AGP ban causes minor problems in pigs

Agrifirm compared the technical results from January
till June 2005 (before the ban) with the same period this year.

Health costs are higher
The adjustments made in the sow
and piglet feed showed minor changes in technical results, according to manager
pigs Ben van Raaij. Only the pig loss was slightly higher than last year
(Table 1). “This may be due to the fact that we noticed
an increase in piglets born alive with 0.2. It is unsure why the
health costs are higher compared to last year. “More medicines may have been
used”, said van Raaij.

Slight decline in growth
Also the results from 134,000
fattening pigs (from 215 groups) have been analysed in the period May till
August 2005 and compared with the same period this year (Table 2).
Van Raaij concludes a slight decline in growth. The feed conversion rate has
been dropped with 1%. Van Raaij expected a drop in 3-4% after the AGP
ban.

Table 1: Sows

Table 2: Fattening pigs

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