Performance, carcass responses and economic implications of feeding high-protein distillers grains to commercial pigsABSTRACT
An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of high-protein distiller's dried grain (HP-DDG) on performance and carcass traits of growing and finishing pigs. A total of 1,750 pigs were allotted in a completely randomized block design into five treatments, 14 replicates, and 25 pigs in each experimental unit. The treatments consisted of: T1) 0 % of HP-DDG, T2) 4 % HP-DDG, T3) 8 % HP-DDG, T4) 12 % HP-DDG, and T5) 16 % HP-DDG. The parameters assessed were average feed intake (AFI, kg), body weight (BW, kg), average daily gain (ADG, kg), feed-to-gain ratio (F:G, kg kg−1), hot carcass weight (HCW, kg), backfat thickness (BFT, mm), muscle depth (MD, mm), and soft lean tissue (SLT, %). Data were submitted to analysis of variance (ANOVA, p < 0.05), and linear and quadratic regressions were undertaken. The AFI, F:G, HCW, BFT, MD, and SLT were not influenced by treatments (p > 0.05). The ADG from 78 to 98 days of age (p < 0.001) and in the overall period (p = 0.040) linearly decreased as HP-DDG increased in diets. BW at 98, 133, and 166 days of age showed a linear effect (p < 0.05), while BW at 118 days of age showed a quadratic effect (p = 0.0454) with the inclusion of HP-DDG in diets. In conclusion, the dietary inclusion of HP-DDG up to 16 % does not adversely affect AFI, F:G, and carcass characteristics of growing and finishing pigs, but it impairs ADG in the growing phase and BW on days 98, 118, 133, and 166.
Keywords
HP-DDG; Fiber Separation Technology; bioethanol co-products; growing and finishing swine; sustainability
Introduction
Ensuring food security while minimizing negative environmental impacts is one of the greatest challenges in food-animal production (Shurson, 2018). Thus, the use of bioethanol co-products in animal nutrition is an attractive strategy to enhance sustainable production. Brazil, one of the major bioethanol producers, has traditionally depended upon sugarcane as the primary feedstock. Nevertheless, the production of ethanol derived from corn (Zea mays L.) has become increasingly significant in recent years (Pippo and Alves, 2022).
The fermentation process in corn-based ethanol production generates several co-products that can be used in the diet of swine (Shurson, 2018). Among these co-products, the distiller's dried grains (DDG) and DDG with solubles (DDGS) are notably important on account of their high nutritional values, with concentrated content of crude protein (CP), lipids, and fiber (Shurson, 2018). However, the nutritional composition of both co-products differs considerably, especially in terms of CP content, with DDGS ranging from 25.7 to 29.6 % CP, whereas DDG contains 38 % CP or higher (Shurson, 2018). In addition, there is also a wide variation within the nutritional values of DDG, which is related to the technology adopted during the corn-based ethanol production process (Shurson, 2023).
Fiber Separation Technology™ (FST; ICM Inc.) is a process that removes fiber from the corn before fermentation to ethanol. This crucial step allows ethanol plants to concentrate the amount of fermentable starch within their fermenters, thereby increasing their capacity for ethanol production and throughput. Consequently, plants utilizing FST can achieve increased ethanol production capacity, greater corn oil separation, and reduced natural gas use (Shurson, 2018). As a result, a high-protein distiller's dried grain (HP-DDG) is produced, a product characterized by the partial removal of fiber and oil to concentrate the protein, with no condensed distillers’ solubles present (Dias et al., 2023; Shurson, 2023). HP-DDG produced through FST technology in Brazil has been compared with a conventional HP-DDG imported from the United States and produced using similar technology. Results indicated that the Brazilian HP-DDG had higher metabolizable energy, crude protein, and digestible amino acids content than the American HP-DDG (Paula et al., 2021). This further emphasizes the importance of conducting studies with HP-DDG produced in Brazil, as there are limited studies with DDG compared to DDGS. Moreover, studies carried out abroad may have limitations in their applicability to Brazilian conditions.
