Pigs to Pork
NUTRITION
Cooperative Extension Service PURDUE UNIVERSITY Lafayette, Indiana
Forage Utilization Guidelines for Hogs
Richard Hollandbeck, Animal Sciences Department
AS-334 Oct. 1965
The profit in animal production depends upon how efficiently the operator combines his available resources of land, labor and capital with his managerial talents into acceptable marketable products. To a large extent the margin of profit may be influenced by the relative amounts of forages and concentrates in the rations. Under the stress of decreasing margins of profit, a wise decision as to how much of each component to feed is becoming increasingly important. Factors to be considered in making such decisions include:
1.	The relative cost of available forages and concentrates.
2.	The nutrient requirements of the animal. These requirements are affected by the species and the purpose of feeding--for body maintenance, growth, reproduction, finishing, etc.
3.	The kinds and quality of available forages and concentrates, their palatability, digestibility, and nutrient content. 1/
Swine producers, research workers and others have long pointed out the importance of a sound feeding program as a major contributor to profitable pork production. Forages and forage products have had a prominent role in this feeding program.
Our present day knowledge of the sever-\ al nutrients required by hogs, --the amounts needed, the amounts present in different
feeds, and the ability to supply them from sources other than forages--has developed to the point that forages are no longer considered an essential part of rations for growing-finishing pigs. However, the relative cost of available forages and concentrates very often favor including forage and/or forage products in the ration.
On the other hand the non-essentiality of forages has not been so conclusively demonstrated for sows, particularly during the pre-gestation and gestation periods. There is still the possibility that green forages may contain some unknown nutritional factor or factors essential for successful reproduction.
Forages such as high quality legume pasture, silage and haylage are well adapted for modern brood sow nutrition. These forages are particularly suited to the sow gestation period where the emphasis should be on limiting the energy intake with a low cost, but a nutritionally adequate feeding program. Your attention is called to "Forages for Sows, ’’ Mimeo AS-330, 1965 for a more thorough discussion of this subject.
The daily nutrient requirements for swine will vary according to the purpose for which the animals are being fed. For example, is the animal being fed just for body maintenance, for growth, for reproduction, for finishing, etc.? Table 1 shows how these requirements vary. Using this table you can determine the daily needs of your hogs.
1/"Profitable use of Forages, " 1958. Nutritional News Bulletin: Vol. 14, No. 3.