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AMES, Iowa — A comprehensive swine nutrition guide released earlier this year is getting rave reviews from users.

The National Swine Nutrition Guide, funded by a United Soybean Board grant, was developed in collaboration with land-grant universities, agribusinesses and the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence, which is housed in the National Swine Research and Information Center on the Iowa State University campus.

The guide consists of a 320-page book, a 37-page set of tables and a CD with a computer diet balancer program.

The diet formulation and evaluation CD can be used to formulate swine diets on a leas-cost basis or evaluate the nutritional adequacy of existing diets. The functions can be applied to diets for sows, boars, nursery pigs, growing‐finishing pigs and replacement gilts and boars.

“This development effort has been a great collaboration between the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence, several extension nutritionists and all the major feed companies. The result is a reference book and software that will be of great value to the industry for years to come,” said David Meisinger, director of the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence.

About 400 guides have been distributed, mostly to people attending a set of regional conferences held in February and March, plus a session at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines June 10 and one in Denver July 14.

Mark Honeyman, animal science professor and coordinator of Iowa State’s research farms, has incorporated information from the guide into an upper-level swine management class he teaches.

“The book is an excellent, comprehensive resource for the producer, nutritionist, manager, teacher and student of swine nutrition and pig feeding,” Honeyman said. “It represents the best practical knowledge and application of feeding pigs in the United States.”

Honeyman updated lectures and laboratory exercises based on the new resource, and said students will leave his class with the latest understanding of swine nutrition and management.

“The pamphlet of tables is a concise reference tailored to swine that will be on my desk at all times,” he said. “The CD program will give students experience in building diets and feeding programs for pigs using the most current information.”

Bob Woerman, owner of Woerman’s Animal Nutrition Consulting in Brandon, S.D., attended a regional training session last spring and put the diet formulation software program to work immediately.

“It was fun using the program,” Woerman said. “I received a diet request from a client in North Dakota where the ingredients for growing-finishing rations are a bit more complex than some states, where fewer ingredients are offered. The program didn’t hesitate and a good final result was obtained.”

Woerman said the resource book and tables, combined with the diet formulation software, is an excellent resource for swine producers, nutritionists and veterinarians.

The National Swine Nutrition Guide is available for purchase for $125. More information is available at http://www.usporkcenter.org.

The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence was established in 2005 as a public/private partnership to bring together academic expertise in research, teaching and extension. Center partners include two governmental agencies, the national pork industry associations, 17 state pork producer associations and 24 land-grant universities.