In the present study, we hypothesized that HP-DDG produced through FST technology in Brazil may be included in diets for growing and finishing swine without affecting their growth performance and meat quality. Thus, our study aimed to investigate the effects of Brazilian HP-DDG produced through FST technology on the performance and carcass quality of growing and finishing pigs.
Materials and Methods
Ethics committee
The experimental procedures adopted in the present study were previously approved by the Ethics Commission on the Use of Farm Animals at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa under protocol number 08/2024. This approval was granted in accordance with the regulations issued by the Brazilian National Council for the Control of Animal Experimentation.
Experimental design
The experiment was conducted in the experimental sector of Primato Cooperativa Agroindustrial in the city of Marechal Cândido Rondon in the state of Paraná, Brazil (24°33'40" S, 54°03'12" W, altitude 420 m). For this study, a total of 1,750 from a Pig Improvement Company (PIC) genetic line (337 × Camborough; PIC), being 875 females (26.31 ± 0.27 kg at 65 days old) and 875 immuno-castrated males (25.25 ± 0.24 kg at 65 days old), were obtained from the nursery sector of the Primato Cooperativa Agroindustrial. The pigs were allocated on a completely randomized block design based on sex (male and female) to five treatments, with 14 replicate pens per treatment (seven replicate pens of males and seven replicate pens of females). Each block (n = 2) consisted of 35 pens (experimental unit) with 25 pigs in each pen, making a total of 70 pens. Male and female pigs were housed in the same facility but were placed in separate pens measuring 4.0 × 7.0 m, allowing for a stocking density of 1.12 m2 per pig. The experiment was conducted over a single continuous period of 101 days, from 65 to 166 days of age. The house was equipped with individual and group weighing scales, temperature control through automated curtains, rectangular stainless-steel feeders (Crystal Spring Hog Equipment), slatted floors, and nipple drinkers.
Experimental diets
All diets were formulated to meet or exceed the nutritional requirements of swine according to Rostagno et al. (2017) for the following phases: grower 1 (65 to 78 days), grower 2 (78 to 98 days), grower 3 (98 to 118 days), finisher 1 (118 to 133 days), finisher 2 (133 to 147 days), and finisher 3 (147 to 166 days). Two basal diets (BD) were formulated to achieve dietary levels of HP-DDG at 0 % (BD1) and 16 % (BD2) for each rearing phase (Tables 1 and 2). The treatments with 4 %, 8 %, and 12 % HP-DDG were obtained by combining 75 % BD1 with 25 % BD2, 50 % BD1 with 50 % BD2, and 25 % BD1 with 75 % BD2, respectively. Thus, the treatments consisted of: T1) 0 % of HP-DDG, T2) 4 % of HP-DDG, T3) 8 % of HP-DDG, T4) 12 % of HP-DDG, and T5) 16 % of HP-DDG. The HP-DDG was sourced from a Brazilian company (FS Fueling Sustainability Inc.) and produced through FST technology (ICM Inc.). Samples of HP-DDG were sent to the laboratory for composition analysis (Table 3). The feed was provided ad libitum through a robotic feeding system (Roboagro) with four daily feed additions in the grower phases (06h00, 09h00, 13h00, and 16h00) and five daily feed additions in the finisher phases (06h00, 09h00, 11h00, 14h00, and 17h00). The pigs had free access to water throughout the experiment.
Ingredients and composition of basal diets (BD): BD1 without high-protein distiller's dried grain (HP-DDG) inclusion and BD2 with 16 % of HP-DDG for the grower 1, grower 2, and grower 3 phases, as-fed basis.
Ingredients and composition of basal diets (BD): BD1 without high-protein distiller's dried grain (HP-DDG) inclusion and BD2 with 16 % of HP-DDG for the finisher 1, finisher 2, and finisher 3 phases, as-fed basis.
Analyzed composition of high-protein distiller's dried grain (HP-DDG) produced through Fiber Separation Technology™, as fed-basis.
