Feeding strategies to mitigate cost and

environmental footprint of pig production in the US

Jasmina Burek, Greg Thoma, Jennie Popp, Charles Maxwell, Rick Ulrich, William Putman

University of Arkansas

Motivation- livestock sector – one of the main drivers of the environmental footprint including carbon footprint, water footprint, and land use (FAO 2013)- 50 % total GHG emissions of pig production and

consumption stems from pig feed ingredient (Thoma 2011)- 180 feed ingredients (NRC 2012)

Thoma et al. (2011) National Life Cycle Carbon Footprint Study for Production of US Swine.NRC (2012) Nutrient Requirements of Swine

Pig diets

• Average US pig diet(corn and soybean

meal)

Objectives• Least cost

• Least carbon footprint• Least water footprint• Least land use

Cost effective and environmentally sound pig diets/ pig production

Current

Pig production models

Cradle-to-farm gate LCA of pig production model

(environmental footprints of feed ingredients)

Pig Production Environmental Calculator

(PPEC)

1.

2.

ANALYZE

ALTER

ANALYZE

ALTER

Diet/Ingredient

Diet/Ingredient

Rethinking pig diets

LCAcradle-to-farm gate of pig

production (kg of market pig live weight)

PPECPig Production Environmental

Calculator

Windows User-Friendly Feed Formulation (WUFFFDA) least cost linear optimization model

ALTER+ANALYZE

3. MODEL

Modeling “least” pig diets (WUFFDA)

Input data - top 100 feed

ingredients- carbon footprint, water

footprint, and land use of 100 feed ingredients

- nutrient characteristics- average US feed ingredient cost

Modeling parameters- nutrient constraints (Nursery-Grow-Sow)- maximum feed

ingredient inclusion rates in a diet (NSNG, literature)

Data intensive modeling

Model sensitivityAssumptions:- min and maximum inclusion rates- minerals, vitamins, amino acids fixed- input parameters:

- all feeds are equally available- average pig production practices - national feed environmental footprints- average feed costs

Model sensitivityCorn Wheat Sorghum Barley Corn DDG Wheat Shorts

WheatMiddlings Rice Bran

Corn GlutenFeed Alfalfa Meal Soybean Hulls Oils and Fats Molasses

G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2

0

20

40

60

80

100

Maximum Inclusion Rate

(%)

Energy feed ingredients - max inclusion rates

Corn Wheat Sorghum Barley Corn DDG Wheat ShortsWheat

Middlings Rice BranCorn Gluten

Feed Alfalfa Meal Soybean Hulls Oils and Fats Molasses

G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2 G2 G4 N S2

0

20

40

60

80

100

Amount (%)

Energy feed ingredients - % in diets

Baseline - Average US Pig Diets

LC - Least Cost Pig Diets

LCF - Least Carbon Footprint Pig Di..

LLU - Least Land Use Pig Diets

LWF - Least Water Footprint Pig Diets

Max

imum

incl

usio

n ra

te

(%)

Amou

nts

(%)

NSNG (2010) National swine nutrition guide tables on nutrient recommendations , ingredient composition, and use rates.

Feed IngredientsPayleanMilk, LactoseEnzymeMilk, Whey PowderFat (Poultry)Amino AcidsLimestone, GroundBlood PlasmaMinerals and VitaminsFish MealCorn DDGSoybean meal, 48%Corn

G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 N S1 S2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Feed Ingredients, %

Average US pig diets

Grow to Finish

Feed IngredientsPayleanCanola OilEnzymeFat (Restaurant Grease)Amino AcidsLimestone, GroundFat (A/V Blend)Wheat ShortsMinerals and VitaminsSorghumCorn DDGSoybean meal, 48%Wheat

G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 N S1 S2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Feed Ingredients, %

Grow to Finish

Least cost pig diets

Feed IngredientsSoybean OilPayleanEnzymeAmino AcidsLimestone, GroundWheat ShortsMinerals and VitaminsBeef TallowMolasses, Sugar BeetsMolasses, SugarcaneFlaxseed MealSoybean HullsSoybeansWheat MiddlingsSoybean meal, 48%Wheat

Least Carbon Footprint Pig Diets

G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 N S1 S2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Feed Ingredients, %

Least carbon footprint pig diets

Grow to Finish

Least water footprint pig dietsFeed Ingredients

PayleanEnzymeCitrus PulpFlaxseedAmino AcidsBlood Meal Spray-DriedLimestone, GroundFat (A/V Blend)Blood PlasmaFeather MealMinerals and VitaminsAlfalfa MealBarleyFish MealFlaxseed MealCanola MealField PeasSoybean meal, 48%

