azolla plant. The size of the plants are 1 - 3 cm.In our method, a water body is made, preferably under the shade of a tree, with the help of a silpauline sheet. Silpauline is a polythene tarpaulin which is resistant to the ultra violet radiation in sunlight. A pit of 2 x 2 x 0.2 m is dug as a first step. All corners of the pit should be at the same level so that a uniform water level can be maintained. The pit is covered with plastic gunnies to prevent the roots of the nearby trees piercing the silpauline sheet, which is spread over the plastic gunnies. About 10 - 15 kg of sieved fertile soil is uniformly spread over the silpauline sheet. Slurry made of 2 kg cow dung and 30 g of Super Phosphate mixed in 10 litres of water, is poured onto the sheet. More water is poured on to raise the water level to about 10 cm. About 0.5 - 1 kg of fresh and pure culture of azolla is placed in the water. This will grow rapidly and fill the pit within 10 - 15 days. From then on, 500 - 600 g of azolla can be harvested daily. A mixture of 20 g of Super Phosphate and about 1 kg of cow dung should be added once every 5 days in order to maintain rapid multiplication of the azolla and to maintain the daily yield of 500 g. A micronutrient mix containing magnesium, iron, copper, sulphur etc., can also be added at weekly intervals to enhance the mineral content of azolla.

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Coming soon series of blog on canine nutrition

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Nutrients and Nutrients Requirements - Swine

Feed is the largest cost item in any intensive livestock enterprise. Selecting the combination of feed ingredients to provide a diet giving optimum animal production at least cost is a complex problem. When formulating diets, there are over 40 individual nutrients to consider, not only in terms of actual concentrations, but also in terms of ratios with other nutrients.
Fortunately, nowadays, diets are formulated with the aid of computers, which allows us not only to consider nutrient specifications, but also how to meet them at least cost. Nevertheless, we still need to have an understanding of the pigs' nutrient requirements, the value of individual ingredients and ingredient tolerance levels when formulating diets, otherwise problems can quickly develop.
There are four main elements in diet formulation. These are:
supply and price of ingredients composition and nutritive value of feed ingredients ingredient constraints nutrient constraints. Supply and price of feed ingredientsThe pig is enormously versatile in the range of feeds which it can utilise This should be exploited by considering the supply and price of a wide variety of possible feeds.
Composition and nutritive value of feed ingredientsDetails of the average levels of important nutrients in common Australian feed ingredients are shown in the Pigtech Note Nutrient composition of pig feeds. This provides data on the average composition of feed ingredients but there can be considerable variation in nutrient levels between different batches of a given ingredient.
There are several approaches that can help overcome the problem of variability in the composition and feeding value of ingredients. Generally, the best method is chemical analysis. Private and some government analytical laboratories offer such services. In most cases, relatively simple measurements of e.g. protein or fibre content, are performed and from these values, the levels of the more important nutrients are estimated.
Most recently, NIR spectroscopy has been introduced to allow the quick determination of digestible energy (DE).
Lysine is a critical nutrient but its measurement is difficult. It is know, however, that the lysine level is related to its protein level and thus can be easily predicted.
Physical measurements, such as bulk density, are also useful in assessing the influence of weather damage and giving a guide to the feeding value of cereal grain.
Chemical assays are not yet available to quickly measure the biological availability of nutrients and so average values must be used to estimate the amount of available nutrients in various feeds.

Ingredient constraintsThe extent to which an ingredient may be used in a particular diet is an area of largely subjective judgement. Constraints in ingredient use may be associated with their specific influence on palatability, digestibility, toxicology, palatability, availability, compatibility with other ingredients, variability in quality or simply disappointment with previous involvements. Blood meal for example, is often constrained to levels of less than 4 percent in diets for pigs because of its unpalatability.
A guide to the maximum levels of certain feed ingredients is given in Table 1.
Table 1. A guide to maximum levels of some feed ingredients
Feed Ingredient Maximum limits Wheat No limit. Barley No limit. Triticale No limit. Modern triticale varieties represent excellent value as a cereal base in pig diets. Sorghum No specified limit although mixture with other grains is often preferred. Some mills report difficulty pelleting when sorghum exceeds 30%. Maize Limit to 30% of grain component. Th unsaturated fat and pigments affect fat quality. Soybean meal No limit. Sunflower meal No limit although high fibre/low lysine content tends to be self restricting to less than 10%. Canola meal Limit to 15% in diets for growing and finishing pigs. Cottonseed meal Limit to 10% maximum for good quality material. Contains gossypol. Meat and Bone Meal Limit to 10% depending on calcium content and protein quality. Blood meal Limit to 4% due to palatability and isoleucine imbalance. Fish meal Limit to 5% for growing and finishing pigs if a withholding period of 5 to 7 weeks is observed before slaughter. High levels of fishmeal affects the quality of stored pork or processed pork. Lupins - sweet Limit to 20% for growing pigs and sows and 25-30% for finishing pigs. Lysine HCI No limit except awareness that high levels of synthetic lysine may not be used efficiently when pigs are fed restrictively. DL Methionine No limit, however, if used at high levels, most likely only serves as a filler. Limestone Limit to 2%. If more, it is most likely only serving as an energy diluent. Dicalphos No limit other than Ca and P limits in diet. Salt Limit to 0.3%. If used beyond this limit, it is most likely serving only as energy diluent. Vit-Min Premix Use level recommended by supplier.

