A2B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 30, 2000
Plain or Barbecue? Chips
WOOSTER, Ohio - Hog pro
ducers seeking a cheaper, alter
native feed to com have to look
no further than their grocer’s
shelves.
Two Ohio State University
Agricultural Technical Institute
(ATI) researchers have found
that it doesn’t matter if it’s bar
becue, sour cream and onion, or
plain - potato chips are the
snack of choice for pigs. And not
only is the wholesale price for
potato chip scraps cheaper than
corn, but the chips provide the
pigs with a higher energy diet.
Sha Rahnema and Ronald
Borton have found that consist
ently replacing 12.5 percent of
the corn feed with potato chip
scraps during the nursery, grow
ing and finishing stages of pigs
provided optimum performance
in dry matter intake, average
daily weight gain and the
number of days required for pigs
to reach market weight.
The finding is the latest in a
series of studies since 1995 that
has focused on the effect con
suming potato chip scraps has
on the performance of pigs. Pre
vious studies showed that up to
25 percent of a pig’s diet may in
clude potato chip scraps, but not
with optimum bene
fits. Pigs consuming a
diet of 20-25 percent
of potato chips during
the growing and fin
ishing stages took
longer to reach market
weight. Earlier studies
also revealed that
potato chip scraps had
the most positive
effect on nursery pigs,
speculating that start
ing pigs on high levels
of chips, then decreas
ing the amount during
the growing and fin
ishing phases may im
prove feed efficiency
and decrease the over
all number of days on
feed.
The purpose of the
current research was
to determine the effect
of varying the level of
potato chip scraps
during the nursery,
growing and finishing
stages of the pig, while
keeping the control at
a continuous potato
chip diet of 12.5 per
cent throughout all
three stages of growth.
The study involved
starting the pigs on a
10 percent diet of
chips and increasing
that amount through
out the growth stages
to 20 percent, as well
as feeding nursery pigs
high levels of chips
and reducing that
amount during
growth.
Researchers were
hoping the results
would provide produc
ers with the best bal
ance of potato chips in
the diet with the big
gest impact on market
performance.
“Increasing or
decreasing the levels
during the various
growth stages seemed
to have no effect at all
over the continuous
feeding of the 12.5 per
cent diet,” said
He found that varying the diet
during the growth stages had
less of an impact on perform
ance than feeding the pigs a con
tinuous 12.5 percent diet of
chips. The diet variation re
duced overall intake and re
sulted in a longer time period for
the pigs to reach market weight.
“Chips are higher in energy
than corn, so the pigs would eat
less at the growing and finishing
phases, ultimately gaining less
weight and taking longer to
reach market weight,” said
Rahnema.
Studying the effects of potato
chip consumption in pigs
spawned from an ATI class
project six years ago, where stu
dents were looking for a cheaper
substitute for corn as a viable
energy source. They came up
with potato chips, which have 33
percent fat. By price compari
son, potato chip scraps run $6 to
$7.50 a ton as compared to corn,
which is currently running more
than $75 a ton. The researchers
mixed the potato chip scraps
with the corn and fed the feed to
the pigs in a pellet form. But
Rahnema said the researchers
also directly added the chips to
the corn in the feed troughs.
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Cheap, Healthy Alternative Feed for Pigs
which produced the same re
sults.
“Mixing chips in with the
corn feed has shown to have no
adverse effects on the pigs and
can be a profitable alternative to
the current diet,” said
Rahnema.
So how would a pork chop
Farmers Union Applauds
Organic Standards
AURORA, Colo. The Na
tional Farmers Union (NFU)
applauds the announcement by
the USDA of the final rule on or
ganic standards.
“We are pleased with the rule
that provides guidelines and will
help farmers take advantage of
the growing market for organic
products,” said NFU President
Leland Swenson. “In addition,
consumers both in the U.S. and
abroad will have a clear choice
in their food-buying decisions.”
Most notably, the new stand
ards were revised to say that no
food could be called organic if ir
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taste after a pig has been
munching on jalapeno-flavored
or vinegar-flavored chips? Part
of the study also included a taste
panel that sampled pork based
on juiciness, tenderness, odor
and flavor.
“The panel couldn’t tell the
difference between pork from
pigs that had been fed the potato
radiation, sewage sludge, or
genetic engineering was used in
its production
“The rule provides a huge op
portunity for organic growers,
with organic product sales
having increased 20 percent
each year since 1990,” Swenson
said.
Agriculture products labeled
organic must originate from
farms or handling operations
certified by a state or private
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chips diet and those that weren’t
fed with chips,” said Rahnema.
“In fact, the panel agreed that in
one instance, the pork from the
chip-fed pig was juicier and
tasted better.”
The researchers are currently
planning on testing their potato
chip diet on chickens.
agency accredited by USDA.
Farms and handling operations
that sell less than $5,000 worth
per year of organic products are
exempt from certifications.
Farmers and handlers have 18
months to comply with the na
tional standards.
Consumers will begin to see
new organic labeling on prod
ucts in their grocery stores by
the summer of 2001, with full
implementation by mid-2002.
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