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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:
Management Practices that Optimize Productivity in the Nursery – Case Studies on What Works!
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on April 3, 2007 | No Comments
The nursery is a critical point for pigs, and having a consistently healthy group can improve overall barn performance. Producing good weaned pigs depends on the sow operation. Good herd health and biosecurity, and strong herd productivity are important considerations. Nursery pigs should be uniform in size and immunity, and be at a known age. Good preparation will reduce the stress on pigs entering the nursery. The room should be properly cleaned, dried, and temperature, drinkers, and feeders adjusted. Sorting is generally inefficient, but the smallest pigs and sick pigs can be separated. The first 4 days are the most crucial, and attention and intervention should be applied early on to those that are not eating. Nursery feed is expensive, so budgeting and feeding age appropriate diets should be done to receive the most benefit while maintaining costs.
Managing Reproduction – Critical Control Points in Exceeding 30 Pigs Per Sow Per Year
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Reaching 30 pigs weaned/sow/year (PSY) remains a goal of many producers, and is used as a comparison number between pig producing countries. It can be achieved through many strategies, but the basics are to have healthy, fertile sows, proper insemination, reduced non-productive days, and high weaning rates. Of all the variables involved in PSY, the length of weaning to conception to first oestrus usually has potential for reduction. By maintaining sow weight throughout lactation sows can be bred sooner, and have more success in their next pregnancy. Although little change has been made to the general sow reproductive cycle, the knowledge of the timing has improved which can aid technicians in knowing when to breed. Ensuring successful insemination relies on proper technician training, and proper storage of viable semen. Non-productive days can be minimized by keeping sows healthy and in good body condition, detecting heat, and aggressive culling strategies. The number weaned can be increased by increasing litter size through genetics, or by reducing pre-weaning mortality. Reducing pre-weaning mortality can be helped by providing proper nutrition and temperature control, and by intervening when necessary. Herd health through maintain strict biosecurity is important because a disease outbreak can greatly reduce PSY, and can take a significant amount of time to recover from. Climate change can have an impact on PSY as hotter conditions tend to reduce productivity. This is especially true for sows housed outdoors. Through proper management the 30 PSY goal is achievable for individual producers, and is expected to be reached by a country average in the future.
Alternative Energy Sources – What We Learned from European Technology and a Practical Look at Possible Ontario On-Farm Applications
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An on-farm methane digester can provide a farm with the opportunity to become more self-sufficient. Income from the digester can come from heat, electricity, tipping fees, and digestate. Tipping fees can come from nutrients with large amounts of methane and little cost to access, or from nutrients with little methane that someone will pay to dispose of. Digestate can be used as fertilizer as the nutrients remain unchanged, and it contains less bacteria and odor than manure. The costs associated with producing electricity can potentially come from being charged more to buy back electricity from the grid, inflation, and metering systems. Utilizing the heat produced is another issue. The heat can be used in the barn, but a second business such as a drying or greenhouse operation could be established. Tipping fees have problems associated with volume. Low methane nutrients take up a lot of volume in the tank, and the use of non-traditional organics requires additional equipment and permits. The main problem with digestate is storage and transportation. By charging to cover the costs of transportation the digestate can be disposed of off-site, but demand may be low especially in off seasons. The various benefits and challenges of managing a digester need to be closely considered before installation.
New Tools to Make Genetic Progress
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Phenotypic selection and EBV have mainly been used to select breeding stock, but genetic knowledge could allow for selection of traits with low heritability and traits that are difficult to measure. Molecular genetics may be the technology that is able to provide selection for traits in a more convenient and accurate way, and earlier in the animal’s life. Molecular genetics have allowed many genes to be mapped, and genetic markers identified. These genetic markers can be used for marker-assisted selection, and can help identify genes that are related to economic improvements through breed-cross genome scans and candidate gene associated studies. Although some genes have been identified, many more remain unknown. Pig genome sequencing has begun, but the full sequencing would allow for further advancements and understanding. Sequencing analyzes the genome of one individual, so for genetic selection SNPs identify a large number of markers used for selection, and technology advancements have reduced the cost and time of doing so. Until the genome is sequenced, genetic selection can be done by using a combination of markers and EBV. Genetic selection is further complicated by the fact that research mainly uses purebred pigs, whereas commercial barns often use crossbreeds. To overcome this, selection on effects of markers can be used. Genetic selection could provide increased accuracy for selection, and with molecular technology and sequencing becoming more advanced and available it is soon to be a reality.
