Lee-Anne Huber Position/Title: Associate Professor email: huberl@uoguelph.ca Phone: (519) 824-4120 ext. 53347 Office: ANNU 225

Lee-Anne Huber was raised on a mixed farm of beef cattle and pigs and attended the University of Guelph with the intention of becoming a large animal veterinarian. She always enjoyed working with pigs and during her bachelor’s degree, discovered the world of swine nutrition research. Her passion for research led her to pursue swine research through graduate degrees and a post-doctoral fellowship in biomedical science at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Academic History

• B.Sc. Animal Biology, University of Guelph (2010)
• M.Sc. Swine Nutrition, University of Guelph (2012)
• Ph.D. Swine Nutrition & Physiology, University of Guelph (2016)

Partnerships 

• Ontario Pork 
• Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA)
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
• Various feed companies and feed ingredient manufacturers 

Research Impact 

Lee-Anne's research aims to provide practical feeding recommendations for swine that are founded in biology. As such, Lee-Anne has developed precision feeding programs for gestating and lactating sows that more closely match the estimated (daily) nutrient and energy requirements and improve sow productivity. Lee-Anne has also generated feeding recommendations for late-gestating sows aimed at maximizing mammary development and milk production in the subsequent lactation period, which have been implemented on commercial farms in Canada and the United States. 

Current Research Projects 

Examining amino acid utilization in reproductive sows

The amino acid methionine is used for protein synthesis, which makes muscle proteins, milk proteins or is used to grow piglets inside the sow. Methionine is also very important for other functions, such as creatine synthesis. If a gestating sow is not receiving enough methionine for both protein synthesis and its other purposes, the piglets are at risk for having poor performance or developing metabolic disease. This research will try to quantify amino acid requirements based on measuring protein and non-protein requirements to eventually formulate diets more precisely. This project is funded by Ontario Pork, NSERC, OMAFA, and Adisseo.   

Maximizing mammary development in late gestation

A significant amount of mammary development occurs in sows during the final third of gestation. As such, the diet must provide sufficient nutrients to support and enhance mammary development in order to maximize milk production capacity in the subsequent lactation period. This research will try to generate feeding recommendations that support both fetal and mammary development in late gestation. This project is funded by Ontario Pork, NSERC, and OMAFA. 

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from swine

Pigs also produce greenhouse gases via breath, farts, and during manure storage. This research will design environmental rooms that can accurately quantify greenhouse gas emissions from pigs and the manure, while also exploring diet and animal effects on nutrient utilization efficiency and corresponding environmental emissions. This project is funded by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Pork, and OMAFA. 

Graduate Student Information 

Lee-Anne knows that research would not be possible without the work of graduate students and believes they are the engines that run the lab. Lee-Anne recognizes that each student has their own needs in an advisor and mentor, and she likes to determine what each individual student’s working style is to be able to provide the required guidance. She meets with her students each week to discuss progress to ensure her students don’t get stuck on problems that she can help them resolve. She also likes to roll up her sleeves and go to the barn to help with the dirty work.

