COMPARISON OF BARLEY CULTIVARS IN DIETS FOR GROWING-FINISHING PIGS

Abstract

One-hectare plots of two-row (Fairfield, Fergus and Klages) and six-row (Bonanza, Klondike and Peguis) barley cultivars were seeded on fallow. Seed yields, kg dry matter/ha, ranged from 4374 (Peguis) to 6425 (Fairfield) in 1977 and from 3028 (Klages) to 4871 (Fergus) in 1978. Protein (N × 6.25) contents were lower in 1977, 11.3 to 13.1 vs. 13.1 to 14.3% of dry matter. During the following winters, each cultivar was used as 87.5% of a standard diet fed ad libitum to eight pigs from approximately 25 to 93 kg liveweight. Within feeding trials I and II, growth rates (averaging 798 ± 19 and 786 ± 24 g/day, respectively), efficiencies of feed conversion (EFC) and carcass measurements were not significantly (P > 0.05) affected by cultivar. However, the trend for diets based on two-row cultivars to be superior in EFC was supported by their higher apparent digestibilities of energy (80.8 vs. 71.8%) and of nitrogen (73.5 vs. 65.7%) in the 1978 diets. A palatability study using these diets indicated the pigs’ preference for two-row over six-row barleys.