Written by Romain D’inca, Category Specialist MCFA

Feed efficiency is a top priority criteria to improve for any pig producer around the world, from China to Europe and from USA to Brazil. With feed costs representing 50% to 70% of total production costs, FCR (feed conversion rate) is the key performance indicator especially during the finisher phase where true feed efficiency is lowest (see Figure 1). 

Figure 1: Example of actual and cumulative FCR curves during growing and finishing phases (expressed in days).

Globalization entails both advantages and challenges

Ambitine is one of the available solutions to improve feed efficiency in pigs. But we must remember that each region in the world has specific conditions for rearing (such as indoor/outdoor, cold or hot temperatures), nutritional practices (for instance, corn/soybean, or wheat/barley based), the use of growth promoters, and so on. So, while available globally, one can logically question the consistency of Ambitine’s impact on FCR across different regions, climates and feeding practices. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis on our datasets of Ambitine trials worldwide, with the objective of accurately determining the impact to be expected on FCR.

Relevant datasets require dedicated analytical methods

A meta-analysis is defined as: “The examination of data from a number of independent studies on the same subject and their analysis using specific statistical tools in order to determine overall trends and allow the detection of phenomena”.

Our meta-analysis included a total of 20 trials with Ambitine, conducted in 3 different regions: 10 in the USA, 6 in Europe, and 4 in the rest of the world. Standardized mean differences from each study were analyzed, taking into consideration the between-study variances. The region was also included in the model as a fixed effect.

The main results from the meta-analysis provided interesting results and answers to several questions:

Figure 2: Significant impact of Ambitine on FCR in different regions. Each bar represents the relative difference on FCR between Ambitine-supplemented pens and their control counterpart for 1 trial. Ambitine reduced FCR down to 8% in 85% of the studies.
  1. Ambitine has a statistically significant effect overall, with an effect size [and 95% confidence interval] output from the model of -0.40 [-0.63, -0.17]. Concretely, this corresponds to a zootechnical improvement of -0.09 FCR with a p-value <0.001. For illustration purposes, a simplified view of the results is presented in figure 2.
  2. The difference between regions does not appear to be statistically significant. This means that, despite the differences in production systems and feeding programs, Ambitine improved the FCR in a similar way and range in the USA, in Europe, and in the rest of the world.
  3. Last, but not least, some differences within each region were observed, suggesting influencing factors on the amplitude of response to Ambitine supplementation.

Matching a proven global solution with concrete contributions

Our analysis proves that Ambitine consistently can support greater feed efficiency in pigs, regardless of the production region. While the average improvement is clear, ongoing research will help us pinpoint when and where the benefits are greatest. That’s how we continue to turn global experience into local value.

References are available upon request.

Marc Intven
Sales Manager