Effect of precision feeding on environmental impact of fattening pig production
2017
RIGO MONTEIRO, Alessandra | Garcia-Launay, Florence | Brossard, Ludovic | Wilfart, Aurélie | Dourmad, Jean-Yves
Various studies have shown that improved feed efficiency is an efficient lever to reduce the environmental impact of pig production. The development of feeders which allow the distribution of different diets, together with new low-cost animal identification technologies and sensors for high-throughput collection ofinformation on animals (body weight, feed intake), should allow the development in practice of individual feeding of fattening pigs in the near future. With this in mind, a modelling approach was used to evaluate the potential of this strategy to reduce the environmental impact of pig fattening. Eight populations of 2000 pigs, fed according to either a conventional two-phase (2P) or a precision feeding (PR) strategy, were simulated using the population version of InraPorc. This was performed for two geographical production contexts (Brazil and France) with two soyabean meal origins (Centre West Brazil, a region with deforestation, and South Brazil, without deforestation). Environmental impacts were evaluated using a cradle-to-farm gate life cycle assessment and were expressed per kg of weight gain. Compared to 2P, PR improved average daily gain and feed efficiency by about 4-5% and reduced feed costs by 7-10%. It reduced nitrogen excretion by about 20%. On average, compared to 2P, the PR feeding strategy reduced environmental impacts for climate change, energy use, eutrophication, acidification and land occupation by 6.1%, 6.9%, 10.3%, 12.7% and 3.5%, respectively. It was concluded that PR appears to be a very interesting strategy for improving economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability in pig production.
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