New Prairie Swine Centre Scientist Adds to Pig Nutrition Expertise

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

Just a few weeks ago, the Prairie Swine Centre announced a research project that would provide significant insight into how pigs use the energy they get from canola. The research scientist leading this project is Dr. Pascal Leterme, a Belgian who has been with the centre for less than a year.

Dr. Leterme is in charge of the Nutrition Department at the Prairie Swine Centre. He deals with the nutritional evaluation of the ingredients in swine feed, and how they are used in swine nutrition. This project will also look at the possible effects of the ingredients on gut health and the excretion of nitrogen into the environment.

"Our aim is to formulate diets that reduce the impact of pork production on the environment,” he says.

Initially, Dr. Leterme’s team was studying peas to determine their nutritional value. With some financial help from the Saskatchewan and Alberta pulse growers associations, his team collected pea samples from across the Prairie region, with a wide range of chemical compositions. The team will determine the nutritional value of the peas in weanling and growing pigs and in sows in order to optimize their use in swine nutrition.

The recently announced canola project, which is being funded by the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission and the Canola Council of Canada, has similar aims.

"We will determine the nutritional value in growing pigs. In sows, we will determine the value of canola meal, but also of the benefits of using full seeds," he explains.

Dr. Leterme also has a third project under way that is funded by a private company in Belgium. That company buys 100,000 tons of flax seed a year from Canada to produce soap and detergent from the oil, but then flaxseed meal remains. At the moment, the market for flaxseed meal is saturated in Europe. Leterme is investigating whether there is any advantage to using flax meal in swine rations. Flax is the richest plant source of secoisolariresinol diglycoside, which hogs convert into phytoestrogens, and may have some benefits for the sows’ reproductive systems.

“We will be working on flaxseed meal, but the idea of 'functional feeds' is something we want to develop not only for flax, but also for peas, canola and other food products used in the Prairies,” he says.

Dr. Leterme brought with him an impressive list of credentials when he moved to Saskatchewan nine months ago. He came to Canada from the National School of Veterinary Medicine in Lyon, France, where he taught animal production. Prior to that, he was in South America at the National University of Colombia, where he was in charge of a new research laboratory in animal nutrition. His research, which was partially funded by the Belgian government, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Volkswagen Foundation, led to the development of a program in sustainable pork production for small farmers. Prior to that, he conducted swine nutrition research in Belgium.

What does he think of his new work environment?

“I like it here because there is a strong relationship between the research sector and the private sector. It is more developed than in Europe, where I worked mostly in public institutions. It seems that here, there is a stronger relationship between public institutions and private companies.”

Given this, it is likely we will hear from Dr. Leterme regularly, as he helps develop sustainable hog production practices in Saskatchewan through his contributions at the Prairie Swine Centre.

For more information, contact:

Pascal Leterme, PhD
Research Scientist – Nutrition
Prairie Swine Centre
(306) 667-7445
pascal.leterme@usask.ca
http://www.prairieswine.ca