Thomas D’Alfonso, PhD, Worldwide Animal Nutrition Focus Area Director, U.S. Soybean Export Council, recently spoke to The Pig Site’s Sarah Mikesell about heat stress challenges that most producers face as temperatures climb during the summer months.

“Two things happen during summertime: the heat affects the rate of growth, and it affects feed consumption. Feed consumption can also affect the rate of growth, creating a double whammy.”

“The research has shown that for several reasons the best option is to balance the diet with soybean meal made from U.S. Soy. It’s highly digestible in essential amino acids and digestible energy, and it brings other functional compounds that affect the rate of growth and the digestive health of the animal.”

“Research, conducted by Iowa State University in commercial operations, shows a $14 per pig extra revenue during the summertime and an extra 6 to 12 lbs. difference in body weight. So, you can improve revenue and reduce costs at the same time by adopting a preference for soybean meal derived from U.S. Soy and formulating diets with it as the base ingredient.”

“It’s so much better to use soybean meal to meet the nutritional needs during the hot summer months as opposed to putting in byproducts such as distillers grains or using synthetic amino acids. The pigs just don’t recover their growth during that period.”

Read more or watch the full interview here or below.