Environmental Impacts and Their Association With Performance and Excretion Traits in Growing Pigs
The selection of pigs for improved production traits has been, for a long time, the major driver of pig breeding. More recently, because of the increasing concern with the environment, new selection criteria have been explored, such as nitrogen (N) excretion. However, many studies indicate that life...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.677857/full |
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| author | Alessandra N. T. R. Monteiro Ludovic Brossard Hélène Gilbert Jean-Yves Dourmad |
| author_facet | Alessandra N. T. R. Monteiro Ludovic Brossard Hélène Gilbert Jean-Yves Dourmad |
| author_sort | Alessandra N. T. R. Monteiro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The selection of pigs for improved production traits has been, for a long time, the major driver of pig breeding. More recently, because of the increasing concern with the environment, new selection criteria have been explored, such as nitrogen (N) excretion. However, many studies indicate that life cycle assessment (LCA) provides much better indicators of environmental impacts than excretion. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate, using a modeling approach, the relationships between production traits and LCA impacts of individual growing pigs calculated at the farm gate for 1 kg of body weight gain. Performances of pigs were simulated for 2-phase (2P) and precision feeding (PR), using the InraPorc population model (on 1,000 pigs). Nitrogen excretion was positively correlated with feed conversion ratio (FCR; r = +0.96), climate change (CC; r = +0.96), acidification potential (AC; r = +0.97), eutrophication potential (EU; r = +0.97), and land occupation (LO; r = +0.96), whatever the feeding program. However, FCR appeared to be a better indicator of LCA impacts, with very high and positive correlations (r > +0.99) with CC, AC, EU, and LO for both feeding programs. The CC, AC, and EU impacts of pig production for PR feeding were 1.3, 10, and 7.5% lower than for 2P, respectively, but the correlations within each outcome were very similar among feeding programs. It was concluded that the use of FCR as a selection criterion in pig breeding seems to be a promising approach to associate improved performance and low environmental impact of pig fattening. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:35:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-14f4879d34394d4393b2d7e8d7905229 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-1769 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:35:21Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-14f4879d34394d4393b2d7e8d79052292022-12-21T22:36:25ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692021-06-01810.3389/fvets.2021.677857677857Environmental Impacts and Their Association With Performance and Excretion Traits in Growing PigsAlessandra N. T. R. Monteiro0Ludovic Brossard1Hélène Gilbert2Jean-Yves Dourmad3PEGASE, INRAE, Institut Agro, Saint-Gilles, FrancePEGASE, INRAE, Institut Agro, Saint-Gilles, FranceGenPhySE, Université de Toulouse, INRAE, INPT, ENSAT, Castanet-Tolosan, FrancePEGASE, INRAE, Institut Agro, Saint-Gilles, FranceThe selection of pigs for improved production traits has been, for a long time, the major driver of pig breeding. More recently, because of the increasing concern with the environment, new selection criteria have been explored, such as nitrogen (N) excretion. However, many studies indicate that life cycle assessment (LCA) provides much better indicators of environmental impacts than excretion. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate, using a modeling approach, the relationships between production traits and LCA impacts of individual growing pigs calculated at the farm gate for 1 kg of body weight gain. Performances of pigs were simulated for 2-phase (2P) and precision feeding (PR), using the InraPorc population model (on 1,000 pigs). Nitrogen excretion was positively correlated with feed conversion ratio (FCR; r = +0.96), climate change (CC; r = +0.96), acidification potential (AC; r = +0.97), eutrophication potential (EU; r = +0.97), and land occupation (LO; r = +0.96), whatever the feeding program. However, FCR appeared to be a better indicator of LCA impacts, with very high and positive correlations (r > +0.99) with CC, AC, EU, and LO for both feeding programs. The CC, AC, and EU impacts of pig production for PR feeding were 1.3, 10, and 7.5% lower than for 2P, respectively, but the correlations within each outcome were very similar among feeding programs. It was concluded that the use of FCR as a selection criterion in pig breeding seems to be a promising approach to associate improved performance and low environmental impact of pig fattening.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.677857/fullfeed efficiencyenvironmental impactslife cycle assessmentgrowing pigmodeling |
| spellingShingle | Alessandra N. T. R. Monteiro Ludovic Brossard Hélène Gilbert Jean-Yves Dourmad Environmental Impacts and Their Association With Performance and Excretion Traits in Growing Pigs Frontiers in Veterinary Science feed efficiency environmental impacts life cycle assessment growing pig modeling |
| title | Environmental Impacts and Their Association With Performance and Excretion Traits in Growing Pigs |
| title_full | Environmental Impacts and Their Association With Performance and Excretion Traits in Growing Pigs |
| title_fullStr | Environmental Impacts and Their Association With Performance and Excretion Traits in Growing Pigs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental Impacts and Their Association With Performance and Excretion Traits in Growing Pigs |
| title_short | Environmental Impacts and Their Association With Performance and Excretion Traits in Growing Pigs |
| title_sort | environmental impacts and their association with performance and excretion traits in growing pigs |
| topic | feed efficiency environmental impacts life cycle assessment growing pig modeling |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.677857/full |
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