Two studies were undertaken to determine the feeding value of high-moisture barley (HMB) for growing swine. HMB containing approximately 25% moisture and dry barley (approximately 13% moisture) was harvested from the same 21.8-ha field. On a dry matter (DM) basis, the HMB yielded 19.6% more than the dry barley. In the first experiment, 56 crossbred gilts and 24 crossbred barrows of an average initial weight of 28 kg were allocated on the basis of initial weight and sex to diets based on either anaerobically stored HMB or dry barley. Pigs fed the HMB-based diet consumed significantly more feed (P < 0.05) on a DM basis, than did pigs fed the dry-barley-based diet. Average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) were not affected by diet (P > 0.05). In the second experiment, eight barrows (57.6 kg initial weight), fitted with ileal T-cannulas, were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square to determine the apparent ileal digestibilities of nutrients in diets based on ground or rolled HMB (75% DM) and ground or rolled dry barley (87% DM). There were no differences (P > 0.05) among the four treatment groups in the apparent ileal digestibilities of the DM, CP, gross energy, starch or β-glucan components of the diets. The average ileal digestibility coefficient for β-glucan of the four diets was 79.6% (range: 76–82.2%), suggesting that this component is readily digested by growing pigs. The apparent ileal digestibilities for neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and phosphorus were lower (P < 0.05) for the ground dry barley diet than for the other diets. The apparent ileal digestibilities of lysine, methionine, isoleucine, alanine, valine, and aspartic acid were significantly higher (P < 0.05) for the ground HMB diet than for the dry barley diets. However, the digestibility coefficients for lysine, isoleucine, valine, and aspartic acid for the rolled HMB diet tended to be intermediate between the digestibility coefficients of these amino acids for the ground HMB diet and those for the dry barley diet. Thus, earlier harvest, in combination with anaerobic storage generally improves the digestibility of HMB as compared to dry barley. Key words: Growing swine, high moisture barley, β-glucan, digestibility, amino acid