For each feeding phase, 500 g samples of each dietary treatment were collected during feed production, directly from the mixer. Samples were identified by feeding phase and treatment number and stored for further analysis. Analyses were conducted at the Primato laboratory and included CP, ash, and moisture content (Tables 1 and 2).
Growth performance
Animals, offered feed, and leftovers were weighed at 65, 78, 98, 118, 133, 147, and 166 days of age to calculate the average feed intake (AFI, kg d−1), the body weight (BW, kg), the average daily gain (ADG, kg d−1), and the feed-to-gain ratio (F:G, kg kg−1). In the case of mortality, AFI was adjusted by removing the deceased animal from the experimental unit and weighing the feeders to calculate AFI from the day of death. Subsequent AFI calculations did not consider the deceased animal.
Slaughter procedures
At 166 days of age, all pigs were fasted for 6 h at the farm and transported to the Frimesa Slaughterhouse located at 95 km of distance from the experimental sector. In the slaughterhouse, the pigs were weighed to obtain live weight and then were gas-stunned using CO2 at 89 % for 160 s. Posteriorly, the pigs were bled for 3 min using a knife to make a 5 cm cut at the jugular furrow in the medial neckline to sever the large vessels (arteries, carotids, and jugular veins). After slaughtering, the hot carcass weight (HCW, kg) was measured and divided lengthways into halves. Carcasses were classified then measured using the UltraFom 300 ultrasound device (SFK Technology A/S). The UltraFom 300 probe was applied to the left half-carcass to measure backfat thickness (BFT, mm) and the depth of the musculus longissimus dorsi (mm) at a standard anatomical site 7 cm lateral to the exposed midline surface, between the third and fourth last ribs. These two biometric measurements were used as predictor variables to estimate the soft lean tissue (SLT, kg), following Eq. (1) described by Fortin et al. (2004):
where, SLT is the estimated soft lean tissue in kg, BFT, the subcutaneous fat thickness in millimeters, and MD, the depth of the longissimus dorsi muscle in millimeters. The estimated SLT was then divided by HCW and multiplied by 100 to obtain the SLT percentage (%).
Statistical analysis
Data had been previously submitted to check the assumptions of homogeneity of variance using the Bartlett Test, and the normality of residuals using the Shapiro-Wilk Test. After checking these assumptions, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a significant level of 5 % was then carried out to test for differences between the treatment means. When differences were observed, regression analyses were done to evaluate the response of the dependent variables to increasing levels of HP-DDG inclusion in diets. Both linear and quadratic models were tested. Additionally, BW was included as a covariate in the analysis of ADG, but only in cases where its effect on the dependent variable was statistically significant (p < 0.05).
Results
The effects of dietary HP-DDG levels on the growth performance of pigs are shown in Table 4. Differences in BW were observed as the trial progressed. At 78 and 147 days of age, BW revealed no differences between treatments (p > 0.05). However, on days 98, 133, and 166, BW decreased linearly as HP-DDG increased from 0 to 16 % in the diets (p < 0.05). The linear models fitted were BW at 98 days = 53.7546 − 0.1344 × HP-DDG (R2 = 0.8643); BW at 133 days = 93.1130 − 0.1381 × HP-DDG (R2 = 0.7823); and BW at 166 days = 133.3044 − 0.1405 × HP-DDG (R2 = 0.7132). Additionally, at 118 days of age, BW exhibited a quadratic response to HP-DDG inclusion (p = 0.0454), with the BW model at 118 days = 75.3802 + 0.0692 × HP-DDG − 0.0140 × HP-DDG2 (R2 = 0.9513), and an estimated optimal inclusion level of 2.47 % HP-DDG based on the first derivative.
Means of body weight (BW), average feed intake (AFI), average daily gain (ADG), and feed-to-gain ratio (F:G) of male and female growing and finishing pigs fed different dietary high-protein distiller's dried grain (HP-DDG).
