Growth Promoters in Pig Production: to Use or Not to Use, That is the Question

Nutrition Update
Volume 12 No.3, February 2002

The use of growth promoters continues to be an issue in livestock production, particularly with pig production. While most will agree that therapeutic use of antibiotics is an acceptable practice to treat sick or injured animals, using antibiotics to optimise production is being questions by many individuals both in the industry and the general public. The concerns over growth promoting antibiotics has lead to increased legislation or outright banning of the use of these products by the livestock industries in some countries.

Within the industry there is concern that the loss of antimicrobial growth promoters will have a major impact on the industry. If something is to be taken away from the industry, then participants must either a) modify their production practices or b) include alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters in the rations. To maintain productivity a combination of both of these ideas seems to be the most appropriate response.

A report from Denmark highlights some of the consequences of banning growth promoting antibiotics in pig production in that country. For finishing pigs, there appears to be little impact on production in most herds. For weaner pigs, the impacts were more dramatic. Mortalities were higher and daily gains were reduced for the young pigs. The use of medications to treat sick pigs drastically increased while at the same time the use of growth promoters has been cut to nil. Overall, the amount of medication used per pig has been basically cut in half. The issue thus becomes, how do we manage the young pigs to minimize the incidence of disease and overcome the reductions in performance?

Each farm or production unit has its own set of unique problems. There is probably not a "set" answer on how to raise pigs with out the use of antibiotics and maintain production performance. Obviously optimizing animal husbandry and the nutritional program can have major impacts on production. Genetics could be useful tool to produce superior lines of pigs that have enhanced nutrient utilization or more disease resistance. This approach has proven successful in producing leaner pork carcasses, why not for disease resistance as well?

Farm-specific vaccination programs and strict adherence to health management and sanitation protocols, as well as the use of practices such as All-in, All-out production can help to minimize the dependence on antibiotics. Sow nutrition and health programs should be revisited and become more of a priority. How can we produce larger piglets in the hyper prolific sow since it well established that larger piglets have improved survival rates compared with smaller pigs?

There are a number of different products currently being promoted as viable alternatives to antibiotics. However, the results from using these products are not consistent or reliable and this has resulted in these products only achieving limited acceptance in pork production. One must realize that each product, be it a probiotic or an organic acid for example, has its benefits and limitations. These need to be clarified to establish how best to effectively use these tools in pork production systems.

Overall, antibiotics are valuable in the treatment of diseases and should be used for these purposes. Observations from other countries have shown that it is possible to maintain production levels of finishing pigs without the use of growth promoting antibiotics. For weaner pigs, some production problems are encountered however optimizing the husbandry and nutrition programs can alleviate many of the concerns. Producers who are willing to utilize some of the different dietary strategies and who are able to maintain optimal husbandry conditions for their animals should be able to maintain productive facilities. The pork industry continues to evolve to meet the needs of the consumer. In the future, growth promoters may still be used. However, they probably will not be the same products that we think of when we describe them today.

References:
Kjeldsen, N. 2002. Advances in Pork Production. Volume 13. 107-115.
Mathew, A. 2002. Manitoba Swine Seminar. Volume 16. 115-128

Prepared by: Ian R. Seddon, Ph.D.

Contact:	David Hunt or Ron Bazylo
	Farm Production Extension Specialist - Swine
	Livestock Knowledge Centre
	Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives