The economic viability of L-arginine supplementation in diets for sows in the lactation phase

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the economic viability of L-arginine supplementation in diets for sows during the lactation phase. A descriptive case study was carried out to identify the economic viability of the supplementation of L-arginine in the lactation ration, in relation to the control diet, on the productive performance of hyper prolific sows and their litters. The study was carried out on a commercial farm located in the state of Minas Gerais. It analyzed feasibility criteria such as the marginal physical product (MPPg) and gross margin (GM) in the scenario of technical and economic efficiency, which were compared to the GM in the control group. Technical efficiency was established at 0.71% of L-arginine in daily feed intake according to previous fieldwork by the authors, while economic efficiency obtained in this study was 0.43% supplementation. The relationship between the L-arginine price and the sale price of the piglets directly determined the economic viability, compared to the control group. Thus, initially considering the price of a piglet as R$ 9.76/kg, the cost of L-arginine should not exceed 6.61 times this value; that is, it is estimated at up to R$ 64.50. Therefore, at the final price of L-arginine of R$ 54.88, a piglet should be sold at a price of R$ 8.30/kg to make the supplementation of L-arginine in the diet of lactation-phase swine economically possible.

摘要 本研究旨在评估泌乳期母猪日粮中添加L-精氨酸（L-arginine）的经济可行性。本研究采用描述性案例研究方法，探究相较于对照日粮，泌乳日粮中添加L-精氨酸对高产母猪及其窝产仔猪生产性能的影响，并分析该添加方案的经济可行性。本研究在位于米纳斯吉拉斯州的一处商业化猪场开展。研究分析了技术与经济效率情景下的边际实物产量（marginal physical product, MPPg）、毛利率（gross margin, GM）等可行性评价指标，并将其与对照组的毛利率进行对比。根据作者此前的实地调研结果，技术效率设定为每日采食量中L-精氨酸占比0.71%；而本研究得出的经济效率对应的L-精氨酸添加比例为0.43%。与对照组相比，L-精氨酸的采购价格与仔猪销售价格的直接关系决定了该添加方案的经济可行性。因此，当仔猪售价设定为R$ 9.76/千克时，L-精氨酸的成本不应超过该价格的6.61倍，即最高约为R$ 64.50。因此，当L-精氨酸最终售价为R$ 54.88时，仔猪售价需达到R$ 8.30/千克，方可使泌乳期母猪日粮添加L-精氨酸的方案具备经济可行性。