Real-time control of pig growth through an integrated management system (IMS)

Integrated management systems (IMS) for pigs offer the prospects of optimising meat production and minimising nitrogenous pollution through closed-loop control of pig growth by nutritional control (Whittemore, et al., 2001). Such an IMS requires a real-time sensor system, a nutritional model which is optimised in response to data collected in by the sensor system, and a control system which uses forward predictions of the model to predict the nutritional regime required to satisfy growth and pollution targets. An experiment was carried out to determine the accuracy to which a novel IMS system can direct pig weight gain and fatness towards preset targets through nutritional control.