The executive director of the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative is confident the management of swine ration formulations holds great potential for managing the nutrients contained in swine manure.
Legislation due to take effect in Manitoba this fall will restrict the amount of phosphorous that can be applied to the soil from livestock production and eliminate exemptions to the province’s ban on winter manure spreading.
The Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative has launched a survey to determine what feed companies are doing to manage phosphorus.
MLMMI executive director John Carney notes research conducted by the University of Manitoba has found there are excess nutrients in some of the diets in Manitoba so the goal is to understand what is the current level of nutrients across the province.
The survey will be targeted at nutritionists who are responsible for determining swine formulations and also to feed mills that supply complete feed to swine producers in the province.
What we want to understand is what’s our current baseline?
Where are we at today?
We suspect that this will once again provide further proof that in some cases there are nutrients beyond what the animal requires.
In some cases this is dictated through compliance with Table-4, a CFIA regulation regarding minimum nutrient levels that can go into swine rations.
Our plan is to work with nutritionists on strategies that they can employ to minimize nutrient levels because Table-4 is under review and we are anticipating that this regulation will be updated in the not too distant future.
Carney is confident there is great potential on the swine ration side for improving the management of nutrients.
