PSIII-11 Evaluating the Effects of Benzoic Acid on Finishing Pig Growth Performance

Abstract

Abstract Addition of acidifiers such as benzoic acid have shown to be effective at weaning due to limited HCl production in the stomach. With positive responses seen throughout the entire nursery period (approximately 25 kg), there is potential for this impact to carry over into the growing-finishing period. A total of 2,106 pigs (PIC 337 × 1050, Hendersonville, TN; initially 33.3 ± 1.91 kg) were used in a 101-d growth study to evaluate the effects of dietary benzoic acid level on commercial grow-finish pig growth performance and carcass characteristics. Pens of pigs (27 pigs per pen) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 dietary treatments with 13 pens per treatment. Dietary treatments were corn-soybean meal-DDGS-based with an inclusion of none, 0.25, or 0.50% benzoic acid (VevoVitall, DSM Nutritional Products, Parsippany, NJ). Diets were fed in 4 phases from 34 to 50, 50 to 75, 75 to 100, and 100 to 132 kg body weight. All treatments were formulated to meet or exceed NRC requirement estimates for growing-finishing pigs for their appropriate weight ranges. In the grower period (d 0 to 44), there were no evidence of differences (P > 0.10) for pigs fed increasing benzoic acid for any growth response criteria (Table 1). For the finisher period (d 44 to 101) and overall (d 0 to 101), increasing benzoic acid tended to increase ADFI (linear, P < 0.10) and decrease G:F (linear, P < 0.05). There was no evidence of differences in ADG (P > 0.10) for the overall experimental period. For carcass characteristics, no evidence of differences (P > 0.10) were observed for any response criteria. In conclusion, these data suggest that feeding benzoic acid in the grow-finish period had no impact on ADG, but tended to increase ADFI and worsen G:F without affecting carcass characteristics.