VOL. 16 ISSUE 1 | SPRING 2014

A P E R I O D I C N E W S L E T T E R P R O D U C E D B Y G R A N D V A L L E Y F O R T I F I E R S L T D .Swine GristSwine Grist

Ian Ross, President & CEO | Jim Ross, ChairmanClarke Walker, VP & COO Dr. Martin Clunies, Monogastric NutritionistDavid Ross/Patti Bobier, Publishers

Jim Ross, Chairman

Dear friends,

Spring is on its way! It’s almost hard to believe after endless days of cold, cold weather and snow, snow, snow this winter is finally over. Snowmobilers, skiers and snowboarders have enjoyed ideal conditions since early December, as this winter will definitely be one of the best winters in memory. However, even those who love the thrills and spills of snow sports are beginning to think it’s about time to move on to warmer weather. For pork producers across North America this last year has introduced to us a new foe which is challenging almost 5000 hog operations across the U.S. The disease appeared about mid-May last year. New herd infections are still taking place with nearly 300 new infections per week being reported. It is also estimated that close to 5 million piglets have died because of this devastating disease. With the ever expanding rate of infection across the U.S.A. we had all continued to hope that the new Porcine Epidemic Diarrehea virus (PEDv) would not raise its ugly head in Canada. But sure enough, on January 22, 2014, word came out that the first case of PEDv had been diagnosed in Canada. As we had been told this producer experienced all the same devastating effects that were being experienced across U.S.A. All piglets which were less than 3 weeks old died and virtually all the piglets born after the initial diagnoses also died. As the virus infected the sows most all experienced inappetence for several days but then came back onto feed and returned to normal. Likewise grower finisher pigs went off feed for several days and then recovered. Some herds are affected more severely than others and there are some herds that have also lost sows and/or grow finish market hogs. The reported number of affected herds in Canada is nearing fifty. We commend our dedicated swine veterinarians for their expertise and commitment to containing the virus and therefore reducing the impact of this disease. Tight bio-security is an absolute necessity if producers are going to keep this virus out of their operations. We at Grand Valley Fortifiers have had a number of herds which we work with unfortunately become infected. Our hearts and prayers continue to go out to all those who have been negatively impacted by the spread of this virus in Canada. It would appear that presently we are not experiencing many new sow or nursery herds being infected in Ontario. Researchers, feed and feed ingredient companies continue to argue over the potential role of feed and feed ingredients in the spread of the virus in North America. Grand Valley Fortifiers however, stands by the decision it made on February 9th to recall its pelleted nursery feeds which contained porcine blood plasma as well as our commitment to no longer use any porcine origin ingredients in our pelleted nursery feeds. This has been our commitment regarding swine premixes for over five years.

A new BioSure™ line of pelleted nursery feeds has been formulated and is being introduced to our customers at the present time. These new products as well as our highly effective Natures Blend® nursery feeds, that have raised pigs without the use of antibiotics and animal by-products for over five years, successfully leverage the nutritional expertise of Primary Diets Nutritionists. Primary Diets have been feeding forty percent of the U.K’s weaned piglets for over eighteen years without the use of blood plasma or other porcine origin ingredients. With new reports coming from the U.S.A. which support the belief that PED virus was introduced into some of their infected herds through feeds contaminated by the virus we expect to hear of more feed companies announcing the removal of this suspect ingredient from their swine diets. Regardless of the means of transmission, the effect on the U.S. herd is very significant. Recently the number of hogs being marketed per week has been reduced substantially. It was also reported last week that Smithfield closed one of their hog kill plants and combined the kill which was normally in two plants into just one plant because of lack of market hogs. In fact, in a recent report from Rabobank, analyst William Sawyer states, “In the U.S., we see the outbreak of PEDv causing a significant shortfall in the availability of market hogs in 2014 – to the tune of 12.5 million hogs or 11 per cent of annual slaughter”. With the reduced numbers of hogs going to market the price of hogs has been skyrocketing to the highest ever in U.S. Our Canada market price is also at a record level. These are certainly momentous days for the pork business. Even with the setbacks resulting from the PED virus, producers with hogs to sell should experience a year of high prices and record proceeds. This is a big change for an industry that has suffered because of low hog prices for many years. The extra dollars will be welcomed by all producers who have held on during the past lean years. It looks as though the hog business may be in for some better days ahead as the growth of the middle class in Asian countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia is putting huge pressure on the global protein supply, of which pork is a large part. Hog producers are, after all, producing the most popular meat in all the world!