G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 N S1 S2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Feed Ingredients, %

Grow to Finish

Least land use pig dietsFeed Ingredients

Oyster ShellCitrus PulpAmino AcidsBlood Meal Spray-DriedLimestone, GroundBlood PlasmaFeather MealMeat and Bone MealMinerals and VitaminsMolasses, Sugar BeetsMolasses, SugarcaneBeef Tallow & Fat (Poultry)Fish MealCorn Gluten FeedCanola MealRice BranCorn DDGSoybean meal, 48%Corn

G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 N S1 S2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Feed Ingredients, %

Grow to Finish

Average US Pig Diets Least Cost Pig Diets Least Carbon Footprint Pig Diets Least Water Footprint Pig Diets Least Land Use Pig Diets

G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 N S1 S2 G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 N S1 S2 G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 N S1 S2 G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 N S1 S2 G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 N S1 S2

0

20

40

60

80

100

Feed Ingredients, %

WUFFFDA (Pesti et al. 2004)

Average US Pig Diets Least Cost Least Carbon Footprint Least Water Footprint Least Land Use

Feed

ingr

edie

nts

(%)

LCA model (Simapro 8.3)Result: costs and environmental footprint per market pig live weight

PPEC Output: kg of feed, energy, water, land

requirements

Pig Diets Analyes

ALTER

ANALYZE

Average US Pig Diets Least Cost Least Carbon Footprint Least Water Footprint Least Land Use

0.32

0.69

0.101.93

Sum 3.12

0.17

0.33

0.880.33

0.21

0.74

0.18

Sum 2.99

1.02

0.340.230.47

0.130.14

0.44

Sum 2.93

0.23

0.60

0.550.43

0.140.17

0.61

Sum 3.14

2.09

0.42

0.52

Sum 3.09

Feed

ingr

edie

nts

(kg

/kg

live

wt.

)

LCA LCA LCA LCA LCACornWheatSoybean meal, 48% Corn DDG Field Peas

WheatMiddlings SorghumRice Bran Corn Gluten

Feed

Canola MealFlaxseed

MealFeather

Meal

Alfalfa Meal Soybeans SoybeanHulls

Fish MealBarley

Beef Tallow

Pig diet profiles

Average USPig Diets

Least CostPig Diets

Least CarbonFootprint Pig

Diets

Least WaterFootprint Pig

Diets

Least LandUse Pig Diets

Cost ($/kg market pig, live weight)

Carbon Footprint (IPCC, 2007) (kgCO2-eq/kg market pig, live weight)

Water Footprint (ReCiPe, 2008) (m³/kgmarket pig, live weight)

Land Use (ReCiPe, 2008) (m²a/kgmarket pig, live weight)

1.49

0.11

2.60

1.46

11.05

0.07

3.14

2.04

6.04

0.14

1.99

1.13

7.75

0.24

2.80

0.87

4.25

0.24

3.08

0.91

LCA results

Least diagonal

OBJECTIVES

ALTE

RNAT

IVES

Weighted Product Model:-> Least carbon footprint the best alternative

Ratio Analysis:-> Least water footprint the best alternative

Multi-criteria analysis

Average USPig Diets

Least CostPig Diets

Least CarbonFootprint Pig

Diets

Least WaterFootprint Pig

Diets

Least LandUse Pig Diets

Cost ($/kg market pig, live weight)

Carbon Footprint (IPCC, 2007) (kgCO2-eq/kg market pig, live weight)

Water Footprint (ReCiPe, 2008) (m³/kgmarket pig, live weight)

Land Use (ReCiPe, 2008) (m²a/kgmarket pig, live weight)

1.49

0.11

2.60

1.46

11.05

0.07

3.14

2.04

6.04

0.14

1.99

1.13

7.75

0.24

2.80

0.87

4.25

0.24

3.08

0.91

Least diagonal

OBJECTIVES

ALTE

RNAT

IVES

ConclusionWe answered 4 important questions: LC, LCF, LWF, LLUDiversification of feed ingredients will help reduce cost and environmental footprint. Expanding on this research and analyze different assumptions:- Feed availability - Pig production practices- Environmental footprints - Maximum inclusion rates vary - Feed costs - Expanding criteriaRobust conclusion

Multi-criteria analysis

Posters

1. Environmental Footprint, Cost, and Nutrient Database of the US Animal Feed Ingredients 2. Reducing the Costs and Environmental Footprint of Pig Diets with the Experimental Optimum Synthetic Amino Acid Inclusion

Acknowledgments

This research is part of the program “Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Agriculture,” and is supported by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no. 2011-68002-

30208 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

and has also been supported by the National Pork Board Checkoff Program through the Environment Committee