Interpretive Summary: Technologies and opportunities to improve sustainability of swine production systems

By: Laura Greiner

Over the past two decades, the world has had increasing discussions on environmental sustainability. Agriculture provides basic needs of humans. As the world faces current and newly evolving challenges, we are reminded that agriculture must do its part in conserving nutrients to feed a growing population with a shrinking agricultural land mass.

Depending on the animal species, ration, and management, between 5% and 45% of the nitrogen (N) in protein fed to animals is retained by the animal or incorporated into the salable product (milk, eggs, meat) (Oenema, 2006; Groenestein et al., 2019), while the remaining 55–95% is excreted in feces and urine. Retention rates of phosphorus and potassium are similar (Spears et al., 2003; Kojima et al., 2005; Vitti and Kebreab, 2010; Kebreab et al., 2012). Over the last 50 years, the U.S. (United States) swine industry has seen a reduction in the carbon footprint per kg of carcass by 35% (3.8 kg/CO_2e to 2.5 kg/CO_2e; Boyd et al., 2012). This reduction in the carbon footprint has been due to the genetic selection for leaner, faster growing, and more efficient animals, along with advances in animal housing, nutrition, and health. Additionally, production practices, including manure management, in addition to the aforementioned factors, have resulted in the use of 75.9% less land, 25.1% less water, 7% less energy, and 7.7% lower carbon emissions per kg pork produced during that same time (U.S. Pork Industry 2021 Sustainability Report, 2022).

Read the full article in the Journal of Animal Science.