Nutrient constraintsA guide to the nutrient requirements of the pig for various types of production is given in the Pigtech Note Nutrient and diet guidelines for pigs. Nutrient levels may be expressed either in terms of a daily requirement, a proportion of the diet or as a proportion of other nutrient levels in the diet.
The requirement for some nutrients is dependent on the supply of others. This is particularly the case with amino acids and energy supply. For example, lysine needs are best expressed relative to the DE content. Similarly, the levels of other essential amino acids are considered in relation to lysine and to one another so that an optimum balance of the essential amino acids can be maintained.
Computer formulationsFormulating a diet with a calculator involves much trial and error although this may be reduced with experience. Fortunately, there are now many good computer programs which simplify least-cost diet formulation.
During the formulation of a diet, the computer matches the combination of feeds which meets the nutrient specifications at least cost.
There are many benefits of using a computer to formulate least-cost diets. The diets can be formulated very quickly and easily. This is particularly valuable where there are a large number of feed ingredients available. The program is better able to asses all nutrients when judging the value of feed ingredients and so the final cost of the feed will be lower generally than by hand formulation.
Feed formulation programs also provide information concerning the price sensitivity of ingredients and nutrients used in the formulation of the diet. The price sensitivity analysis gives an indication of which ingredient or nutrient specifications were costing money to meet and indicates the potential saving if these were to be relaxed or alternatively the cost of tightening them further.
Information is also provided on the price an excluded ingredient would have to be before it would be included in the diet. This information is very important to have when making buying decisions.
Feed formulation programs greatly simplify diet formulation, however, they should be used by a person conversant with nutrition as unusual or unsatisfactory formulations are possible. One problem with some least-cost programs is that, in order to reach a solution, a "filler" may be included to allow the solution to add up to exactly 100. In some cases, this can lead to unnecessarily high levels of limestone or free amino acids being included in the diet.
Warning against swill feeding Swill feeding is illegal in Australia because of the serious risk of introducing a devastating exotic disease such as Foot and Mouth Disease. Swill feeding includes using food (or food scraps) containing or possibly having contacted animal matter (eg from restaurants, hospitals and domestic households) as feed for pigs, poultry or ruminants.
Even a tiny amount of left over meat or dairy product could contain a dangerous virus. This virus may find its way into swill that is fed to pigs, poultry or to other animals and establish an exotic disease in our livestock. Once a disease agent is introduced in this way, it could rapidly spread to susceptible local livestock. Countries importing Australian meat and livestock products would immediately ban further imports. The cost of this to Australia would be enormous.
Swill feeding has been implicated in overseas outbreaks of disease including the devastating European foot and mouth outbreak of 2001. Many viruses are highly resistant to chilling, freezing and curing. Experience has shown that even boiling swill may not destroy all disease organisms.
Nutrient composition of pig feedsJohn Kopinski and Sara Willis, DPI&F
Feed at 55-65% of the total production costs is the largest cost associated with pig production. The selection of a combination of feed ingredients with which to formulate a diet giving optimum animal production at least cost, is a priority for maximising profitability. Accurate formulation of pig diets depends upon reliable information on nutrient composition. Utilisation of computer packages for diet formulation with a reliable nutrient compositional database enables diets to meet exacting nutrient specification. Over or under supply of nutrients is not cost effective and can affect returns.
Availability of nutrients in feedsNot all the nutrients in the food an animal eats are available to it. During the digestive process:
