Achieving better sustainability in agriculture is a complicated matrix of working to enhance economic viability, animal welfare and environmental stewardship. Often, progress in one area can be at the expense of another.
Today’s Industry Perspectives looks at the results of recent independent swine trials in these three key areas using Elanco’s Hemicell™ XT feed enzyme. The work, discussed by the company’s Nutrition Advisor Alex Sly, is based on growing-finishing pigs, and focussed on performance on reduced energy diets, cost benefit and its impact on carbon footprints.
She is joined by Pedro Sanchez, International Swine Technical Leader, who explains more about Elanco’s biomarker work, which has shown the impact of Hemicell™ XT on immune response. He also highlights the potential of Elanco’s Integrint project.
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[Feedinfo] You have recently conducted a trial with Schothorst Feed Research in the Netherlands looking at the efficacy of Hemicell XT on the performance of growing-finishing pigs and its impact on the carbon footprint of commercial swine diets. Can you tell us more about the trial and what you did? [Alex Sly] In our recent trial conducted at the Schothorst Feed Research (SFR) grower-finisher facilities, we explored the effectiveness of Hemicell™ XT in promoting sustainable swine production. Sustainability in agriculture is complex, involving the careful balance of economic viability, animal welfare, and environmental stewardship. |
Alex Sly, Global Technical Consultant: Nutritional Health, Elanco |
Each of these pillars is interconnected, and enhancements in one area can often lead to trade-offs in another. Our objective is to provide swine producers with holistic solutions that address all aspects of sustainability, and Hemicell™ XT stands out as one such solution, thanks to its unique mode of action.
β-mannans are long-chain carbohydrates commonly found in plant-based ingredients used in animal feed. Even at low levels, these fibres can trigger a significant and wasteful innate immune response, leading to intestinal inflammation and leakage, which may heighten the animal's susceptibility to disease. This Feed-Induced Immune Response (FIIR) caused by β-mannans results in intestinal distress and reduces overall production efficiency, typically decreasing herd performance potential by 3%. Hemicell™ XT addresses this issue by containing β-mannanase, an enzyme that breaks down β-mannans, effectively eliminating the wasteful FIIR. By doing so, Hemicell™ XT enhances digestion and nutrient absorption, promotes gut health, and improves energy efficiency, offering net energy savings of up to 63 kcal/kg.
Our trial focused on evaluating the impact of Hemicell™ XT on growth performance, slaughter characteristics, and the carbon footprint of swine diets. We aimed to demonstrate that Hemicell™ XT allows for a reduction in dietary energy without compromising animal performance, while also contributing to a lower carbon footprint and more profitable swine production
The trial was designed as a randomised complete block experiment, involving 192 pigs of mixed gender (TN Tempo x Great York x Landrace; TN70), distributed across 12 replicates per treatment, with each replicate consisting of eight pigs. The two treatments included a control diet and a low-energy diet (reduced by 35kcal/kg NE) supplemented with Hemicell™ XT. The experimental diets were representative of those typically found in Europe and the low energy diet was achieved by reducing the level of animal fat by 25%, depending on production stage. Key performance metrics such as body weight (BW), average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), faecal scores, and slaughter characteristics were closely monitored throughout the trial.
[Feedinfo] What results did you gain in the trial – what was the impact on animal performance?
[Alex Sly] In the trial, we observed that despite the lower energy content of the diets, pigs supplemented with Hemicell™ XT maintained consistent growth performance (P > 0.10) throughout all phases, with no significant impact on slaughter characteristics (P > 0.05). This highlights Hemicell™ XT's ability to support animal performance even with reduced dietary energy, demonstrating its potential as a cost-saving tool.
Additionally, pigs supplemented with Hemicell™ XT achieved numerically higher (+900 g) body weights and reduced FCR during the starter and grower phases.
Moreover, Hemicell™ XT contributed to a reduction in the carbon footprint of the diets, with a 1% decrease for starter and grower diets and a 2% decrease for finisher diets.
