Do you know what your feed is actually costing you? The most basic calculation to consider is feed cost per kilogram of gain ($/kg gain), which is feed efficiency (kg feed/kg gain) x feed cost ($/kg feed). Determination of either the margin over feed cost or margin over feed and operating costs will provide a more accurate picture of economic value of your nutrition program.
Diet formulation is all about meeting the pig’s requirements, with dietary content of energy and lysine largely dictating the inclusion of all other nutrients. Assays of ingredients should be done routinely for nutrient levels and digestibility values to make sure that the feed you have formulated will meet the requirements you have identified.
There are a few feed formulation and management strategies to consider that may improve your feed costs, including protein source and crystalline amino acids, phase feeding, split-sex feeding, least-cost formulation, and re-evaluation of safety margins. While there are many key considerations to take into account when developing and evaluating feeding programs, the general concept is to know who and what you are feeding to really understand what your feed is costing you.
Strategies to reduce feed costs, feed formulation, feed efficiency, and economics of feeding programs (full article)