some nutrients, either naturally or as a result of processing, are in forms that are not readily digested and consequently pass through the digestive tract and are not absorbed. some nutrients are broken down by the bacteria in the gut and are of no use to the animal.Consequently the use of a total nutrient value for a feed is not as accurate as formulating diets based on an available nutrient value (that amount of the nutrient that the animal can use). Unfortunately it is not easy to determine the available nutrient value. A number of techniques for assessing availability have been developed and because of the significant role of lysine as a 'first limiting amino acid' (most critically important nutrient) and because lysine is also prone to damage during the processing of feed ingredients, most of these have concentrated on the determination of lysine availability. Slope-ratios and digestibility assays are the main techniques that have been developed for the pig, but each method has a number of problems. When formulating pig diets, the value of available lysine derived from prediction equations such as in Table 1 or from published results of digestibility or slope ratio studies should be used. In Tables 3, 4, 5, 6, which give a guide to nutrient composition, energy (as DE), phosphorus (as available P) and lysine (as available lysine are given in available figures. The other amino acids are also presented as available figures with the assumption that they have an availability figure that is similar to lysine.
Feedstuff variabilityThe nutrient composition of feedstuffs can vary widely depending on:
variety or cultivar of the feed seasonal conditions such as drought, frost, both during growth and near harvest agronomic conditions such as the level of irrigation and fertiliser application both the conditions and time of feed storage any manufacturing processes used.Of the important nutrients, amino acid and digestible energy variations are those which show the greatest impact on the performance of animals. Neither of these nutrients can be easily determined and both require further development of simpler and cheaper tests for rapid assessment as indicators of the value of a feed ingredient.
Amino acidsThe determination of amino acid content of a feed ingredient requires sophisticated and expensive laboratory testing. The crude protein content of a feedstuff (a simple and inexpensive test) can be used to predict its likely amino acid content with reasonable accuracy. Table 1 gives prediction equations for available lysine in cereal grains based on the crude protein value of the grain.
Table 1. Available lysine prediction equations (as fed basis)
Grain (as fed) Prediction equation* (available lysine %) Barley 0.206 + 0.016 x Maize 0.018 + 0.023 x Sorghum 0.085 + 0.011 x Wheat 0.119 + 0.017 x
where 'x' is the crude protein percentage of the grain.Digestible energyGross energy determinations with a bomb calorimeter only give information on the total energy content of a feed. The actual digestible energy (DE) value of a feed (i.e. that which the pig can use) can only be truly determined with a pig digestibility measurement.
Fortunately a substantial portion of any large change in DE in most feed ingredients has been shown to have a close relationship to significant changes in crude fibre content. This is seen especially with processing of a feedstruff, such as oil extraction and de-hulling. Weather damage to grain crops can alter the energy content of the feed and frequently there are changes in the bulk density value of the grain. Thus bulk density, which can be easily measured in an on-farm test, can be used to give an indication of large changes in DE content resulting from weather damage (see Table 2).
More recent developments in the area of NIR analysis would seem to indicate that this tool has a great potential to rapidly and cheaply provide a relatively accurate indication of the digestible energy content of feed ingredients. Ideally it would be best if this could be applied at grain receival depots and be part of the description of the grain prior to being purchase but this area needs further development.
Table 2. Bulk density of damaged grain and its suggested digestible energy (DE) content
Grain Bulk density (kg/HL) 50 60 70 DE (MJ/kg) Barley 11.6 12.6 13.0 Sorghum 13.0 13.8 14.2 Wheat 12.8 13.5 14.1
Feedstuff inclusion limitsThe values given in Tables 3, 4, 5 and 6 provide a guide to the composition of different feed ingredients; there are also recommendations on the maximum dietary inclusion levels for these ingredients in pig diets. These recommendations are a guide to the maximum levels which can be used in practical diet formulation (this note has more detail on maximum limits of feedstuffs). They are based on the possible influence of the ingredient on the:
palatability of dietspresence of inhibitory substancesdesire to limit fibre inclusionpelletabilitycompatibilitypresence of other undesirable affects.Table 3. Feedstuff nutrient composition - grains and grain by-products (see footnotes Table 6).
FEEDSTUFF DEMJ/kg FIB% CP% Ca% AvailP% AvailLys % TotalLys% M+C% Tryp% Thre% Isol% Maximum inclusion% Reason for limit BARLEY - 8% - 10% CP- 11% CP- 12% CP- 14% CP- W/dam 12.812.912.912.913.011.9 4.84.84.84.84.84.8 8.010.011.012.014.011.5 .04.04.04.04.04.04 .10.10.10.10.10.10 .33.35.36.38.41.37 (.36)(.38)(.40)(.43)(.46)(.43) .26.28.30.32.36.29 .09.10.10.11.12.09 .24.31.32.35.39.30 .21.31.33.37.43.33 NLNLNLNLNL*

