A couple of big plastic tanks were all one Manitoba Hutterite colony needed to slash by half the phosphorus in hog manure.
That’s proof that farmers can take simple steps to greatly reduce the phosphorus emissions of their animals, the key restriction on the viability of livestock production in many parts of Manitoba, said a University of Manitoba researcher.
“The reduction of phosphorus of his manure is just unbelievable,” said animal science professor Bogdan Slominski about work he has done with the Clearwater colony’s manager in adding phytase to a liquid feeding system.
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Phosphorus in the colony’s hog manure dropped to 6.2 grams from 15 grams per 10 litres, a huge reduction Slominski attributes to the innovative feeding method.
The colony installed two large plastic tanks to hold grain, supplements and water for up to 15 hours before being sent through a liquid feeding system to the pigs.
It adds an additional step to the system used by a growing number of farms, which relies on feed, water and supplements being added before being given to the pigs.
Many hog producers add phytase, a digestive enzyme, to allow the pig to break down and digest inaccessible phosphorus in the form of phytate that exists in most feed-grains.
Because little phytate phosphorus is broken down in an unassisted pig’s digestive system, farmers are forced to buy digestible phosphorus to meet the pig’s nutritional needs while the phytate phosphorus passes out in the manure.
This is an extra expense and poses environmental problems. As of 2013, Manitoba livestock operations will be restricted by the amount of phosphorus that can be added to the soil.
Slominski said the huge drop in the Clearwater manure is due to the phytase being given a chance to work.
Many producers have been disappointed by phytase.
Slominski said that is probably due to poor mixing with feed and the pig’s inability to break it down before it passes through the digestive system.
The holding tanks allow the feed mixture to steep, so the phystase is active for 10 to 12 hours before feeding.