Looking forward to better days ahead. Sincerely, Jim Ross

GRAND VALLEY FORTIFIERS LTD.PO Box 726 Cambridge ON N1R 5W6 1-800-567-4400 www.grandvalley.com

THE PROBLEMATIC LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE, KNOWLEDGE AND OBJECTIVITY SURROUNDING PED VIRUS by: IAN ROSSPresident & CEO

A s the United States enters month eleven in its fight against PED virus and Canada month four, a great deal of time, energy and funds have

been invested in researching and understanding this new virus in North America.

On March 19th, more than 60 people representing the U.S. and Canadian pork, feed and other allied industries participated in a meeting on the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv). This was hosted by the National Pork Board, in collaboration with the National Pork Producers Council, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, the American Feed Industry Association, the National Grain and Feed Association, the National Renderers Association and the North American Spray Dried Blood and Plasma Producers, held in Des Moines, Iowa.

Grand Valley Fortifiers specifically was invited to participate in this meeting. We presented by webinar and conference call, our unfortunate experience with regards to the initial cases in Ontario and PEI, our resulting pelleted nursery feed recall, the limited information that we had at the time this decision was made and what we have learned over the ensuing seven weeks. It was also beneficial to hear first hand of U.S. case epidemiology and be privy to various scientific studies on this virus.

The take away from this meeting, as well as previous reading and research that we at Grand Valley Fortifiers have completed, is that there is a great deal that remains unknown about PED virus and that researchers and the industry as a whole lack the tools to conclusively prove or disprove many of the rumours, myths and truths about this extremely infectious virus. The lack of tools, knowledge and conclusive science blended with the political and commercial ramifications of PED virus has left the industry guessing in terms of the original point of entry as well as the various methods of transmission in North America.

PCR analysis, which is both inexpensive and time efficient, continues to be used extensively to search for PED virus RNA (genetic material) on surfaces of livestock trailers, loading docks, feed trucks and more recently in feed and feed ingredients. The results of this testing method return numeric Ct values which fall within ranges that have been designated as “positive”, “inconclusive” or “not detected” (see table below). Inherently, this methodology of testing rarely provides black and white answers to the rather simple question of the presence of viral RNA. This reality coupled with the probability of sampling errors and laboratory errors has resulted in less than conclusive results of even the presence of viral RNA.

Interpretation of Results

Ct Cycle threshold is the cycle number when signal increases above the background. It is inversely related to target concentration.

Earlier (lower) Ct indicates higher concentration of target nucleic acids in the sample.

RESULT RANGE OF Ct FOR RESULT Positive Ct 36.99 or less

Inconclusive Ct 37.00 – 39.99

Not detected Ct 40.00 or higher

From our own experience at Grand Valley Fortifiers, we have acquired a number of positive PCR test results on samples only to have these become “negative” on retest. Similarly we have seen plasma samples test inconclusive for viral RNA only to test positive on a retest of the same sample. Does this mean that PCR test results can provide false positives or even more importantly and impactful, false negatives? It is important to note that all of the GVF pelleted (recalled) nursery feed samples that were taken by CFIA were “negative” by PCR analysis even though they contained between 3% - 6% of porcine blood plasma which consistently tested “positive” by PCR and later was confirmed by CFIA to contain “PED virus capable of causing disease in pigs”. Is PCR analysis not sensitive enough to detect viral RNA in the feed?

Regardless of the answers to these questions, we all understand that even if the presence of PED viral RNA is definitively proven in any feed sample, this result does not indicate that live, infective virus is present. At this time, the only method to analyze this most important question is the time consuming, expensive and clumsy “bio-assay”.

Last week, the University of Minnesota released this graph which indicates the probability of infection in 1000 and 2000 (commercial sized) pig groups as compared to typical bio-assay sized treatment groups of 20 pigs.

