Praise for professor’s contribution to the pig sector

By Dr Ramon Muns

Livestock Production Sciences Branch

Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute,

Hillsborough

PROFESSOR Fred Gordon has retired from the Pig Research Consortium between AFBI, Devenish Nutrition, John Thompson and Sons, and PCM. He was a member of the consortium since its constitution over 25 years ago.

Professor Gordon has been a leading figure in animal science research in Northern Ireland throughout his career. In 1996, he was instrumental in bringing together key players in the industry to form a Pig Research Consortium. The consortium aimed to bring together industry expertise and research capacity to address current and future challenges of the Northern Ireland pig sector.

After over 25 years of being a leading member and chair, Prof Gordon retired from the consortium in April.

To mark the occasion and celebrate his leading role in the Pig Research Consortium and wider contribution to the

Northern Ireland pig sector,

Prof Gordon was pre-

sented with a com-

memorative certific-ate in the presence of current and past members of the consortium.

Over the years,

the work conduct-ed by the Pig Research Consortium has dr-

iven down phosph-orus levels in diets, reducing phosphorus content of pig slurry; has investigated the cost-benefit of non-soya protein sources, currently of key interest to reach a net zero carbon economy; and has driven down nitrogen excretion of fattening pigs through crude protein and amino acid manipulation.

A seminar on ‘Nutritional Solutions to Environmental Challenges’ was organised by the consortium in October 2020. You can watch a recording of the seminar from www.afbini.gov.uk/articles/afbi-pig-events

Currently, the consortium is focusing on the optimisation of sow gestation diets composition and feeding management to reduce overall crude protein/nitrogen intake while maintaining a

high reproductive per-formance.