Overall, the trial results confirm that Hemicell™ XT effectively enhances animal performance while providing economic and environmental benefits.
[Feedinfo] Cost is always a consideration for swine producers. Did the trial address this, and what were the findings? Will these translate to commercial farm performance?
[Alex Sly] Cost is a critical factor for swine producers, and our trial thoroughly addressed this concern. By assigning an energy matrix reduction of 35kcal/kg NE to Hemicell™ XT, we were able to achieve a feed cost saving of €2.20 per metric tonne.
However, profitability is influenced by more than just feed costs; factors such as animal performance and market meat prices also play a significant role. To gain a comprehensive understanding, we evaluated the improved income over feed cost (IOFC) or the margin produced per pig. In this trial, pigs fed Hemicell™ XT showed an improved IOFC of €0.58 per pig, which was primarily driven by a reduced feed conversion ratio (FCR) and numerically higher body weights during the starter and grower periods.
Yes, the performance and profitability observed with Hemicell™ XT in this trial are indeed applicable to commercial farm settings. We've conducted extensive field trials that consistently demonstrate the benefits of Hemicell™ XT across various commercial conditions.
While final results may vary depending on specific diets, management practices, and other farm-specific factors, our meta-analysis of commercial field experiences provides strong confidence that an energy matrix of up to 63kcal/kg NE can be applied to Hemicell™ XT without negatively impacting animal performance. This indicates that the potential feed cost savings could be even greater.
[Feedinfo] It would be good to hear more about the trial results in terms of carbon footprint and sustainability. What did you find and what impact could this have?
[Alex Sly] Integrating Hemicell™ XT into feed formulations allows for calorie reduction and adjustments in feed composition, leading to a 1% reduction in the carbon footprint of starter and grower diets and a 2% reduction in finisher diets during this trial. The production of Hemicell™ XT has a negligible impact on the overall footprint of compound feed. The carbon footprint reduction observed across all diet phases in this trial is primarily due to the removal of animal fat, with variations between phases attributed to differences in soybean meal content.
Hemicell™ XT has the potential to play a key role in lowering the carbon footprint of swine meat products. However, these improvements are highly sensitive to the ingredient composition of the feeds and the assumptions made, particularly regarding land use change (LUC), making the impact on the diet’s carbon footprint variable.
As retailers aim to reduce their carbon footprint or achieve net zero—requiring a 20-30% reduction in CO2 equivalents over the next five to 10 years—incremental improvements such as those achieved through the integration of Hemicell™ XT become crucial. Since compound feed accounts for 70% of the total carbon footprint, even small reductions in this area can significantly contribute to meeting overall reduction targets for producers.
[Feedinfo] You have recently started using biomarkers – proteins that can be sampled in faeces and used as an indicator of a particular disease state or some other physiological state of an animal or organism. Can you tell us what your biomarker work has found when using Hemicell in swine?
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[Pedro Sanchez] It´s been quite shocking how β-mannans spikes the innate immune response. We have been working with different biomarkers to assess inflammation in a broader range of targets/regions of the intestine. The main finding is that Hemicell™ XT is able to reduce the infiltration of neutrophils in the lamina propria of the gut and increases the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as TGF-β, which is also a precursor of mucosal immunity. |
Pedro Sanchez, International Swine Technical Leader, Elanco |
[Feedinfo] The biomarker work is part of your Integrint project – what is this, and what impact do you think this will have in the swine sector?
[Pedro Sanchez] Our Integrint project is working on making the determination of gut health straightforward.
With Integrint we can determine different intestinal biomarkers with a very simple technique like q-PCR which makes its implementation at field level very easy. Any lab with a q-PCR would be able to determine these biomarkers. In the past, we had to rely on an external provide and purchase customized kits that were expensive and time consuming
In addition, Integrint aims to develop a correlation between the expression of certain biomarkers and swine performance over time. This will allow us to use just a sample of faeces to predict with great accuracy how performance would evolve.
