Podcast: Amino acids, digestibility and gut health

The Real P3 podcast series is an initiative where pork professionals from around the world are interviewed about challenges and solutions in their day-to-day work. In this episode, Dr Casey Bradley speaks to Dr Caroline Gonzalez-Vega who is working at Evonik in Germany as a swine research manager.

Important role of amino acids for pig health

Dr Gonzalez-Vega shares some of her highlights from the Midwest meeting. She enjoyed that key points in the area of amino acids were addressed. Amino acids are not meant only for protein deposition or growth but have an important role in the health system of an animal, she says, urging the industry to take advantage of this to better prepare their animals for health challenges. She also speaks about feed additives, which was discussed across many presentations.

Much of Dr Gonzalez-Vega’s graduate work is on calcium digestibility, and she works a lot with amino acids. Dr Bradley and her speak about the importance of digestibility in removing antibiotics and high levels of zinc in the industry, and the tools available to help producers.

Earlier webinars on swine production

In the previous weeks, Pig Progress published earlier episodes of the Real P3 podcast series:

• The prologue of the podcast series;
• Episode 1: Mihaela Angheluta, Denmark;
• Episode 2: Christine Snowden, Ohio, United States;
• Episode 3: Johan Odendall, Zimbabwe;
• Episode 4: James Lamb, North Carolina, United States;
• Episode 5: Dr Wayne Johnson, China;
• Episode 6: Colin Twomey, Ireland;
• Episode 7: Paul Faris, United States;
• Episode 8: A recap of 2020;
• Episode 9: Angie Krieger, United States;
• Episode 10: Henry Silva, United States;
• Episode 11: Shannon Dierking, United States
• Episode 12: Sanne Baden, Denmark;
• Episode 13: Brian Strobel, United States;
• Episode 14: Nii Odoi, Ghana;
• Episode 15: Pieter Beerens, the Netherlands;
• Episode 16: Steven Payne, South Africa.