An adaptive feed additive that powers the diet through improving energy and amino acid digestibility for grower and finisher pigs enabling feed costs to be reduced, has been launched by DuPont.

DuPont™ Syncra® SWI, a highly researched and tested solution, should enable pig producers to maximise feed efficiency and achieve consistent growth performance for sustainable profitability, according to the company.

“We enter a new era with Syncra® SWI – a feed additive that delivers an adaptive and consistent protease/probiotic (direct-fed microbial, DFM) solution for grower and finisher pigs,” said Arno de Kreij, the company’s global swine segment manager.

“In the past, disappointing results with products have made pig producers rightly sceptical of feed additives outside of phytase. However, the proven reliability of Syncra® SWI brings the long-awaited performance and profitability solution that swine producers need,” he said.

DuPont scientists have found that the new product delivers consistency too, with 75% of Syncra® SWI animal trials showing a feed conversion ratio (FCR) improvement of more than 3%, thus reducing costs of production.

In America, when applied to a corn/soy/DDGS-based diet for grower-finisher pigs, producers achieved cost savings per short ton of $5.00 to $13.00.

The product also delivers energy and amino acid digestibility for pigs, powered by the probiotic’s agile enzyme-production, working in harmony with the protease.

As a live and responsive organism, the multistrain probiotic adapts its enzyme production profile to the available substrate in the pig’s small intestine, enabling the same additive to degrade substrate in many different feed ingredients, thus powering the protease component.

This solution strengthens gut barrier and stimulates short-chain fatty acid production in the hind gut, contributing to enhanced gut health.

Furthermore, the probiotic in Syncra® SWI consists of spore-forming Bacillus strains that are highly stable to heat and processing, allowing unstable enzymes, which would not normally survive pelleting or the stomach, to be delivered safely to pig’s small intestine, where they are needed to break down substrate.