Utilizing Integrated Solutions to Decrease Nursery Pig Diarrhea Rates

Hangzhou Huarui Feed Co., Ltd. has approximately 7,000 sows on multiple farms located near the Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. Huarui has worked with Cargill for 10 years on full life-stage nutrition.

Huarui was experiencing a 20% diarrhea rate in nursery pigs across their seven pig farms. This caused an 11% increase in medication costs, an additional two hours of veterinary care per day, a higher feed conversion rate and slower growth, which in turn slowed barn turnover. Altogether, this caused a substantial negative economic impact.

Huarui turned to Cargill for cutting-edge technology, quality products and technical service after a lack of results from other sources. Cargill experts listened carefully to the challenges and visited the sites. Together, they re-assessed the nutrition plan and production practices.

The resulting recommendations included implementing the Cargill health management program, changing rations to include higher quality, premium products and targeted on-farm solutions. Working closely with the technical service team at Cargill, Huarui also adjusted the temperature, moisture and ventilation in barns. To track impact, Cargill also organized meetings to review the improvement plan’s progress, monitor product performance and provide training for Huarui farm staff.

Since implementing these changes, medication use has decreased, the average weight at 70 days has increased 20%, and the diarrhea rate went down from 20% to 5% – and even eliminated in some barns. By investing in young animal nutrition, Huarui has generated an additional 1.2 million RMB in revenue.

Huarui credits Cargill for playing a critical role in solving the diarrhea problem on their farms. Instead of simply selling feed, the holistic Cargill approach directly addressed their pain points with integrated solutions and excellent customer service. Cargill experts also provided comprehensible knowledge on animal nutrition and nutrient demand at different growth stages.

By working with Cargill, Huarui was reminded that optimal production performance comes not only from high-quality nutrition, but also from sound farm management with support from a trusted partner. They realized the value of data to identify production problems and develop accurate improvement plans.

“Cargill young animal nutrition products are the best we’ve used,” the CEO of Huarui said. “And the service team from Cargill is professional and can really solve practical problems.”