In the wake of anticipated higher feed ingredient this winter costs a partner with Gowans Feed Consulting is encouraging swine producers to seek out lower cost alternative ingredients where ever possible to lower feed costs.
Following an extremely wet growing season we’ve started to see significant delays in harvest resulting in sprouted grains and frost damaged grains which may increase feed availability but which has raised concerns with toxins in the grains.
Neil Campbell, a partner with Gowans Feed Consulting says we’re still not sure what impact all of this weather will have but feed prices have been ratcheting upwards over the past few months driven in part by increased wheat and barley exports and, if we don’t see these prices come back down, producers will be forced to look at more and more alternative ingredients and strategies to help reduce feed costs.
There still are some opportunity feed ingredients out there.
Feed peas in western Canada right now is a really good opportunity.
They’re still priced at really good value compared to other ingredients and so we are feeding a lot of feed peas where we can, where we can get adequate supply at competitive prices.
Distillers grains are also another ingredient that we continue to feed as much as we can in the rations to drive down feed costs and there will be other regional opportunities for farms to look at some non-traditional ingredients like high oil canola meal and then also looking at other lighter weight grains that can come available from time to time at lower prices.
Campbell says, when introducing new feed ingredients into rations, producers need to work with their nutritionists to make sure diets are properly balanced.
He says when producers make changes and put more of these alternative ingredients into diets it’s also important that they be introduced gradually over time and suggests a three to four week period.
Source: Farmscape.Ca
