FIFTY YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT IN SWINE NUTRITION - A COMPARISON OF 1909 VS. 1959 RATIONS FOR GROWING-FINISHING SWINE
J. H. Conrad and W. M. Beeson Department of Animal Science
"Tremendous advancements have been made in swine feeding and nutrition during the past 50 years, or the present practice of confinement feeding of swine would not be either possible or practical^"
One interpretation of the often repeated phrase "the past is prologue" might well be that what has come about in swine feeding and nutrition during the past 50 years is merely an introduction to the scientific developments which will transpire in this area during the next 50 years. But in developing and feeding the swine ration that will today produce lean meat most rapidly on the least amount of feed and with the lowest feed cost, it is worthwhile to occasionally consider how much progress has been made to date or more specifically the last 50 years.
In 1909> the major concern was what to feed in addition to corn for best results. Wood ashes, salt, tankage, wheat middlings and linseed oil meal were fed with corn in various proportions and combinations. Little was known about the pig's requirement for protein (amino acids), minerals, trace minerals or vitamins. Antibiotics had not been discovered, and the introduction of feed additives, such as arsanilic acid, had not been investigated. Likewise, many of the nutrients that are considered essential today had not been discovered. However, most of the feedstuff s commonly used today were available by the same name for feeding in 1909. Packing house by-products (tankage and meat and bone scraps), wheat by-products (middlings and bran) and linseed oil meal were used extensively in swine rations about 1909* but soybean meal was not available in large quantities until about 1940.
The objective of this feeding trial was to demonstrate 50 years of progress in swine feeding and nutrition.
Procedure
Two rations typical of those fed in 1909 and two rations typical of those being fed today (1959) were fed to four lots of eight pigs each. Thirty-two Duroc weanling pigs averaging pounds initially were used. These pigs had been raised on concrete and were confined to concrete throughout this feeding trial. All were wcrmed with piperazine phosphate in the feed when the lot averaged 100 pounds.
The treatments were:
Lot 1: 1909 Free Choice - Shelled corn, 60$ tankage and iodized salt.
Lot 2: 1959 Free Choice - Shelled corn, Purdue Supplement 2 (fortified),
4o-40-20 mineral mix and iodized salt.
Lot 3:	1909 Mixed ration - Ground corn, wheat middlings, linseed oil meal,
limestone and iodized salt.
Lot 4:	1959 Mixed ration - Ground corn, 50$ soybean meal, dicalcium phos-
phate, limestone, iodized salt, trace minerals, vitamins and antibiotics.
Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station Lafayette, Indiana
Mimeo AS-261 August, 1959 (Progress Report)