Mould/toxins MAIZE - 7%- 8%- 10%- 11%- W/dam 14.514.514.614.713.3 2.52.52.52.52.8 7.08.010.011.010.5 .02.02.02.02.02 0.040.040.040.040.04 .19.21.25.27.25 (.21)(.23)(.28)(.30)(.29) .31.33.37.39.33 .05.06.08.09.05 .25.28.34.38.28 .25.26.33.38.26 NLNLNLNL*

Mould/toxins MILLET 12.9 8.0 13.2 .17 .09 .17 (.24) .43 .14 .33 .43 40 High fibre OATS 12.0 12.9 9.5 .10 .10 .35 (.30) .30 .09 .28 .34 40 High fibre RICE - rough- polished- pollard 11.015.815.0 9.50.49.0 6.87.313.0 .06.03.07 .10.06.57 .22.23.55 (.25)(.27)(.62) .22.36.42 .08.08.10 .20.32.41 .23.40.38 60NLNL**(15) High fibre
High energy RYE 13.5 2.8 10.5 .07 .11 .33 (.42) .28 .10 .18 .30 20 SORGHUM - 8%- 10% CP- 13% CP- 15% CP- W/dam 14.214.214.314.413.0 2.22.22.22.22.5 8.010.013.015.013.5 .04.04.04.04.04 0.060.060.060.060.06 .16.19.24.25.23 (.18)(.21)(.26)(.28)(.27) .21.26.32.37.28 .08.09.11.13.09 .24.28.37.41.26 .28.34.49.53.32 NLNLNLNL*

Mould/toxins TRITICALE 14.0 3.1 14.0 .06 0.18 .42 (.48) .48 .15 .41 .41 NL WHEAT - 10%- 12%- 15%- 17%- W/dam- bran- millrun- pollard 14.014.114.314.413.010.511.311.8 2.82.82.82.83.39.99.67.5 10.012.015.017.016.015.017.016.0 .06.06.06.06.06.18.12.15 0.170.170.170.170.17.35.28.29 .29.33.38.41.35.55.61.61 (.32)(.36)(.41)(.45)(.42)(.63)(.69)(.69) .36.38.48.52.36.49.44.42 .10.11.13.14.11.13.13.13 .27.33.39.43.32.43.48.45 .32.37.47.53.35.41.45.47 NLNLNLNL*NLNLNL
Table 4. Feedstuff nutrient composition of animal protein meals (see footnotes Table 6)
FEEDSTUFF DEMJ/kg FIB% CP% Ca% Avail P % AvailLys % TotalLys % M+C% Tryp% Thre% Isol% Maximum Inclusion% Reasonfor limit PROTEIN MEALS, ANIMAL BLOOD - ring/spray- ring/spray- ring/spray- batch 14.514.514.511.2 1.01.01.01.0 80.085.090.085.0 0.240.240.240.24 0.140.140.140.14 6.406.807.204.83 (6.77)(7.20)(7.62)(7.24) 1.621.721.821.23 1.061.131.200.80 3.563.784.002.69 0.660.700.740.49 5555 Palatability and aa# balance FISH - tuna- anchovy- herring 12.513.415.3 1.01.01.0 55.065.072.2 8.523.903.81 5.222.482.52 3.884.865.59 (4.1)(5.15)(5.89) 1.812.162.76 .63.75.83 2.32.393.04 2.172.563.31 NL**(10)NL**(10)NL**(10) Pork quality MEAT AND BONE - 45% CP- 47% CP- 50% CP- 52% CP- 55% CP 12.012.112.212.312.4 1.21.21.22.02.5 45.047.050.052.055.0 12.6311.9811.0010.349.36 4.874.694.444.263.99 1.691.812.142.422.81 (2.34)(2.50)(2.75)(2.91)(3.16) .52.60.72.831.00 .22.27.34.41.51 .931.111.211.381.62 .75.85.961.081.25 NLNLNLNLNL MILK BY-PRODUCTS, dried - buttermilk- casein- skimmilk- whey 14.320.515.514.3 ---- 33.686.534.112.6 1.06.031.390.59 0.940.411.050.78 2.267.632.470.99 (2.26)(7.63)(2.47)(.99) 1.142.461.060.48 .611.11.440.19 1.553.711.51.83 1.954.701.750.68 NLNLNLNL