Dietary HP-DDG levels affected the ADG during the grower two phase from 78 to 98 days of age (p < 0.001) and the overall period from 65 to 166 days of age (p = 0.0400). In both phases, the ADG decreased linearly with increasing HP-DDG levels from 0 to 16 %. The linear models fitted were ADG from 78 to 98 days = 0.9287 − 0.0046 × HP-DDG (R2 = 0.8685); and ADG from 65 to 166 days = 1.0637 − 0.0130 × HP-DDG (R2 = 0.7134). No differences in ADG were observed during other phases (p > 0.05). Additionally, neither AFI nor F:G were affected by dietary HP-DDG levels during the assessed phases (p > 0.05).
The effects of dietary HP-DDG levels on carcass quality are shown in Table 5. The dietary increase of HP-DDG did not influence HCW, MD, BFT, and SLT in kg or percentage (p > 0.05).
Means of hot carcass weight (HCW), muscle depth (MD), backfat thickness (BFT), and soft lean tissue (SLT) of male and female growing and finishing pigs fed different dietary high-protein distiller's dried grain (HP-DDG).
Discussion
Recent studies have reported the negative effects of dietary HP-DDG inclusions on pigs' performance in the initial stages of production, although it seems not to influence the subsequent phases. The dietary inclusion of HP-DDG from 0 to 30 % in nursery pig diets resulted in linear decreases in the AFI and ADG, which resulted in worse F:G (Yang et al., 2019). In the grower phase, inclusion levels ranging from 0 to 40 % HP-DDG in the diets reduced the BW, ADG, and AFI although it did not affect the F:G. In contrast, during the early finisher and finisher phases, the inclusion of HP-DDG (0-30 % and 0-20 %, respectively) did not influence any of the performance parameters (Widmer et al., 2008). Similarly, increasing dietary HP-DDG levels from 0 to 30 % for growing and finishing pigs resulted in linear decreases in AFI and ADG in the grower phase whereas in the finisher phase only AFI was reduced, with no effect on ADG, which resulted in an improvement in F:G (Rao et al., 2021). Our results are partially consistent with those results, where we observed that the dietary inclusion of HP-DDG up to 16 % negatively affected ADG, but only during the grower phase two. As a consequence, when we assessed the overall period, the ADG also decreased linearly with increasing HP-DDG, which may have been influenced by the reduction in grower phase 2. In the subsequent phases, the dietary inclusion of HP-DDG up to 16 % did not influence AFI, ADG, or F:G.
In the present study, we also observed a reduction in BW of pigs fed HP-DDG up to 16 %, which can be attributed to the lower ADG observed in the grower phase. Interestingly, the BW of pigs continued to decrease as they were fed HP-DDG up to 16 % on days 118, 133, and 166, even though ADG was not affected in the subsequent phases. This reduction in BW can be attributed to the cumulative effect of the lower ADG observed during grower phase 2.
