Innovations in feed and nutrition cover efficiency, profitability, environmental footprint, animal health and welfare.

What's new in swine innovation? A number of the latest advances are showcased this week, June 11-13, at the Alberta Pork Congress in Red Deer. Visit the Country Junction Feeds team, at booth locations #198 &199 to learn more:

1. New level of swine solutions

Swine operations are seeing the latest advancements take a major step forward, in line with today's tightened sustainability demands, to bring more options for producers, nutritionists and others in industry, to get more efficiency and value from production systems. In addition, consumers are continuing to influence feed approaches in regard to their attitude toward the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), antibiotic-free and no-antibiotics-ever production, the rise of organics, food and feed safety, animal welfare concerns and sustainability.

“This is simply the new normal,” says Dr. Nancy Fischer, a nutritionist Country Junction Feeds, citing the push for transparency, quality assurance and aligning values in animal production. “Society and consumers are having more influence and they have questions and expectations that they want answers to and assurances about. The feed industry needs to be prepared to address those questions and expectations.”

To provide options for customers to meet the broad variety of today's demands and market opportunities, Country Junction Feeds delivers a wide range of feed and solutions to fit different production approaches, including tailored solutions for different stages of life and both conventional and niche market opportunities.

“We take pride in being proactive in offering the latest advantages in feed and nutrition solutions, technology and strategies,” says Darrel Kimmel, manager of Country Junction Feeds. Today Country Junction Feeds facilities are fully antibiotic-free, ionophore-free and provide a full range of both conventional and certified organic feed options to an expanding customer base across Canada and the U.S.. Country Junction Feeds specializes in quality bulk and bagged feeds for beef, dairy, equine, poultry, swine, goat, lamb and more.

In addition, Country Junction Feeds recently announced a new agreement that will further expand its capacity and resources: Feedstuffs magazine: Country Junction Feeds to acquire Edmonton feed mill.

2. Top-shelf animal care options - reducing costly stress loss

Country Junction feeds also offers DeStress -- a feed supplement product based on emerging concept of nutritional therapy for livestock. This unique supplement is available in a tailored version for swine and shows substantial advantages involving the application of the latest knowledge in nutrition science to promote health, welfare and productivity.

A major focus of the product is protecting pigs from the damaging effects of stress experienced in a variety of situations, such as transport, handling, regrouping, parturition and weaning. The science foundation underlying DeStress comes from many years of research on stress effects in livestock led by veteran agriculture research scientist Dr. Al Schaefer, based in Lacombe, Alberta.

"DeStress is an extensively researched tool that gives producers and industry a new way to support animal welfare while improving economics at the same time," said Schaefer, science lead for DeStress Nutritional Technology. "It's an excellent fit with the pressures livestock sectors face today." Learn more on the DeStress website.

3. Advanced solutions for piglets

As a pioneer in natural solutions, Country Junction feeds also offers Nurs-ette, a product line that includes milk replacers and additional young animal nutrition options, including advanced solutions for piglets.

“Milk replacers and related young animal nutritional strategies have come a long way,” says Ken Nyback of Canadian Nurs-ette.“The level of customization and sophistication for different species and needs is much higher across the board compared to even just a few years ago. Ingredient sourcing and product formulation have seen a lot more attention and improvement to ensure top quality, efficacy and ease of use.

"The opportunities to optimize energy and nutrients have advanced greatly, with solutions that are better absorbed and utilized by the animals.” Learn more on the Nurs-ette website.