SNBB 39 - Garrin Lee Shipman: How does fiber affect nutrient digestibility for gestating sows?

Fiber is very commonly used in gestating sow diets for a variety of reasons. One such reason is that sows are capable of utilizing more energy from the fiber as they have increased hindgut fermentation capacity; can it have other effects that we haven’t considered? In today’s episode, I talk with Garrin Shipman about his study feeding different levels of dietary fiber to gestating sows with different carbohydrase mixture concentrations to see how it affects amino acid digestibility and the total fermentation capacity of the sow’s hindgut. 

Meet the guest:

Garrin Lee Shipman, originally from North Carolina, initially had a passion in life for his Paso Fino horses. It was not until his junior year of college at North Carolina State University (NCSU) that Garrin was introduced to pigs by Dr. Billy Flowers. He immediately became intrigued with hogs while assisting in pulling pigs from sows. This led him to eventually work as an undergraduate research assistant under Dr. Eric van Heugten. In the summer of 2018, Garrin participated in a swine production internship with Prestage Farms, Inc. to learn more about the swine industry. During this internship, Garrin discovered his interest in sow nutrition. Garrin graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science in 2018. He then began his master’s degree in Animal Science at NCSU in the spring of 2019 with Dr. van Heugten as his advisor. Under Dr. van Heugten’s tutelage, Garrin was able to pursue his interest in sow nutrition. His M.S. thesis focused on the influence of dietary essential fatty acids on the subsequent reproduction of sows. Upon completing his Master of Science degree, Garrin began a Ph.D. program at South Dakota State University under the advising of Dr. Crystal Levesque, and continues to research sow nutrition.