THE DETERMINATION OF OPTIMAL RATIONS FOR PIGS FED SEPARATED MILK AND GRAIN*

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Abstract
This paper demonstrates a procedure for determining economically optimal rations which avoids problems that arise in conventional analysis of experimental results. It consists of maximising a suitably constrained profit per unit time objective function, itself formed from functions obtained from pig fattening experiments under special Australian conditions. The relevant functions‐for consumption of milk and wheat, time to slaughter and percentage lean meatare first demonstrated, followed by a brief discussion of results obtained. Specifcally, it is noted that optimal diets differ according to whether the criterion adopted is profit per pig or profit per pig per week, that dairy farmers fattening pigs should feed substantial quantities of grain, and that the optimal diets are very stable to changing prices. More generally, the procedure avoids the statistical difficulties of conventional analysis of experiments arising from the estimation of weight‐gain functions based on actual quantities of food consumed.

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