Nutrition

The 2012 corn crop delivered many of the problems that were foreseen throughout last year’s growing season. Decreased yields, variable quality and mycotoxins have affected livestock production throughout North America. However, this crop may still be causing trouble as we dig deeper into the storage bins....More

  Continued waves of precipitation across a wide swath of corn-producing states in late May have slowed corn planting progress, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) weekly Crop Progress report. For the top 18 corn producers, crop progress as of May 26 was pegged at 86% compared to 71% the prior week and 99% or nearly completed at this time a year ago. The average completion for 2008-2012 was 90%. USDA reports corn emergence for the 18 states at 44% vs. 87% for last year and the five-year average of 61%....More

  Feed costs for corn and soybean meal skyrocketed following the 2012 drought. University of Illinois researchers investigated alternative sources of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) to reduce those costs. Hans Stein and his research team have developed equations for calculating the concentrations of these minerals in byproducts from the rendering industry....More

  While Corn Belt crop producers look back at USDA’s March 28 reports and wonder “what happened here,” livestock feeders are doing “high-fives” with themselves. Although the acreage projection was not unexpected, it forecast the potential for increased production and subsequently lower prices for feedgrains and soybean meal in the next marketing year, says blogger Stu Ellis at http://www.farmgateblog.com....More

  Inclusion of corn germ in swine diets can reduce diet costs, depending on the local cost of corn germ and other ingredients. Recent research conducted at the University of Illinois indicates that corn germ can be included at up to 30% in diets fed to growing pigs. “In previous research, we had seen that pigs do very well on diets containing 10% corn germ, so we wanted to investigate if higher inclusion rates can be used," says Hans Stein, professor of animal sciences at the University of Illinois....More