A new study from the Department of Animal Sciences and the Division of Nutritional Sciences in association with the University of Illinois has found a link between types of pig feed and the animal’s well-being and energy level. Extrusion of grains was the focal point of the study, determining if the extrusion (heating of grains to shape and improve nutrition) would cause an improvement in the nutrition and digestion of pigs.
The process of extrusion works with heat pressure and steam causing grains to gelatinize thus changing the nutrition of the food. To see how extruding would affect feed in relation to pigs the study split 3 types of feed into control and extruded groups then tested each feeds’ nutrition and digestion. When applied to typical pig feeds: wheat, corn and sorghum the researchers found that corn and sorghum performed better in both nutrition and digestion, however, wheat did not.
The findings of the study were that there is a definitive improvement to some pig feeds through extrusion, in fibers however the extrusion made little to no difference. Although this research could lead to improvements in the future, currently most farms are not equipped to extrude their forage without incurring significant and prohibitive costs. The future may hold premium forage with extruded grains, but until that time swine farmers will be relying on traditional forage.