Novus partnered with industry representatives to discuss plans for the company’s future research
By Jennifer Jackson
Swine producers are constantly faced with potential challenges that come with our changing industry. Novus International Inc., with the help of swine nutritional experts on the Novus Global Swine Nutrition Roundtable, recently released a list of opportunities and challenges that are most apparent in today’s swine industry.
The roundtable meeting took place in February, and included swine nutrition presentations from 12 swine consultants, academics, nutritionists and researchers, according to an Apr. 18 release. The experts presented swine research and material from around the world.
Roundtable participants identified the following key challenges:
- “The health and diet of sows affects replacement rates, but it can also affect the early development of piglets.
- “A high variation of progeny birthweight can increase the occurrences of pre-weaning mortality and deeply affect those piglets' future performance capacities.
- “There is a need for more piglets per litter and less time between parities to meet increasing global swine production demands.
- “The higher prolific sows of today's market experience higher nutrient demands to maintain health and productivity.”
The roundtable determined many of these challenges support future research opportunities regarding the effects of feeding trace minerals to sows. The experts also found that a cluttered feed market indicates that producers will value scientific research when it comes to deciding between nutritional options.
Novus will shape its research programs in an effort to better address these challenges.
"The higher goal of our research efforts is to create solutions for swine producers around the world," Dr. Mercedes Vázquez-Añón, senior director of animal nutrition research and facilities at Novus, said in the release. "There is great potential to develop solutions for these issues that could significantly impact producers' profitability for years to come."