Selected Research Contributions *Denotes students of the PI

• Kloostra*, V, Farmer, C, Huber, L. 2025. Standardized ileal digestible lysine intake by gilts should be increased in late gestation to maximize whole-body nitrogen retention, piglet birth weight, and subsequent milk yield. JAS. 103 (suppl. 1), 33-34. doi:10.1093/jas/skaf102.036.
• Gregory*, N, Huber, L. 2025a. The standardized ileal digestible lysine-to-net energy ratio in the diets of primiparous sows to optimize maternal nitrogen retention is dynamic but piglet performance is unaffected. JAS. 103: skaf168. doi:10.1093/jas/skaf168.
• Gregory*, N, Huber, L. 2025b. Meeting the estimated daily optimal standardized ileal digestible lysine-to-net energy ratios for first and second parity lactating sows improved piglet growth rates. TAS. 9: txaf070. doi:10.1093/tas/txaf070.
• Gillies*, CR, Farmer, C, Huber, L. 2025. Supplying standardized ileal digestible lysine via soybean meal below estimated requirements for late gestating gilts does not negatively affect mammary development. CJAS. 105: 1-7. doi:10.1139/cjas-2024-0121.
• Christensen B*, H Schulze, EG Kiarie, L Huber. 2024. Dose–response of inactivated yeast in diets of late gestating and lactating gilts on immunoglobulin transfer and offspring preweaning growth performance. JAS. 102: skae177. doi: 10.1093/jas/skae177
• Gregory N*, L Huber. 2024. Blending gestation and lactation diets during the transition period reduces energy mobilization by sows in late gestation, with no impact on subsequent lactation performance. TAS. 8: txae096. doi: 10.1093/tas/txae096
• Gregory N*, C Farmer, R Friendship, L Huber. 2023. The effect of moderate energy and protein restriction during gilt development on body composition and subsequent lactation performance. JAS. 101: 1-11. doi: 10.1093/jas/skac351
• Huber L, C Zhu, L Hansen*, C Kozole*, CJ Munoz Alfonso*, J Mark* et al. 2022. Standardized ileal digestible amino acids and digestible energy contents in two modified soy protein concentrates and soybean meal fed to growing pigs. TAS. 6: 1-6. doi: 10.1093/tas/txac088  
• Christensen B*, C Zhu, M Mohammadigheisar, H Schulze, L Huber, EG Kiarie. 2022. Growth performance, immune status, gastrointestinal tract ecology and function in nursery pigs fed enzymatically treated yeast without or with pharmacological levels of zinc. JAS. 100: 1-14. doi: 10.1093/jas/skac094
• Farmer C, MF Palin, RC Hovey, TD Falt, L Huber. 2022. Dietary supplementation with lysine (protein) stimulates mammary development in late-pregnant gilts. JAS. 100: 1-11. doi: 10.1093/jas/skac051
• Christensen B*, L Huber. 2022. The effects of creep feed composition and form and nursery diet complexity on small intestinal morphology and jejunal mucosa specific enzyme activities after weaning in pigs. JAS. 100: 1-8. doi: 10.1093/jas/skac138
• Hansen*, LL, Stewart, V, Mandell, IB, Huber, L. 2021. Precision feeding gestating sows: effects on offspring performance and carcass and loin quality at slaughter. TAS. 5: txab227. doi:10.1093/tas/txab227.
• Stewart*, V, Buis, RQ, Christensen, B, Hansen, LL, de Lange, CFM, Mandell, IB, Huber, L. 2021. The effect of precisely meeting estimated daily energy and lysine requirements for gestating sows over three consecutive pregnancies on sow reproductive and lactation performance. TAS. 5: txab226. doi:10.1093/tas/txab226.
• Huber, L., Hooda, S., Fisher-Heffernan, R. E., Karrow, N. A., & Lange, C. F. 2018. Effect of reducing the ratio of omega-6-to-omega-3 fatty acids in diets of low protein quality on nursery pig growth performance and immune response. Journal of Animal Science. doi:10.1093/jas/sky296
• Huber, L., Rudar, M., Trottier, N. L., Cant, J. P., & Lange, C. F. (2018). Whole-body nitrogen utilization and tissue protein and casein synthesis in lactating primiparous sows fed low- and high-protein diets1. Journal of Animal Science,96(6), 2380-2391. doi:10.1093/jas/sky047
• Huber, L., C. F. M. de Lange, C. Ernst, U. Krogh, and N. L. Trottier. 2016. Impact of improving dietary amino acid balance for lactating sows on efficiency of dietary amino acid utilization and transcript abundance of genes encoding lysine transporters in mammary tissue. J. Anim. Sci. 94:1-12.
• Huber, L., C. F. M. de Lange, U. Krogh, D. Chamberlin, and N. L. Trottier. 2015. Impact of feeding reduced crude protein diets to lactating sows on nitrogen utilization. J. Anim. Sci. 93: 5254-5264.
• Huber, L., E. J. Squires, and C. F. M. de Lange. 2013. Dynamics of nitrogen retention in entire male pigs immunized against gonadotropin-releasing hormone. J. Anim. Sci. 91:4817-4825.