Fig. 1: Deterministic model of the relationship between herd size and the probability of an outbreak in pigs exposed to feed containing one viable virus particle per 10 kg of feed.

After reviewing these probabilities, one can understand why researchers have commented that “negative bio-assay results mean next to nothing while positive results mean everything”.

Compounding these realities of probabilities is the fact that rarely do bio-assay experiment designs allow the treatment groups of pigs to be fed the suspect feed in a manner and volume that mimics that of commercial barns.

Dr. Scott Dee (DVM of Pipestone Applied Research) recently published his group’s bio-assay results which indicated that pigs did become infected with PED virus through the feeding of suspect feed. He comments in his study that “All pigs were allowed to consume suspect (feed) samples via natural feeding behaviour. i.e. samples were not administered via gavage”. Since these findings were published on March 7th, Dr. Dee comments, “We have now conducted multiple successful (positive) PEDV bioassays using natural ingestion of feed (no gavage).”

From a scientific standpoint it is unfortunate that more researchers, including CFIA, haven’t embraced the Pipestone Applied Research approach of bio-assay design, which allows pigs to consume suspect feed as they do on commercial farms.

It is important to understand that feed ingredient companies who research the quality assurance and safety of their products are also limited to the tools and methods described above.

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BioSure™ THE NEW NON-PLASMA NURSERY FEEDS by: DR. PETER WILCOCK, Nursery Feeds

The formulation of North American and Canadian starter feeds using porcine products

has been well established to produce cost effective performance benefits on farm. The use of plasma for example is a proven technology that improves the post-weaning feed intake and performance of the early weaned piglet and assists in health challenged situations. With this success in these markets there has never been a need to target the same level of pig performance post-weaning without the use of the porcine products other than for “raised without animal by product” pork systems. However, unlike North America and Canada, the UK and Primary Diets has had to deal with non-plasma based diets since the company was formed in 1996 and over that time Primary Diets has created feed formulations without the benefit of plasma as well as in more recent times, Antimicrobial Growth Promoters (AGPs) (banned 1st January 2006). Competing in European markets against plasma based diets, Primary Diets success in maximizing post-weaning performance in the absence of plasma was achieved through a focused university and commercial research program. The initial research investigated the use of alternative highly digestible raw materials as a means of increasing post-weaning feed intakes to those typical of plasma based diets. The focus then switched to the loss of AGPs and how raw material formu-lation changes to reduce the anti-nutrient level of starter feeds in association with non-antimicrobial additives could improve post-weaning performance in the absence of plasma protein and AGPs. With so many additives available it took years to establish which were successful and then even more time to establish successful combinations. In addition feed ingredients were investigated that could reduce the anti-nutrient load of a starter feed diet or improve general gut health and nutrient utilization; both of which are critical

in the more commercial challenged situations. Each time the focus was on maximizing post-weaning feed intake with excellent conversion efficiency to produce the greatest gain for each kg of feed consumed. As an example (Table 1) of how diet digestibility can be improved through the removal of an anti-nutrient, an enzyme was added to a low digestible diet and compared to a high digestible diet with all diets having the same nutrient density. Pigs were weaned at 18 d and fed the different treatments up to 21 d post-weaning when all pigs were weighed and performance determined. The results showed that the lower digestibility diet, as expected, reduced gain by 5% and that the use of an enzyme to reduce the anti-nutrient improved performance (8%) above that of the standard diet. This confirms feed ingredients such as enzymes can be used to improve a low digestible diet back to a level and even beyond that of a standard diet.

