Schothorst Feed Research and Topigs join in research

The opening of the new pig facility marks the last stage of a €9 million investment programme by SFR.

In the new facilities also pig breeder Topigs will test different sow and boar lines.

Through this co-operation not only the capacity for nutritional research has expanded but also the interaction between nutrition and genetics will be a structural aspect of the research programme.

The stables of Schothorst will house 350 sows and 3,000 growing/finishing pigs and enables both Topigs and SFR to perform experiments on a practical scale.

Furthermore, 40 Insentec feeder stations are installed that enable measuring individual performance and feed intake of 480 animals.

A separate metabolic unit is available for fundamental, challenge, balance and digestibility expe-riments. These type of studies are basis for the SFR feedstuff tables and nutrient recommendations.

EFSA compliance
“We are ready for the future”, states Dr. Piet van der Aar, research director of SFR, who also said that the facilities comply with the EFSA guidelines for animal experiments, which will be effective in 2017.

“We are excited about the possibilities that the co-operation with Topigs offer. Our international activities require that we have more expertise about nutritional requirements of different genetic lines and conditions. We will be better able to advise our customers worldwide based on our own research”