February 10, 2017

Animine: New software to address copper balance on pig farms

Copper is widely used as a growth promotor in piglet feeds, according to Animine.

However, this practice arouses environmental concerns. In the EU, current authorised maximum dietary levels are 170 mg/kg Cu for piglets up to 12 weeks, and 25 mg/kg at older ages. A recent recommendation from European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) asked for a drastic reduction of supplementation dosage in piglet feeds, which will likely impair growth performance.

siMMin™, a new software from Animine, enables a pig production chain to answer pressing issues about applying copper dosage, specifically: determining the influence of high CU levels for a limited period of time on total Cu excretion; the compensation of such practice by lowering Cu dietary concentration in the finishing period; the number of phase feeding programmes in the fattening period to improve the situation; and the impact of a better feed conversion.

The software also helps to modelize the copper concentration of pig wastes, which is of particular value when they are used as fertilisers.

siMMin™ is developed from scientific publications with the support of INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research). This educational software is designed for pig producers, feed manufacturers, nutritionists, veterinarians, academics and regulatory authorities.

siMMin™ is freely accessible at: http://animine.eu/mineral-simulator-software/

- Amimine