Commercial application of integrated models to improve performance and profitability in finishing pigs.

The current market and economic challenges faced by pork producers are unprecedented and therefore there is a constant need to determine the economically optimal nutrition and management solutions. Simulation models can be used to fulfill this need provided they have the capacity to integrate animal responses, management practices and economics into an optimization process that produces reasonably accurate predictions under a wide range of commercial practices. Some of the key components required to successfully implement an optimization model in commercial practice include: (i) the ability to predict feed intake; (ii) integration of an animal biology model that predicts animal responses to nutrient, management and environmental changes and the financial consequences thereof, with a feed formulation system; (iii) knowing the variation in responses between individual animals and understanding the source of animal variation; (iv) the effect of shipping management on mean performance; and (v) model validation. Such integrated optimization models (e.g. Watson® 2.0 used by Nutreco) can be used strategically to drive significant nutritional or production changes with large economic consequences. For example, based on the findings of a model, a commercial feed company may change the nutrient profile of all their standard nursery diets in response to increasing ingredient prices. Or a model may help a producer to understand the risks, costs and benefits of changing genetics, or provide producers with a reference guide to help decide what is the optimum shipping weight bearing in mind rapidly changing pig and/or feed prices. Just as helpful but on a much smaller scale is using a model to help a producer improve feed efficiency or reduce costs or increase revenue by optimizing the nutrient density of the diet or optimizing when diets should be changed during the grower-finishing period. Fundamental to the successful application of optimization models in commercial practice is the need for an accurate biological model as well as a well-defined commercialization process.