Substituting synthetic amino acids, corn and corn coproducts for soybean meal (SBM) is a reliable means of reducing diet cost. For reasons that remain unclear, relatively high levels of synthetic lysine (SL) can be fed to pigs in early phases of growth (<150 lbs.) without impairing performance compared to later phases (>150 lbs.). This persistent problem has been extensively studied in the private sector, with much of the collaboration having been with Dr. James Usry (previously with Ajinimoto North America). Growth rate (ADG) and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) become impaired when dietary synthetic lysine (SL) exceeds a certain level, despite having met the requirement for all essential (EAA) and non-essential amino acids (NEAA), dietary electrolyte balance (DEB) and other factors as described by Boyd and coworkers (2024).

Learn more here.