Five experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP) and spray-dried bovine plasma (SDBP) and their various molecular weight fractions on performance of pigs weaned at approximately 14 or 21 d of age. In addition, the efficacy of various levels of the immunoglobulin G (IgG)-rich fraction of SDPP and SDBP were evaluated. Experiment 1 evaluated the dietary addition of SDPP and three of its fractions (IgG-rich, albumin-rich, and low molecular weight fractions). Pigs fed SDPP grew faster and consumed more feed than the controls during the first week (P < 0.05). The IgG-rich fraction resulted in improvements in ADG and ADFI that were similar to those of pigs fed SDPP. The albumin-rich fraction had no effect on growth rate, but the low molecular weight fraction decreased feed intake as well as growth rate. Experiments 2 and 3 evaluated SDPP and graded levels of its IgG-rich fraction in pigs weaned at 21 or 14 d, respectively. In Exp. 2, pigs fed SDPP grew faster and consumed more feed than the controls during the first week (P < 0.05). Pig performance was enhanced with the addition of the IgG-rich fraction that provided 80% of the amount of IgG in the SDPP diet. In Exp. 3, there was no response to SDPP during the first week, but a positive growth response to SDPP (P < 0.01) occurred by the end of wk 2 (0 to 14 d). Feeding the IgG-rich fraction increased growth rate compared with controls (P < 0.05). Over the entire experiment, the greatest ADG occurred with the IgG-rich fraction that provided 128% of the amount of IgG provided by SDPP (quadratic; P < 0.05). Two additional experiments assessed feeding SDBP and bovine IgG-rich fractions to early weaned pigs. In Exp. 4, SDPP was superior to SDBP in stimulating growth and feed intake, but this difference did not occur in Exp. 5. In both experiments, the IgG fraction of bovine plasma seemed to be as effective at improving growth as SDPP and more effective than SDBP. The results indicate that both porcine and bovine plasma are beneficial to young pig performance during the first week after weaning and that the IgG fraction of plasma is the component that is responsible for the enhancement in growth rate and feed intake.

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of alpha-galactosidase supplementation and acidification of diets on nutrient digestibility and growth performance of broiler chicks. In experiment 1, dietary treatments consisted of feeding a low-energy basal diet (2.74 Mcal of ME/kg) alone, the basal diet supplemented with 1,724 units of alpha-galactosidase per kg, the basal diet supplemented with 2% citric acid, or the basal diet supplemented with both. alpha-Galactosidase significantly increased feed intake, weight gain, AME(n) of the diets, and retention of CP and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (P < 0.05). Citric acid significantly increased the retention of DM, CP, and NDF, but decreased feed intake and weight gain. The greatest values for DM and NDF retention and for AME(n) were obtained with the combination of alpha-galactosidase plus citric acid. In experiment 2, chicks were fed diets with 2 levels of energy (2.74 or 3.11 Mcal/kg), 2 levels of citric acid (0 or 1.5%), and 2 levels of alpha-galactosidase (0 or 1,724 units/kg) in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. alpha-Galactosidase significantly increased the reducing sugar concentration in the crop content, whereas citric acid decreased the pH and increased the reducing sugar concentration in the crop content. Citric acid decreased the gain to feed ratio in the absence but not in the presence of alpha-galactosidase. The data from these studies indicate that acidification of diet improves the efficacy of alpha-galactosidase.

THE ECONOMY IS ALWAYS VULNERABLE to a variety of external influences or shocks that have important impacts on income, employment, and prices. While these external shocks are unforeseeable and unavoidable, economic policy must somehow deal with their consequences.Lately an alarming number of upward jolts to prices have come from sources beyond the normal interaction of production, wages, and prices. One was the relative decline in the value of the dollar following the abandonment of the system of fixed exchange rates, which raised the prices of imported goods and contributed to the rise in farm prices as exports competed with domestic consumption. A number of other events shook the economy at about the same time. Crop failures in the Soviet Union resulted in a gigantic sale of American grain. The Peruvian anchovy catch mysteriously Note: The views expressed in this paper are our own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Board or its staff. We want to thank members of the Brookings panel for their many constructive comments on an earlier version of this paper. 13 1. While fiscal policy can, and probably should, play an important role in combating the effects of external shocks, this paper will deal only with monetary policy.