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Industry Partners
Prairie Swine Centre is an affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan
Prairie Swine Centre is grateful for the assistance of the George Morris Centre in developing the economics portion of Pork Insight.
Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:
Benchmarking and Feed Budgeting
Posted in: Economics, Pork Insight Articles by admin on April 1, 2009 | No Comments
Benchmarking is useful for self-comparisons, and for comparisons within a peer group or to industry averages. One of the useful applications of benchmarking is for feed budgeting, especially attempting to reduce feed costs. It will allow production and financial information to be traced while single variable changes are made, for example, reducing the time spent on the most expensive diet. Benchmarking requires accurate and consistent data input, but the return of information can be well worth the time.
Nursery Improvement – Practical Tips
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Typically creep feeding is useful when the litter size is larger or weaning age is later, but younger weaned pigs may be able to benefit from creep feeding as well. As the number of pigs consuming creep feed increases, the post-weaning feed intake also improves. In one study, pigs that consumer creep had 0.4kg increase in post-weaning gain, so improving the number of pigs consuming creep can help improve performance. Pigs can be encouraged to eat creep feed by introducing it earlier, and using highly digestible feed to improve gain. The increased pre-weaning weight can result in a cost benefit ratio of 3:1 to 9:1. Often a walk through by a specialist can also help identify areas in which the nursery feeding management can be improved.
Sow Feeding Management During Lactation
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Larger litter sizes and higher body weights in modern sows mean they must produce more milk, but also have higher maintenance requirements. In order to support maintenance and lactation the feed intake of sows should be maximized during lactation, but this can be affected by feeding regimes during other phases and by other factors during lactation. Dry sows should not be overfed and should be fed based on BCS, as overweight sows will have reduced lactation feed intake and other health issues which can lead to earlier culling. After farrowing, feed allowance should rapidly increase and sows should be fed multiple meals to allow them to eat at their leisure. Sows should be fed to appetite, which is close to ad libitum. Room temperature should be a compromise between keeping piglets warm (26-30°C) and keeping sows comfortable (12-20°C), one way is to provide heat lamps for piglets and to keep the room slightly cooler (around 20°C). Heat stress in sows can result in lower milk production, and piglets may need to be supplemented with milk or creep feed. Water availability, flow, and quality are all important to maintain sow appetite. Feed intake is also affected by the care sows receive from people, and comfort of the sow from crate, feeder, and drinker design.
Zoonotic Diseases From Pigs
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Zoonotic diseases are transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans. To be a zoonotic disease the animal carrier may or may not have clinical symptoms, and the disease needs to be naturally transmissible. Modern pork production has different risks than those of less developed areas, and this paper will only look at modern production diseases. The diseases examined will be classified as foodborne or occupational zoonoses. Salmonella is one of the most common foodborne illnesses. Swine show clinical symptoms with only 3 of the strains, so surveillance and quality assurance programs can be used to monitor for other strains throughout the production chain. Y. enterocolitica has 6 biotypes, 5 of which are human pathogens, and 11/60 serotypes which cause clinical symptoms in humans. In Ontario, the majority of confirmed cases were linked to pork, and finishing pigs can often shed the pathogen. Toxoplasma gondii is a worldwide parasite. Cats are the definite host and support the sexual cycle, and the asexual cycle can occur in all warm-blooded animals. Human infection can be asymptomatic or can have a severe impacts up to death. Toxoplasmosis is not a concern in swine, however it can be found on pork products. Campylobacter primary is a foodborne pathogen through poultry, but can come from swine as well. The influenza virus is one of the major occupational zoonoses with swine. H3N2 and H1N1 strains and their reassortments can be found in swine herds, and there remains concern that a highly pathogenic strain could be transmitted from avian to swine to humans. Streptococcus suis is another occupational zoonoses, but only serotype 2 of the possible 35 serotypes can cause illness in humans.
The USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System
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The USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) collects data on swine herd production numbers, management, and herd health approximately every 5 years. The NAHMS commodity study consists of 5 phases. The Needs Assessment Phase uses focus groups and surveys to determine which specific issues should be addressed. The Study Design Phase determines which states, the sampling number, and which data collection instruments are to be used. The Study Implementation Phase involves staff training, promotion, and execution of the data collection plan. The Study Analysis Phases generates descriptive and inferential estimates, and possible publications of the inferential estimates. Finally, the Information Dissemination Phase distributes the information gained from the study through full reports, short information sheets, and presentations. The Swine 2006 study collected data on baselines for diseases and disease agents, management, disease modeling, and surveillance systems through two interviews and the collection of blood and/or fecal samples. In 2007 a Swine Small Enterprise study was conducted, and the focus was on pseudorabies and classic swine fever risk from feral swine. Some of the problems NAHMS encounters with voluntary studies include difficulty in finding interviewees due to the use of contractors or confidentiality agreements, avoiding over-surveying participants, and communication between the various agencies, offices, and representatives involved in the study.