New Tools to Manage Variability Throughout the Pork Production Chain
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Variation in market weights can lead to decreased profit, and should be managed if possible. The amount of allowable variation in market weights depends on what range the packer is willing to accept. Seasonal variation results in lower market weights in late winter and spring, but the market prices tend to be higher at this time as well. Variation is hard to reduce in system after the system has been established, so steps to manage should be taken instead. One of the ways to manage variation is to sort the pigs at market. Visual sorting and sorting by days after placement are not very effective, so to accurately sort pigs they should be weighed. This can be time consuming, but auto-sort barns can help reduce the time and labour needed. Increasing the growth rate of the entire group does not reduce variation, but does increase the growth of the slowest growing pigs. Increasing the growth rate can be done through various methods including genetics, dietary formulation, and weaning management. Finally, increasing the packer sort window can manage variation, as a narrow window is costly to producers. Redesigning the production system to reduce variation can utilize some of the tools available. Segregated parity flow, high-health status, split-sex housing, increased and constant weaning age, opportunity barns to separately raise small pigs, increasing the weight gain of the smallest pigs, using sires with similar indexes, feeding multiple diets to a group, providing adequate water, and using Paylean are all technologies that can be used in designing a system to reduce variation. Large litter sizes have also resulted in decreased and variable birth weights. Birth weights can be increased through genetics or by specific dietary nutrients to the sow’s feed.
Recruiting and Training Employees
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Hiring and keeping good employees depends on having effective recruiting and training methods. For recruiting, the start is to have a detailed job description that will give applicants clear expectations. Producers should be aware of competing industries in the area, create a recruiting strategy, and have a human resource service provider. Skill can be taught to new employees, but attitude is harder to do so. However, managers can help workers fit into the company culture, and should be willing to train those with little experience to draw people into the industry. Employee retention can be improved by offering job satisfaction through how they’re treated, fair wages, providing hours that maintain a work-life balance, and having possible career advancements.
Managing Reproduction – Fact and Folklore
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The goal of many swine barns is to reach production levels of 30 pigs/sow/year, and producers are often promised this through various reproductive strategies. Gilts can have puberty induced earlier by PG600, which limits their non-productive days before first breeding. However, this can result in a low body condition score after lactation, and increased time between weaning and estrus. The best method seems to allow gilts to achieve puberty naturally, and to select gilts that have a strong and timely first heat. Early culling should be avoided if possible, and one way to improve this is to select for sows with strong, health legs and udders, and by monitoring condition through lactation. Conception rates can be improved by proper temperature control for semen storage, heat checking twice a day – preferably with a boar present – and allowing the technician breaks every 7-8 sows. Farrowing room interference varies depending on barn management strategies, but generally gilts and high parity sows will require more intervention. For lactating sows, the amount of feed given is less important than maintaining her appetite throughout lactation. Despite many studies on the subject, lactation feed intake still has no clear relationship with the next litter performance. However, poor body condition at the end of lactation will result in a delay of estrus, and more non-productive days. The worth of fostering will depend on the production system. It may not be worth the time in an all-in all-out system, or if disease is present. If it is used, runts will have greater success, and smaller litters can be held back for an extra week. Early weaning (under 18 days) can result in the sow having delayed estrus, and greater embryonic mortality. Generally, weaning at 3-4 weeks benefits litter and sow performance, unless the disease risk is increased by keeping the litter with the sow. Stockmanship remains important to productivity, as individual care and positive interactions can improve reproductive performance.
Benchmarking… Show Me the Money!
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This paper is on a producer’s experience participating in the benchmarking group, CIPHER, and how it differed from benchmarking within their production group. The CIPHER group results showed their facility to be lower in profit and higher in cost than other participants, and they depopulated and repopulated to resolve this.
Benchmarking… Show Me the Money!
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Benchmarking is useful to see how a producer is doing compared to his peers, but it is important to compare the same thing. Variables, units, and production size and system should be similar. The best way to start is with a few variables, and defined guidelines (i.e. when a sow is part of the breeding herd). The Ontario Data Analysis Project can be a benchmarking tool for income, expenses, and budget sheets for swine enterprises.
Key Measures of Performance in the Growing Finishing Barn for Informed Decision Making
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Record keeping for grow-finish sows has recently started to improve, but it is important to focus on the aspects that show a clear summary of performance. Some of the useful measures are growth performance, market pig information, mortality, feed usage, facility utilization, expenses, and inventory. Data collection should not be overwhelming, but accuracy and consistently collecting and recording it are important. A clear data management system is also necessary. Once data is collected it can be summarized in graphs, used for comparisons, and used to set goals or identify areas to improve. Management strategies should be reviewed regularly and changed as necessary. Some of these changes can include diet, use of Paylean, feed budgets, treatments like medication, vaccines, and in-food antibiotics, and marketing plans. As well, building considerations like room/barn preparation, maintenance, supplies, ventilation, and feed and water availability should be revised when needed. Proper management deserves recognition, and using measures like feed efficiency can overlook factors that are out of the employee’s control. Collecting grow-finish pig data can help give a view of the overall barn performance, and can highlight management strategies that can be improved.