Evaluating the economic viability of growing winter hybrid rye to feed and bed organic pigs
The high production cost is one of the biggest challenges to the sustainability of organic pig production. Growing winter hybrid rye to feed and bed organic pigs might be a strategy to reduce production costs. In this study, we evaluated the economic viability of integrating rye into an organic swin...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Animal Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2025.1566483/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849714889083322368 |
|---|---|
| author | Yuzhi Z. Li Yuzhi Z. Li Megan Kavanagh Megan Kavanagh William F. Lazarus Gabriella Lima Gabriella Lima Adrienne M. Hilbrands Melissa Wilson Axel Garcia y Garcia Axel Garcia y Garcia Joel Tallaksen Lee J. Johnston Lee J. Johnston |
| author_facet | Yuzhi Z. Li Yuzhi Z. Li Megan Kavanagh Megan Kavanagh William F. Lazarus Gabriella Lima Gabriella Lima Adrienne M. Hilbrands Melissa Wilson Axel Garcia y Garcia Axel Garcia y Garcia Joel Tallaksen Lee J. Johnston Lee J. Johnston |
| author_sort | Yuzhi Z. Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The high production cost is one of the biggest challenges to the sustainability of organic pig production. Growing winter hybrid rye to feed and bed organic pigs might be a strategy to reduce production costs. In this study, we evaluated the economic viability of integrating rye into an organic swine production system. Winter hybrid rye was grown organically over two years, yielding an average of 5,430 kg/ha of grain and 3,135 kg/ha of straw. Replacing 50% of corn with rye grain in feed and using rye straw as bedding materials did not negatively impact growth performance of organic growing-finishing pigs. This replacement resulted in $14/pig savings on feed and bedding and increased net return for a swine enterprise (swine savings) by $6/pig, compared with feeding corn soybean meal diets and bedding with wheat straw. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to evaluate how crop net returns may vary with changes in market prices, yield, and production costs of a rye crop. Results indicate that for farmers to be profitable by growing rye as a cash crop, the minimal price of rye grain needs to be $0.24/kg at a yield of around 5,000 kg/ha with production costs of $1,642/ha. Growing rye to feed and bed organic pigs can offset crop net returns, resulting in $319 to $666/ha of crop net returns and swine savings for the combined crop and swine enterprise. These results suggest that integrating hybrid rye into organic swine production is economically viable under the circumstances described in this study and can benefit both crop and pig farmers. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9d225fba5c6e47bd90f16dfa5fa34349 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2673-6225 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Animal Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-9d225fba5c6e47bd90f16dfa5fa343492025-08-20T03:13:33ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Animal Science2673-62252025-07-01610.3389/fanim.2025.15664831566483Evaluating the economic viability of growing winter hybrid rye to feed and bed organic pigsYuzhi Z. Li0Yuzhi Z. Li1Megan Kavanagh2Megan Kavanagh3William F. Lazarus4Gabriella Lima5Gabriella Lima6Adrienne M. Hilbrands7Melissa Wilson8Axel Garcia y Garcia9Axel Garcia y Garcia10Joel Tallaksen11Lee J. Johnston12Lee J. Johnston13West Central Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota, Morris, MN, United StatesDepartment of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, United StatesWest Central Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota, Morris, MN, United StatesDepartment of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, United StatesDepartment of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, United StatesWest Central Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota, Morris, MN, United StatesDepartment of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, United StatesWest Central Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota, Morris, MN, United StatesDepartment of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, United StatesDepartment of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, United StatesSouthwest Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota, Lamberton, MN, United StatesWest Central Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota, Morris, MN, United StatesWest Central Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota, Morris, MN, United StatesDepartment of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, United StatesThe high production cost is one of the biggest challenges to the sustainability of organic pig production. Growing winter hybrid rye to feed and bed organic pigs might be a strategy to reduce production costs. In this study, we evaluated the economic viability of integrating rye into an organic swine production system. Winter hybrid rye was grown organically over two years, yielding an average of 5,430 kg/ha of grain and 3,135 kg/ha of straw. Replacing 50% of corn with rye grain in feed and using rye straw as bedding materials did not negatively impact growth performance of organic growing-finishing pigs. This replacement resulted in $14/pig savings on feed and bedding and increased net return for a swine enterprise (swine savings) by $6/pig, compared with feeding corn soybean meal diets and bedding with wheat straw. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to evaluate how crop net returns may vary with changes in market prices, yield, and production costs of a rye crop. Results indicate that for farmers to be profitable by growing rye as a cash crop, the minimal price of rye grain needs to be $0.24/kg at a yield of around 5,000 kg/ha with production costs of $1,642/ha. Growing rye to feed and bed organic pigs can offset crop net returns, resulting in $319 to $666/ha of crop net returns and swine savings for the combined crop and swine enterprise. These results suggest that integrating hybrid rye into organic swine production is economically viable under the circumstances described in this study and can benefit both crop and pig farmers.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2025.1566483/fullcosts and returnsorganic agriculturepigsryesensitivity analysis |
| spellingShingle | Yuzhi Z. Li Yuzhi Z. Li Megan Kavanagh Megan Kavanagh William F. Lazarus Gabriella Lima Gabriella Lima Adrienne M. Hilbrands Melissa Wilson Axel Garcia y Garcia Axel Garcia y Garcia Joel Tallaksen Lee J. Johnston Lee J. Johnston Evaluating the economic viability of growing winter hybrid rye to feed and bed organic pigs Frontiers in Animal Science costs and returns organic agriculture pigs rye sensitivity analysis |
| title | Evaluating the economic viability of growing winter hybrid rye to feed and bed organic pigs |
| title_full | Evaluating the economic viability of growing winter hybrid rye to feed and bed organic pigs |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the economic viability of growing winter hybrid rye to feed and bed organic pigs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the economic viability of growing winter hybrid rye to feed and bed organic pigs |
| title_short | Evaluating the economic viability of growing winter hybrid rye to feed and bed organic pigs |
| title_sort | evaluating the economic viability of growing winter hybrid rye to feed and bed organic pigs |
| topic | costs and returns organic agriculture pigs rye sensitivity analysis |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2025.1566483/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yuzhizli evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT yuzhizli evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT megankavanagh evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT megankavanagh evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT williamflazarus evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT gabriellalima evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT gabriellalima evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT adriennemhilbrands evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT melissawilson evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT axelgarciaygarcia evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT axelgarciaygarcia evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT joeltallaksen evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT leejjohnston evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs AT leejjohnston evaluatingtheeconomicviabilityofgrowingwinterhybridryetofeedandbedorganicpigs |