Benchmarking and Tools to Maximize Profit
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Benchmarking is useful on various scales, and for both production and financial comparisons. Agri Stats allows for monthly benchmarking for swine producers, and currently has finisher and sow barns participating. Benchmarking requires continuous input of data, but producers can gain perspective on how their facility compares and where it can improve. Agri Stats can breakdown financial performance, so producers can see which area is behind. More general production numbers, such as pigs/sow mated/year, are more useful for comparison than highly detailed production numbers, as production numbers do not necessarily equate profit.
Lowering Feed Costs
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Feed costs remain (and are expected to remain) the major cost in pig production. In Great Britain, the cost of producing 1kg of meat is higher than other major pork producing countries, and they also have lower production levels. In the UK, reducing feed costs is complicated by variables that are hard to control due to the production system used. This includes lack of environmental control due to semi-intensive housing, use of straw, the use of old housing or large group housing, and disease. Feed costs can be reduced by reducing wastage, competition for nutrients, or increasing feed utilization. Competition for nutrients can be from disease presence, fungi such as fusarium, and yeast or bacteria in feed. Improper nutrient utilization can occur due to feed formulation imbalances, inaccurate nutritional values, and particle size. Some of the basic requirements of increasing daily feed intake are to have feed in the feeder when the pig wants it, have the feed accessible, have adequate feeder space, placing the feeder to avoid fouling, uniformly blending feed, and controlling formulation changes to avoid anti-nutritional factors. Other considerations include having strategies to counter the effects of hot weather, being aware of breed-specific feed intake curves, running feed intake trials regularly, and monitoring of ingredient changes in different loads for liquid feeding. The use of co-products in feed can help reduce costs, although there are problems to consider before incorporating them into a diet. The nutrient profile is not always consistent and can deteriorate in storage, storage tank uniformity needs to be monitored and controlled, the nutrient profile should be analyzed regularly, co-products may be less palatable, co-products can carry contaminants, and handling may be challenging.
Pork Production Versus Consumer Demands
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Canada’s pork industry relies heavily on exporting, so the rise of the Canadian dollar, rise of feed costs, increased global production, and lack of competiveness by processors has had a large impact on the industry. Niche markets offer an opportunity to increase consumer demand. These markets can include pork that is local, free range, antibiotic free, natural, naturally raised, organic, or breed specific. DuBreton’s genetic division, Genetiporc, is a leader in herd health, and integrates research and development and company benefits into the vertical chain. DuBreton also utilizes programs to produce organic or natural pork to cater to niche markets.
Fine Tuning Nursery Management to Optimize Production Costs
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Weaning age and weight can impact a pig’s lifetime performance, so weaning management can impact the barn’s production and economic return. Increased weaning age from day 12 to 21 can result in increased profit by $1.00-1.25 per pig, and increasing weaning weight by 1kg can increase growth by 40-45g/day. The day 20 weight gain also can be used as an indicator of future performance, and increasing feed intake during the first week can help improve this. Feed intake can be improved by reducing the amount of stress from disease and management. Adequate water intake should not be neglected, as the beginning of water intake from a drinker may be correlated with the beginning of feed intake. Water access and wastage both need to be considered when choosing a drinker, and drinkers should be adjusted to the proper height throughout the nursery phase. Water flow and quality should be tested, and supplementations, flavour, or globulins can be added. Proper nursery temperature should be maintained at the pigs’ level, and daily variation should be minimized. Studies on nursery photoperiod are still minimal, but the ones conducted have shown an effect on feed intake, ADG, and immune functioning by altering lighting regimes. Feeders should be chosen to permit group eating and minimize competition, which is achieved by the traditional dry multi-space feeder. Feeder coverage should be closely managed, and mat feeding can be used for the first 3 days post-weaning. Group size appears to have little effect as long as density is maintained, and density should be chosen at the level that brings the greatest return. Genetics, air quality, and litter mixing can are also parts of nursery management. Finally, for feeding strategies offering and increasing intake of creep feed, high quality starter diets, and up to 5 days of gruel feeding can all help to improve nursery performance.
Managing Highly Prolific Sows
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Hyperprolific sows require different management, and come with different benefits and consequences than less prolific sows. Country effects are management or herd features that occur due to a country’s cultural impact on production. France and Denmark are two countries with hyperprolific sows, and a country effect in both is the use of prostaglandins to induce farrowing. In France, prostaglandins are widely used, but in Denmark they are banned. Hyperprolific herds may have litter sizes that exceed functional teats on the sows, so sow selection has been used to increase the percent of sows with 16 teats. Management tactics have to be changed with hyperprolific sows to manage increased preweaning mortality and overcrowding issues. As well, as litter size increases the number of piglets with low birth weight (<1kg) will increase. However, mortality may not be entirely dependent on birth weight, but may involve maturity and vitality also. Feeding management of hyperprolific sows is another aspect for producers to consider. Overfeeding through gestation appears to have no consistent effect, and overfeeding during the last week before farrowing seems to show a positive effect. Batch farrowing is a management strategy that can be used, and is used in France. Altrenogest can be used to synchronize ovulation in a batch, and prostaglandins can be used to synchronize farrowing in batches. One consequence of hyperprolific sows is the increased use of cross-fostering, which can be overused and lead to wide variation in piglets origins in each litter. Hyperprolificy can increase profits, but at this point it is probably wise to focus on other herd aspects including reducing preweaning mortality.