Are we overfeeding calcium, phosphorus in gestation, lactation?
While producers may be overfeeding phosphorus by a small margin, Gebhardt says there could be some opportunity for cost savings.
Calcium and phosphorus are two macro minerals that are very important to consider in all biological systems, particularly in swine production. In addition to growth and development, Jordan Gebhardt says the two minerals really “form the backbone of our bones and really dictate structural soundness and how well those animals grow and develop but also move long term.”
While ensuring an appropriate level of calcium and phosphorus is being fed to pigs to optimize bone mineralization, the Kansas State University swine nutrition veterinarian points out more is not always better.
“Phosphorus for example is one of the more expensive nutrients that we feed in swine diets so making sure that we provide sufficient phosphorus to meet our goals and our needs, but also not providing excess phosphorus, such that material then goes into the environment and has some environmental concerns, but also the economic implications of that as well,” Gebhardt says. “So really dialing in the complex relationship between calcium and phosphorus is very important in swine nutrition and swine production.”
Part of Larissa Becker’s PhD work at K-State has been diving into the literature to understand calcium and phosphorus requirements in reproducing sows, specifically for gestation and lactation.
“For gestation the sow really needs these minerals for her own skeletal development but then also to grow and develop these fetuses throughout her gestation length and so that calcium and phosphorus requirement increases throughout gestation to provide for that growing litter of pigs, and younger sows and older sows have very similar calcium and phosphorus requirements, just due to that growing litter that she is growing throughout gestation,” Becker says.
“Then in lactation these minerals are used for milk production and to feed these growing piglets, and that requirement in lactation is a little bit higher than it is during gestation just to meet the milk demands of those piglets.”
Becker’s goal for the literature review was to get a more complete picture of why the swine industry chose to feed the levels of phosphorus and calcium it does today. With only nine published studies for gestation, and seven in lactation, Becker says there is a huge need for more research specifically on calcium and phosphorus levels in gestation and lactation.