Conventional HP-DDG has significantly higher concentrations of standardized ileal digestible (SID) leucine (Leu) and lower concentrations of SID lysine (Lys) when compared to soybean meal (NRC, 2012; Calderano et al., 2024). Thus, the SID Leu-to-Lys ratio (SID Leu:Lys) may rise from approximately 130 % in corn and soybean meal-based diets to between 170 and 190 % in HP-DDG-based diets (Kriseldi et al., 2022). In the present study, the SID Leu:Lys ranged from 120 to 130 % in the diet with 0 % HP-DDG and ranged from 131 to 150 % in the diet with 16 % HP-DDG. SID amino acids concentrations were determined in corn HP-DDG produced through FST technology, with higher values observed for SID Leu (4.94 vs. 3.12) and lower values for SID isoleucine (Ile;1.24 vs. 1.87), SID valine (Val;1.69 vs. 1.95), and SID Lys (1.10 vs. 2.59) compared with soybean meal 45.6 % CP (Calderano et al.,2024; Motta et al., 2024). Thus, the dietary inclusion of HP-DDG as a replacement of soybean meal may lead to an increase in the SID Leu:Lys ratio and consequently cause an imbalance in the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) profile. The BCAA are structurally similar and share the first two steps of their catabolism: transamination and oxidative decarboxylation reactions (Bender, 2012). Studies have reported that an excess of BCAA, particularly Leu, may increase the activity of key enzymes of BCAA catabolism, the branched-chain aminotransferase and the branched-chain a-keto acid dehydrogenase, which consequently increases the degradation of the other BCAA (Smith and Austic, 1978; Wiltafsky et al., 2010). As a result, high dietary levels of Leu have been shown to have adverse effects on the growth performance of growing pigs because of an imbalance in BCAA (Cemin et al., 2019). An experiment was conducted to test the effects of excess dietary Leu on the growth performance of growing pigs. Increasing dietary SID Leu levels from 0.97 to 3 % linearly decreased ADG and AFI of pigs, which consequently worsened the F:G (Kwon et al., 2019). However, another experiment found no influence on the growth performance of finishing pigs when the dietary Leu increased from 1.18 to 2.66 %, indicating that excess dietary Leu is more damaging in the early stages of production, but is not an issue in the latter growth phases (Hyun et al., 2007). This outcome may explain why HP-DDG impaired ADG during the grower 2 phase only. Additionally, the supplementation of unbound L-isoleucine and L-valine in diets containing 16 % HP-DDG may have helped mitigate the adverse effects caused by excessive Leu, which could explain the lack of variation in ADG during the other phases.
Although HP-DDG is considered a reliable protein source with a good nutrient profile, there are differences compared to the major protein source, soybean meal, particularly in fiber content. HP-DDG contains approximately 6.87 % crude fiber, 30.1 % neutral detergent fiber, and 17 % acid detergent fiber, whereas soybean meal contains lower values of approximately 4.82 %, 11.6 %, and 7.07 %, respectively (Dias et al., 2023; Calderano et al., 2024). Corn co-product feedstuffs are characterized by their high dietary fiber content, which is composed of non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs) (Knudsen, 2014; Sanchez et al., 2021). NSPs are present mainly in primary or secondary plant cell walls and consist of both soluble and insoluble polysaccharides. Therefore, a high dietary inclusion of NSPs may encapsulate nutrients, which hinder their digestion and impede the effective diffusion of nutrients and digestive enzymes. As a result, NSPs form physical barriers that reduce nutrient digestibility and negatively impact digestive efficiency (Navarro et al., 2019). On the other hand, studies have shown that feeding a high-fiber diet to growing pigs increases BW and ADG in the form of an improvement in gut health (Jin et al., 2022). Our findings demonstrated that a higher dietary inclusion of 16 % HP-DDG reduced the ADG of pigs only in the grower phase 2, but did not affect the subsequent phases. The high fiber content could be an issue in nutrient digestibility during this phase, when the gut may not be fully developed. Additionally, the lack of results in the subsequent phases may be attributed to the presence of enzymes in premixes, although it was provided equally for all treatments.
Excessive dietary levels of HP-DDG appear to reduce HCW, likely due to the increased crude fiber content of the diets, which consequently increases gut fill and intestine mass in pigs (Stein and Shurson, 2009). The dietary increase of HP-DDG up to 30 % linearly decreased the HCW of growing-finishing pigs. However, the reductions were relatively mild between dietary levels of 0 % and 15 % HP-DDG in HCW (94.9 vs. 94 kg), becoming more pronounced when the animals were fed 30 % HP-DDG (92 kg) (Rao et al., 2021). Our findings are consistent with these results, which indicate a slight but not significant reduction in HCW when dietary HP-DDG increased from 0 % to 16 %. Additionally, the same authors found that BFT and the percentage of SLT were not influenced by increasing dietary HP-DDG levels up to 30 % (Rao et al., 2021), which corroborates the results of the present study, as neither BFT nor SLT differed between treatments.