Table 5. Feedstuff nutrient composition: vegetable protein meals (see footnotes Table 6)
FEEDSTUFF DEMJ/kg FIB% CP % Ca % AvailP% AvailLys% TotalLys% M+C% Tryp% Thre% Isol% Maximum inclusion% Reason forlimit PROTEIN MEALS, VEGETABLE Some have toxic and anti-nutritional components (which may be lower in some varieties, and reduced by processing); also for variety of nutrient source BEANS mung 15.9 3.7 25.4 0.11 0.24 1.48 1.74 0.56 0.43 0.85 1.08 30 COTTONSEED MEAL, solvent - 37%CP- 45%CP 13.013.0 11.011.0 37.045.0 0.210.21 0.180.18 0.60.74 1.51.86 0.640.93 0.250.38 0.651.13 0.661.12 1010 LUPIN - round- flat 14.214.2 13.011.0 25.933.0 .20.20 .10.10 1.281.50 (1.36)(1.76) .57.58 .16.19 .761.08 .891.33 20-30@ PEANUT - solvent 14.6 11.67 45.0 0.18 0.07 1.06 (1.77) 1.02 0.35 1.2 1.47 NL**(10) High oil influence on pork quality PEAS - chick- field 13.514.2 7.76.0 20.617.7 0.050.15 0.040.10 1.331.37 1.411.46 0.480.40 0.370.18 0.690.67 0.870.73 30 CANOLA - solvent 12.2 12.1 35.0 0.7 0.34 1.56 2.03 - 0.32 1.21 1.09 **** SOYBEAN - full fat 19.5 5.5 38.0 0.24 0.23 2.07 2.44 0.99 0.44 1.44 1.68 NL**(15) High energy - solvent 14.2 5.0 45.0 0.24 0.25 2.67 2.82 1.21 0.39 1.67 1.86 SUNFLOWER -low- high 8.613.1 19.315.3 30.036.0 0.420.42 0.030.03 0.680.88 0.881.22 0.360.87 0.280.33 0.760.9 0.781.01 NLNL YEAST - brewers- torula 15.114.8 0.50.5 49.141.2 .10.40 .84.78 3.613.51 (3.81)(3.75) .56.92 .65.63 2.272.10 2.241.85 NLNL
Table 6. Feedstuff nutrient composition of miscellaneous ingredients
FEEDSTUFF DE MJ/kg FIB% CP% Ca% AvailP % AvailLys % TotalLys % M+C% Tryp% Thre% Isol% Maximum inclusion% Reason forlimit MISCELLANEOUS BONE FLOUR 2.8 1.8 16.1 29.6 11.6 - - - - - - BREAD - dried 13.3 0.5 11.0 .05 .05 .17 (.20) .18 .08 .20 .55 CALSTOCKPHOS - - - 25.0 19.0 - - - - - - DICALPHOS - - - 23.3 17.5 - - - - - - KYNOFOS - - - 19.0 21.0 - - - - - - LIMESTONE - - - 35.8 - - - - - - - LUCERNE - lo-quality- hi-quality 5.57.5 26.126.1 14.717.9 .92.92 .20.20 .64.72 (.77)(.86) .22.27 .20.23 .53.63 .49.57 1010 High fibre LYSINE 1HCl 20.0 - 91.0 - - 76 (76) - - - - 0.4 Limit if restrict feed METHIONINE- D/L 20.0 - 57.6 - - - - 98 - - - 0.4 MOLASSES 10.3 - 3.5 .90 .10 .01 (.01) .01 - .04 .04 10 Handling OILS - vegetable 36.6 - - - - - - - - - - SUGAR - raw 14.6 - - - - - - - - - - TALLOW 33.9 - - - - - - - - - - THREONINE 20.0 - 75.0 - - - - - - 75.0 -