Table 1 21d – Gain (kg)

Treatment 1 Standard Corn/Low 6.59 (100%) Soya/Plasma/ Whey/Fishmeal

Treatment 2 Lower Corn/High 6.24 (95%) Digestibility Soya/Plasma 50% of T1 /Whey 5% lower than T1/ Fishmeal 2.5% lower than T1

Treatment 3 Lower T2 + Enzyme 6.75 (108%) Digestibility + Enzyme

Note: All diets were formulated to be the same nutrient density T1 = Treatment 1, T2 = Treatment 2, T3 = Treatment 3

The considerable experience of Primary Diets in the UK and European market over the last 18 years (> 90 million pigs fed non-plasma based feeds) in addition to the experience of Grand Valley Fortifiers producing the Natures Blend® program (non-animal protein, non-anti-biotic based starter feeds) was combined to produce BioSure™. BioSure™ is a range of starter feeds that maintains the high nutrient density philosophy of the old Bionic® and BioForce® ranges while maintaining a high diet digestibility in the absence of plasma/porcine products through a blend of raw materials and feed ingredients targeted to improve feed digestibility, gut health and nutrient utilization. The BioSure™ nursery feed program contains a range of starter feeds which offers producers the flexibility to target a specific program for their own farm. This may be to target the best cost/kg gain, the fastest growth or to achieve the best lifetime performance but with the overall focus on achieving the greatest margin per pig fed. With today’s highly prolific sow herds the importance of fast growth and smooth, even pig flow is paramount as nursery and finishing space is extremely limited. Getting pigs off to a great start with complex highly digestible diets helps lay the foundation for lifetime performance which reduces days to market and thereby frees up nursery and finishing space. n

We have been told that researchers are not confident that a new, cost efficient, time efficient and definitive testing methodologies will become available in the near future for infections PEDv.

It is for these reasons as well as the severe economic and emotional impact of PED virus that Grand Valley Fortifiers has committed since February 9th 2014 to not utilize any porcine origin ingredients in its various lines of pelleted nursery feeds ensuring that these products are as safe and effective as possible. We are pleased that the third party manufacturer of our pelleted nursery feeds has embraced this commitment and therefore does not have any porcine origin ingredients on site. The decision to not include any porcine origin ingredients in our premixes, basemixes and micros was made over 5 years ago and therefore Grand Valley Fortifiers has not and does not have any porcine origin ingredients in its Cambridge, Ontario or Morden, Manitoba premix manufacturing plants. n

Performance focused feeding, without plasmaor any other porcine origin ingredients.

ASSURED NUTRITION FOR PIGLETS

Enhanced with:

The foundation of lifetime performance.

COMMODITY OUTLOOKby: STEVE MCGUFFIN

Soybeans and soybean meal markets had been trading very strong due to continuing good export demand out of the U.S. along with

continued strong domestic demand. USDA March S&D report projected a drop in soy ending stocks from 150 million bushels to 145 vs. an expected 141. Markets adjusted slightly lower following before resuming the upward trend. Continuing drought in parts of Brazil has reduced the projected size of their crop supporting the market but final production will still be a record. Even with this rate of U.S. export sales, the March 31st USDA Stocks in all Positions Report was called bearish for soy as it was reported at 992 million bushels compared to the average trade guess of 989 million bushels. It was reported at 998 million bushels in 2013. A bullish corn stocks report plus continued reporting of export soy sales supported the market following. Chinese cancellations of North American soy purchases has been below expectations but they have cancelled purchases from Brazil as well as selling some of their Brazil purchases back into the U.S. as it’s reported Chinese ports have a burdensome supply along with negative Chinese crush margins. A high percentage of U.S. export sales has been shipped so some cancellations are still possible but more likely that additional boats of South American soys will be sold into the U.S. DDGS prices are still trading firm as U.S. ethanol plants slowed production due to weather related transportation delays limiting DDGS supplies. Plants are now completing maintenance shut downs in April which will continue to keep the DDGS market tight. Projecting ahead on your requirements is still recommended. If you are interested in receiving DSC’s commodity price indication updates, please contact stevemcguffin@grandvalley.com or call 1-877-743-4412. n

Thought for the Day “As a group of amateur climbers scaled part of the Matterhorn near Zermatt, Switzerland, a vicious gust of wind came along at a narrow ledge. The guide quickly shouted, “Get down on your knees! You are safe only on your knees!” That’s good advice for all of us: The ledges of life are narrow, and the winds are strong. Only on our knees, seeking God relentlessly in our prayers, can we find safety and security.”

– David Jeremiah, Exert from Pathways, Sept. 15 meditation

Wishing you good farming,Sincerely, Jim Ross and staff of Grand Valley Fortifiers

Stay connected to find out about upcoming events, new products & exciting promotions.

