Feeding vitamin C to pigs a few hours before they are processed reduced water loss in the meat by 13 percent, said Tim Stahly. The result is a more juicy, tender product. The vitamin C also improved pork's color. For their work, the ISU researchers received the National Pork Producers Council Innovative Pork Research Award at the Midwest meetings of the American Society of Animal Science and American Dairy Science Association in Des Moines. Young pigs performed as well in hoop buildings as they did in confinement facilities in an ISU study comparing the two production systems.
Many producers put early-weaned pigs in confinement nurseries.
The project showed placing young pigs in hoop buildings may be an acceptable strategy, said animal scientist Mark Honeyman. A hoop structure consists of a tarp covering a skeleton of steel arches and short wooden walls. The floor is bedded with cornstalks or other crop residues. Overall, the hoop pigs ate more feed and grew faster, but didn't differ in feed efficiency with confinement pigs. Honeyman and graduate research assistant Mike Larson presented their results at the Midwest meetings of the American Society of Animal Science and American Dairy Science Association in Des Moines.