W/dam - weather damagedNL - No limit at likely conventional usage levels* - Usage level depends on degree of mould development** - No limit except for baconer (level in brackets)*** - No limit for triticale varieties low in growth inhibitors**** - Limit to 5% for breeders or weaners, 10% for other pigs@ - 20% for breeders and young growers, 25-30% for finishers# aa is amino acid
Warning against swill feeding Swill feeding is illegal in Australia because of the serious risk of introducing a devastating exotic disease such as Foot and Mouth Disease. Swill feeding includes using food (or food scraps) containing or possibly having contacted animal matter (eg. from restaurants, hospitals and domestic households) as feed for pigs, poultry or ruminants.
Even a tiny amount of left over meat or dairy product could contain a dangerous virus. This virus may find its way into swill that is fed to pigs, poultry or to other animals and establish an exotic disease in our livestock. Once a disease agent is introduced in this way, it could rapidly spread to susceptible local livestock. Countries importing Australian meat and livestock products would immediately ban further imports. The cost of this to Australia would be enormous.
Swill feeding has been implicated in overseas outbreaks of disease including the devastating European foot and mouth outbreak of 2001. Many viruses are highly resistant to chilling, freezing and curing. Experience has shown

Pricing Feed Ingredients on the Basis of Market Values of Nutrients

In many instances, nutritionists, feed
manufacturers, dairy producers, and their advisors
need an estimate of what a feed is worth on a
nutritional basis to facilitate the formulation of
balanced diets and the purchase of appropriate and
price competitive feedstuffs. Up until now, all
methods used shared common flaws. We derived a
maximum likelihood method that uses composition
and prices of all feedstuffs traded in a given market
to estimate unit costs of nutrients and break-even
prices of feedstuffs. The method was programmed as
a WindowsÒ application named SESAME. The
software can be used (1) to rapidly and accurately
identify commodity purchasing opportunities, and (2)
to benchmark feed costs from nutrient requirements
and nutrient unit prices.

Introduction
A variety of methods have been proposed to
estimate unit costs of nutrients and, implicitly, the
break-even price of feedstuffs. All methods fall into
one of two general categories: equation-based (EBM)
and inequation-based methods (IBM). For EBM, a
set of equations developed from the nutritional
composition of referee feeds is solved using their
market prices. The best-known method among this
group is the Petersen Method (PM), in which the
energy and protein compositions of corn grain and
soybean meal are equated to their respective prices,
setting a set of two equations with two unknowns.
The method dates back to 1932 (Petersen, 1932) and
is presented and discussed at length by Morrison
(1956). Although widely used, the method is
fundamentally flawed in that it assumes perfect
markets in corn and soybean trading and implies
economically incoherent behavioral patterns by
buyers and sellers of commodities.
The second series of methods, IBM, are basically
constrained optimization models solved using
mathematical programming techniques (Beneke and
Winterboer, 1973; St-Pierre and Glamocic, 2000).
Linear programming (LP) is the best-known member
of this group and became widely used in animal
nutrition with the discovery of an efficient algorithm
(Dantzig, 1960) and the advent of high-speed
computers. Within an LP model, a cost function is
minimized subject to a series of inequations forcing
the solution to meet the nutritional requirements of
the animal for which the diet is being optimized.
Many have assumed that linear (and nonlinear)
optimization models yield accurate and precise
estimates of break-even prices of feedstuffs. This
thinking is erroneous. Optimization programs suffer
from being very case specific, and they deliver little
information on the unit costs of nutrients. They
assume perfect knowledge of unit prices of
feedstuffs, nutrient requirements, and nutrient
composition of feedstuffs. In practice, none of these
assumptions are met and complex stochastic
optimization models must be used to solve correctly
in the presence of uncertainty in nutrient composition
(St-Pierre and Harvey, 1986). Even when the
solution is deemed optimal, nutrients with nonbinding
constraints have an implicit unit cost of zero.
Shadow costs of binding nutrients provide
information on unit costs that can only be valid at the
margin. Additionally, the information delivered has a
very narrow inference range because it provides
estimates that are applicable only to one group of
animals in a given herd. Consequently, IBM is
limited in providing estimates of aggregate unit costs
of nutrients within a given market. To circumvent
these problems, we developed a new procedure that
provides estimates of aggregate unit costs of nutrients
and break-even prices of feedstuffs based on the
trading of all feed commodities in a given market (St-
Pierre and Glamocic, 2000).

The method is based on maximum likelihood
estimation of nutrient costs. The objective of this
paper is to describe briefly the method that we
developed, the computer software that we wrote to
make our procedure available to the industry, and to
show examples of how this information can be used
by professional nutritionists and dairy producers to
identify buying opportunities and to benchmark total
feed (nutrient) costs.