Page 20 - Australian Pork Newspaper

AusScan Online Early Harvest Report for January 2022 Scans
THE data set in Table 1 summarises the number of NIR scans completed within January 2022 for each mill and includes new season’s grains.
in France by Gatel and Bourdon in 1989 showed that the feeding value of sprouted wheat for pigs was the same or even slightly better than that of regular soft wheat.
Other important broiler production indices such as growth rate and feed con- version efficiency were positively impacted by the sprouted barley sample and unchanged for sor- ghum and triticale.
A study at North Dakota State University observed that pigs fed diets con- taining 20 percent or 40 percent sprouted wheat had better levels of per- formance, compared with barley-soybean meal con- trol diets when fed in fin- ishing rations.
screenings percent and falling number do not di- rectly indicate the avail- able energy content or available energy intake of cereal grains for livestock.
There are varying esti- mates of sprouted grain on the market with up to 75 percent in some re- gions of NSW to less than 10 percent in South Aus- tralia – indicating crops have been grown and harvested under varying conditions.
grain – also known as ‘shot’ or ‘sprung’ grain.
improve performance.
A small amount of en- ergy is lost during ger- mination, which produces heat, carbon dioxide and
The Premium Grains for Livestock Produc- tion program by Black in 2008 found that ger- mination periods from 16-48 hours did not alter the starch content of the sprouted grains but signif- icantly reduced the falling number – an international measurement of sprout damage.
The equivocal results for wheat indicate there are likely to be different characteristics within the grain samples that result in an inconsistent re- sponse.
The growth rate of the pigs fed the sprouted wheat diets were equal or superior to the pigs fed the control diets, and the feed efficiencies were found to be similar for all treat- ments.
This is why it is rec- ommended that producers use the AusScan Online technology to determine the energy values of the grain samples and ensure energy utilisation is opti- mised in pig diets.
The following is a brief assessment of sprouted grain inclusion in live- stock feeds, with much of the work cited conducted within Australia with sim- ilar studies and outcomes from overseas research. Sprouted grain used for stock feed
The degree of sprouting depends on the duration and number of rain events and the conditions imme- diately after the rain.
moisture.
Previous Australian
The effects of germina- tion on apparent metabo- lisable energy content in broiler chickens was im- proved (barley) or had no effect (sorghum, triticale), while the AME content was reduced in wheat after 20 hours germina- tion but recovered after 48 hours germination.
Overseas, a study con- ducted at Idaho State University that fed diets containing 0 percent, 20 percent, 40 percent and 60 percent sprouted wheat to weanling pigs showed that growth rate was unaffected by the inclusion level.
Therefore, depending on the degree of sprouting, the energy content of wheat may be reduced and is unlikely to affect growth rate but may result in a slightly poorer feed efficiency.
As noted in previous ar- ticles in this publication, the AusScan Online cali- brations do account for weather-damaged cereals including sprouted grains, thereby providing pro- ducers and nutritionists greater assurance as they assess parcels of sprouted grain as a feedstock.
The wet conditions prior to harvest in many regions across Australia have produced some sprouted
Sprouted grain is typi- cally graded as stockfeed. If the grain is not se- verely affected by fungi and mould and is free of mycotoxins, the sprout usually does not appear to reduce the nutritive value of the grain and in some cases can actually
research by Taverner in 1987 indicated that the metabolisable energy content of wheat was im- proved by sprouting, and growth rate improved in young pigs and poultry when the sprouted wheat was included in diets.
However, feed efficien- cies were poorer, with increasing percentage of sprouted grains sug- gesting a reduced utilisa- tion of energy.
The current measure- ments used for trading grains such as protein con- tent, test weight (kg/hl),
References are avail- able upon request from Dr Charles Rikard-Bell via c.rikardbell@april.org.au
Similarly, research
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