#147 – Lactating sows in the summer heat - how do we keep their feed intake high with Dr. Erin Holmes

With the summer getting closer, pig farmers will need to start worrying about the effects of heat stress on their pigs. It can have a large impact on the productivity of the animals, especially for sows in lactation, as maintaining a high feed intake is critical. In this episode, Dr. Greiner and Dr. Erin Holmes discuss different feeding and management strategies that can help alleviate some of that heat stress during the summer months.

What you'll learn:

1. What to do with our sows during the summertime

2. Lactation diet nutrient management

3. Alternatives to fat

4. Recommended enzymes

5. Increasing lysine

6. Increasing feed intake in lactating sows

7. Getting gilts to eat more feed

8. Key points

Meet the guest:

Dr. Erin Holmes received her B.S. and M.S. in Animal Sciences from North Dakota State University before attending the University of Minnesota to receive her Ph.D. in Swine Nutrition. After receiving her Ph.D., she joined Cargill in 2015. As a Swine Nutritionist, Erin works with pork producers to understand their production systems and capabilities and identify areas that will help producers advance and excel in producing safe, nutritious, and affordable lean pork for human consumption around the world. As part of the Technical Team, she supports the development of new technologies and offerings based on the needs of pork producers. With such a dynamic industry and the continued advances in understanding ingredients, pig requirements, and pork production, Erin sees many opportunities in food production. She enjoys all facets of pork production and applies a whole-system approach to refining management practices to help producers implement new technologies that are practical and cost-effective.