SPECIAL STORY FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE September 2023 73 Optimum Vitamin Nutrition® (OVN™) is a dynamic concept which regularly review and update vitamin supplementation in feed. OVN™ is about feeding animals high-quality vitamins, produced with the lowest environmental footprint, in the right amounts, appropriate to their life stage and growing conditions, to optimize Animal Health and Welfare, Animal Performance and Food Quality & Food Waste. WHY VITAMIN RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SWINE NEED TO CHANGE Vitamin recommendations from international scientific associations such as NRC and ARC were developed to prevent nutritional deficiencies. Some of the studies on which they are based are more than 20 or 30 years old. Thanks to improvements in genetic selection, nutrition, sanitary and environmental conditions, today’s livestock industry has little in common with the industry as it was—not only at that time but even just a few years ago. For example, sows’ performance parameters have improved 1% to 2% per year in the last five years as reported by Pig Champ, which analyzed data from hundreds of commercial pig farms. In the same period, mortality and culling rates of sows and gilts improved (+9.7% and +0.8% per year respectively), indicating that especially in breeder animals, more attention to lifetime performance must be paid, and vitamins can play an important role. Genetic companies are forecasting additional performance improvements, of even higher order of magnitude. Accordingly, vitamin nutrition guidelines will also require continuous adjustment. Likewise, legislative changes are limiting the use of compounds such antibiotics and growth promoters, substances which until recently had formed a habitual part of animals' diets, including those of the animal trials on which vitamins requirements were based on. At the same time many countries are developing new rules on animal welfare and environmental protection which will entail less "intensiveness" in the livestock industry, with the aim of improving the health and well-being of the animals and sustainability of the planet. Meanwhile, our farmers need to be competitive about livestock productivity (weight gain, conversion indices, final weight of the animal, mortality, etc.) to be able to face strong international competition where free trade is a tangible reality. Nutrition programs for farm animals, including vitamin supplements, need to be adjusted in a manner consistent with improved animal management techniques and genetic development. This adjustment should be based on the most recent scientific studies, besides considering practical experience from farmers and feed producers as well as nutritional recommendations from breeding companies which have the best knowledge on the animals they produce. SCIENCE, INDUSTRY EXPERTISE AND VITAMIN LEVELS Testing different levels of individual vitamins is one way to define the optimal use of vitamins in feed. Re-
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