/grandvalleyfortifiers @grandvalley /gvftv

E very producer has different goals to achieve depending on the unique attributes of their

operation. Reducing the cost per kilogram of gain often translates to feeding more of a less nutrient

dense feed. This results in less overall cost, which is of benefit to producers who are not bottlenecked by days in the barn. For producers who are tight on barn space or days, or when commodity costs are particularly high and pig prices low, improving feed efficiency frees up physical space and relieves significant time constraints.

Within a nursery barn, the piglet, especially early on in life, has a finite capacity for maximam daily feed intake. Since we can’t significantly change feed intake in order to improve daily gain in the early nursery feeds, we need to improve feed conversion. We need to make sure that the feed efficiency is also in line with cost per kg of gain. However, additional gain can come at a higher cost in the nursery because the value of that additional gain multiplies in the grow-finish phase by generating higher average daily gain and decreasing days to market (Primary Diets 2002).

Most of the nutritional strategies used to improve feed efficiency directly impact the improvement of overall gut health of the animal, ultimately leading to improving feed conversion. Some of those include, but are not limited to, Antimicrobial Growth Promoters (AGPs), copper sulphate, gut acidifiers, enzymes and probiotics. AGPs have always been the gold standard performance-wise, but the right organic acids or combination of AGP alternatives is closing the gap between the performance response seen with AGPs vs. AGP alternatives (Dansk Slagterier 2001). This becomes important when AGP’s are no longer available or are restricted from use (For example in the Natures Blend® Free From™ program).

An important consideration is that the feed efficiency response to adding a number of ingredients may be higher than adding just a single ingredient, but the response will not be additive. In fact, the better the health status and quality of the gut, the lesser the extent at which these ingredients will be able to impact feed conversion.

Feed form can have a significant influence on feed conversion. Both the type (pelleted vs. mash) and the ingredient particle size (particularly the corn) can alter the growth rate of the pig. Pelleted feed improves feed conversion over mash diets (Medel et al. 2004), because the process of pelleting (temperature, heat and pressure) physically breaks down chemical bonds in the feeds, releasing nutrients and making them more available to the pig. Changes in ingredient particle size, looking at corn in particular, can have a significant improvement on feed efficiency (Healy et al. 1994). In a healthy herd, a fine particle size (even as low as 400 microns) has a direct improvement in feed efficiency. The downside to this is that a fine particle size may contribute to incidence of stomach ulceration and will reduce throughput during the feed manufacturing process.

Another way we can improve feed efficiency is by increasing the nutrient density of the diets. This can either be achieved by feeding additional energy (we recommend our Bionic® Oil a vegetable oil blend) or adding enzymes such as phytase, xylanases and β-glucanases to break down indigestible fractions in the diet. This causes an increase in availability and digestibility of amino acids, energy, minerals and carbohydrates (Bedford and Schulze 1998). The greatest benefit from these enzymes is when you are feeding a diet particularly high in fibre content (Shorts, DDGS, etc.).

Today’s lean genetics also respond well to high levels of amino acids. Now that many of the limiting amino acids are synthetically available in the marketplace (lysine, methionine, threonine, tryptophan and valine – In the USA) we can improve the digestive efficiency of the pig by having a more balanced ideal protein ratio (using less SBM and more synthetic amino acids). This decreases the blood plasma urea nitrogen, improves

nitrogen retention (muscle growth) and spares energy that would have been used to break down excess amino acids and redirect it to improved feed conversion. It also brings significant savings in a highly priced SBM market and can impact cost per kg gain.

In closing, there are many nutritional strategies that can be implemented in order to improve feed efficiency. The challenge is to identify the areas that can both provide an improvement in feed efficiency and return a lower cost per kg of gain on your farm. For more information, please contact your Grand Valley Fortifiers Swine Specialist or call us directly at 1-877-625-4400. n

IMPROVING FEED EFFICIENCY by: BRUCE SCHUMANNB.Sc. (Agric.), M.Sc., Monogastric Nutritionist, Grand Valley Fortifiers