Eggs have long been regarded as an excellent source of high-quality “complete” protein, as they contain all of the essential amino acids — dubbed “essential” because our bodies cannot synthesize them and we must get them from our diet.
The following is an edited transcript of Tom Martin’s interview with Paul Groenewegen, director of innovation and nutrition at Masterfeeds, Inc., an Alltech company.
Visual appearance, palatability and consistency all factor into the consumer’s meat buying process. As producers, what can you do to ensure the meat that ends up at the store is nutritious, has the qualities consumers look for and won’t result in a loss to your profit?
In the recent webinar “Better-tasting meat starts with better nutrition,” Dr. Rebecca Delles, research scientist at Alltech, discussed key factors that affect meat quality and how feed plays an important role in providing a better product for consumers.
Traditionally, mineral supplementation has been achieved through the use of inorganic minerals. However, developing technologies have ushered in a new era in mineral nutrition.
Environmental control in pig housing is important for animal growth and health. Modern farms have computer-controlled systems that are adjusted automatically to optimize the environment depending on the stage of growth or reproduction, based on ideal temperature curves established from research and models. For example, for growing pigs, temperature needs to decrease by set amounts as they increase in body weight. However, it is important to ensure the correct growth curve is selected in any automated system to account for breed, age and health of the animals.
