Breeding also needs scientific feeding. Sometimes the quality of pigs fed by farmers is not as good as their growth. This situation is generally caused by the low conversion rate of feed. It is not allowed to add all kinds of feed and additives blindly. Therefore, in the process of feeding, farmers need to pay attention to the conversion rate of feed. Only by improving the conversion rate of feed, can the value of feed be brought into play. Potassium diformate can improve feed conversion.

Potassium diformate contains 35.4% formic acid, 34.6% formate and 30% potassium. Paulicks et al. (1996) conducted a dose titration test to evaluate the effect of increasing PD level on the performance of growing piglets. 0,0.4,0.8,1.2,1.6,2.0,2.4 and 2.8% of potassium diformate were added to the diets based on corn soybean. Potassium diformate group increased the average daily gain by 13%, daily intake by 9% and feed conversion rate by 4%. Compared with the untreated group, adding 2% PD increased body weight by 22%. According to the maximum addition level registered by the European authorities of 1.8%, weight gain can be increased to 14%.

Potassium diformate is registered as a non antibiotic growth promoter designed to replace antibiotics in feed and ensure consumers access to safer products. Therefore, it is necessary to compare the benefits of using potassium diformate with the effects of conventional feed antibiotics. Tylosin is one of the commonly used feed antibiotics in pigs. Danielsen (1998) compared the growth performance of pigs treated with antibiotic growth promoter tylosin or PD. The experiment included a control group, three PD levels (0.6%, 1.2%, 1.8%), a combined treatment group with 40 ppm tylosin and 1.8% PD and 150 ppm copper, in which the weight of 1.8% PD and 40 ppm tylosin groups increased by 40%. The food intake and FCR of 1.8% PD group were also improved. The results showed that PD could replace feed antibiotics and had no negative effect on animal performance. Previous studies have shown that PD can significantly improve the growth performance of animals, and to some extent, it can be compared with common antibiotics. The antibacterial property of PD is the main factor affecting the growth performance.

The effect of organic acids in potassium diformate on growth performance is not only related to the adverse effect of organic acids on microorganisms, but also related to the reduction of intestinal PH value. In addition, acid anion has a positive effect on the intergrowth of intestinal flora. All of these effects reduce intermediate metabolism and help to improve growth performance. The improvement of nutrient utilization is partly due to the reduction of competition for nutrients by microorganisms, but also due to the more effective digestion of nutrients by enzymes. Roth et al. (1998) reported that supplementation of 1.8% PD increased the digestibility, mainly reflecting the changes in the activity of intestinal microflora. Since about 80% of the nitrogen in the feces comes from microorganisms, their results show that PD supplementation can reduce the amount of fermentable nutrients entering the hindgut by improving enzyme digestion in the small intestine. They also suggested that it might improve carcass lean by making it easier for amino acids to deposit proteins in the body. Partanene and Mroz (1999) pointed out that low-quality protein sources have a greater effect on improving protein digestibility than high-quality ones.

Therefore, potassium diformate can improve animal weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion rate. In addition, it has become an effective substitute for feed antibiotics with its excellent performance and health care performance. The effect on microflora is considered to be the main mode of action, and there is no risk of microbial resistance; it reduces the incidence of E.coli and Salmonella in meat products, and contributes to food safety.