Improving the sustainability of pork production by assessing the nutritional value of corn co-products and environmental impacts of swine feeding strategies

Abstract

The animal agriculture sector has developed and modernized rapidly because of the growing demand for high quality protein driven by population growth and greater purchasing power globally. However, livestock supply chains are important contributors to environmental issues including climate change, eutrophication, acidification, and land and water use. Among all processes involved in livestock production, feed production, processing, and transportation have been shown to cause the largest fraction of greenhouse gases emissions and human-induced nitrogen emissions. Furthermore, the efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus utilization in pigs to produce lean pork for human consumption is relatively poor, which causes significant nitrogen and phosphorus wastage. As a result, practices to improve nutrient efficiency and reduce nutrient waste through feeding are needed. The objectives of this dissertation were to assess the nutritional value of corn co-products for precision diet formulation and quantity environmental impacts of different swine feeding strategies. The first study used an in vitro digestion model to evaluate novel corn co-products and showed that new processing technologies improved nutritional values of corn co-products for swine. The second study determined the accurate energy and digestible amino acid content of emerging corn co-products for precision swine diet formulation. The third study explored new analytical methods to dynamically assess digestible amino acid concentrations in corn co-products and showed the potential of estimating digestible lysine content using front-face fluorescent spectroscopy. The fourth study used a systems approach to evaluate the effectiveness of using precision feed formulation in swine diets to improve productivity, nitrogen utilization efficiency and environmental impact of pork production. Main findings from this dissertation suggested that several practices can be adopted to improve the overall sustainability of pork production including recycling novel corn co-products into swine diets, using precision diet formulation with accurate nutritional values, and incorporating life cycle assessment of environmental impacts into diet evaluation.