A recent case study, using Aug 2021 as market data (1 USD = 5.24 BRL), evaluated the cost-benefit of including HP-DDG in pig diets when its price represented 82 % of soybean meal (0.43 vs. 0.53 USD kg−1, respectively) (Garbossa et al., 2025). Under this pricing context, diet costs without HP-DDG were reported as 0.48, 0.46, 0.44, 0.43, and 0.41 USD kg−1 for the grower 1, grower 2, grower 3, finisher 1 and finisher 2 phases, respectively. Using linear interpolation between diet costs reported at 10 % and 20 % HP-DDG inclusion, estimated costs at a 16 % inclusion level were 0.45, 0.44, and 0.42 USD kg−1 for the grower 1, 2 and 3 phases, and 0.41 and 0.39 USD kg−1 for the finisher 1 and 2 phases, respectively.
Applying these estimated costs to AFI data obtained in the present study, cumulative AFI per phase without HP-DDG was 16.98, 34.04 and 41.82 kg for the grower 1, 2 and 3 phases, and 38.84, 33.68 and 56.07 kg for the finisher 1, 2 and 3 phases, resulting in feeding costs of 8.07, 15.79, 18.44, 17.12, 14.34, and 23.22 USD (totaling 96.96 USD). For the 16 % HP-DDG inclusion scenario, cumulative AFI values were 16.64, 33.26 and 40.62 kg during the grower 1, 2 and 3 phases, and 38.30, 33.70 and 55.96 kg during the finisher 1, 2 and 3 phases, resulting in feeding costs of 7.46, 14.66, 16.98, 16.01, 16.63, and 22.00 USD (totaling 90.74 USD). Thus, feed cost per animal decreased by 6.23 USD when HP-DDG was included in diets.
However, based on the linear model for BW at 166 days of age, HP-DDG inclusion up to 16 % reduced final BW by 2.25 kg per animal. Considering an average market price of 1.32 USD kg−1 of live weight in Aug 2021 (Garbossa et al., 2025), this reduction corresponds to a decrease in revenue of 2.97 USD per animal. Therefore, even after accounting for this loss, HP-DDG inclusion still yielded a profit benefit of 3.26 USD per animal.
These findings demonstrate that HP-DDG can be an economically attractive and environmentally sustainable ingredient in swine production. Nonetheless, its use should be strategically evaluated considering fluctuations in ingredient prices, particularly soybean meal, exchange rate volatility, and farm proximity to ethanol plants, which can substantially influence the market value of HP-DDG.
In conclusion, the dietary inclusion of HP-DDG up to 16 % does not adversely affect AFI and F:G performance of growing and finishing swine during the stages of development. However, ADG linearly decreases as HP-DDG increases up to 16 % in grower 2 and the overall period, while no influence was observed in grower 1 and finishers 1, 2, and 3. Additionally, increasing HP-DDG in diets reduces BW on days 98, 118, 133, and 166. However, it does not affect carcass characteristics, showing no impact on HCW, BFT, MD, or SLT. These findings suggest that Brazilian HP-DDG, produced through FST technology, is a viable feed ingredient that supports sustainable production and may contribute to reducing feed costs. Nonetheless, producers and nutritionists must carefully evaluate the trade-off when including HP-DDG in pig diets, as several factors, such as commodity price fluctuations and live weight index, can influence profitability. Further studies on HP-DDG for swine are encouraged, particularly those focused on Brazilian sources, given the scarcity of data, variability among HP-DDG types, and growing interest in sustainable feed ingredients.
Declaration of use of AI technologies
Data availability statement
The data supporting the findings of this study are contained within the article.
Acknowledgments
In memory of Professor Luiz Fernando Teixeira Albino, a beloved friend, mentor, and adviser whose life had a significant impact on our personal and professional journeys. We devote our study to his enduring legacy in animal nutrition. We are eternally grateful for his teachings, guidance, and friendship throughout our lives.
The authors acknowledge the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for the financial support provided through graduate scholarships.
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