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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:
Assessing the Impact of the Exchange Rate and Its Volatility on Canadian Pork and Live Swine Exports to the United States and Japan
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2002 | No Comments
How Feed Evaluation and Feed Intake Are Related
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Voluntary feed intake of pigs determines nutrient intake levels and thus has a great impact on efficiency of pork production. Adequate feed intake is hard to maintain on many farms and is then an important factor limiting productivity. Stressors (for example, hot temperature, increased stocking density and reduced health status) together with genotype influence feed intake and thus growth. Furthermore, dietary factors, including energy density, deficiencies or excesses of nutrients, antibiotics, flavours, feed processing, and availability of water influence feed intake. Differences in intake of pigs fed different batches of ingredients have rarely been described. The spectrum of factors that affect voluntary feed intake is very broad. The purpose of this paper is to highlight some of these factors, to describe issues relating feed intake to feed evaluation, and to give an overview of feed evaluation research at Prairie Swine Centre. Various stressors influence voluntary feed intake in swine. Stressors can be grouped into environmental (temperature, humidity, air circulation, etc), social (space allocation, group size, re-grouping, etc.), and immunological (disease, pathogen concentration, etc.) factors. The DE content of feed appears to be an important factor to determine feed intake of grower-finisher pig, and determination of DE content of individual ingredient samples is thus important. Ingredient factors other than DE content may play a role as well. Because feed intake is the ultimate driver of pig performance, and thus the barn throughout, this is a critical area of future research.
Using Records to Optimize Breeding Herd Productivity and Weaned Pig Cost
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Ultimately, measuring the efficiency of productivity of the sow herd involves pigs/sow/year (in which this article shows several methods of determining this). The number of females served into a breeding group is dependent upon the size of four
Sub-populations in the herd: (1) weaned sows, (2) opportunity sows, (3) females that return to estrus following mating (recycles), and (4) gilts in the available pool. 7 steps are offered here in order to predict the gilt need of individual operations and maximize throughput.
The quality of weaned pigs is typically measured by average weaning weight. Record systems are increasingly being used to track the number of pigs that are not weaned at a certain minimum weight, have defects, have been castrated, do not show signs of disease, and are free of diseases potentially impacting their performance during the growing phase.
Budgets and targets should be set so that they are not achievable right now, but with some extra work, they can be. Gilt pool endpoint targets can include age-related endpoints, inventory management endpoints, and entry to first service interval. Target productivity endpoints can include prime numbers of productivity and sow longevity. Computational models such as a spreadsheet can be used to determine gilt flow and size of gilt development facilities needed.
Monitoring herd performance is essential to good production. Data capture, projection of gilt needs, monitoring of gilt availability, monitoring of gilt handling, and monitoring of gilt performance should all be performed. In-barn information should also be strictly recorded, which includes gilt identification, stall and crate cards, data capture forms, and group numbering. “Gilt Needs Projection” can be used to determine dynamically how to vary rates of gilt introduction into a herd. Projections are run monthly. In general, as the number of pigs weaned increases, the cost of production decreases. This should be taken into account when investigating cost-management.
Genetics for the Market versus the Marketing of Genetics
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The way to keep cost of production down is to increase sow efficiency, pig production efficiency, and packing efficiency. As the trend for heavier carcasses and increased leanness continues, the quality of several meat products can be negatively affected (due to some genetic lines having extreme leanness). Too lean can result in low intra-muscular fat and water retention. Therefore, even for specialized lines of pigs, part of the selection emphasis should be on traits that increase efficiency as well as carcass and meat quality. Three major markets for Canadian pork are domestic, the US, and Japanese markets. The desired carcass goals are different for each area of market (variables include loin eye thickness, water retention, and marbling). To satisfy each market, three options exist: specialized genetics, specialized production systems, and a combination. Specialized genetics provide a terminal line or synthetic line that will focus on one or a few particular aspects of meat quality (e.g. – Duroc is popular for growth, feed efficiency, lean yield, and more!). The maternal line will most likely remain Yorkshire x Landrace. Specialized management takes into account the pre-slaughter handling, slaughter weight, feed, sex, and processing methods. These non-genetic factors can be altered to focus on a specific desirable characteristic. The most effective way to meet diverse market needs will likely require both specialized genetics and specialized management. These systems require dedication from all aspects of the market chain to work towards a common goal of the market. This can work through vertical integration or through mutual cooperation.
2001 Business Analysis Summary for Swine Farms
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Laws, Rules & Regulations: Because truth matters to all Manitobans
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Hog farming is one of the most regulated activities in Manitoba. Manitoba’s hog farms are required to follow numerous provincial and federal laws and regulations, as well as local by-laws and requirements. Manitoba hog farmers must follow Manitoba’s Environment Act (specifically the Livestock Manure and Mortalities Regulation), Water Rights Act, Planning Act, Animal Care Act, Pesticides and Fertilizer Control Act, Animal Diseases Act and Farm Practices Protection Act. Farmers must also follow the federal Animal Care Act and Fisheries Act, as well as municipal development plans and zoning by-laws. The province recently introduced legislation further safeguarding the quality of drinking water in Manitoba. Government initiatives saw the establishment of the Office of Drinking Water, the re-introduction of subsidized water testing for private well owners and the certification of drinking water operators. And since 2001 the provincial government invested $31.2 million to upgrade water systems. All of this helps reinforce existing regulations to provide a safe, clean water supply for all existing and future users. It is also important to note that a Water Rights License is required for all activities that use 25,000 litres or more of water per day. The Livestock Manure and Mortalities Regulation (MR 42/98) governs the storage, transportation and land application of livestock manure, the storage and disposal of livestock mortalities and mandates the filing of manure management plans by livestock operations over a certain size. The current regulation requires that all operations of 400 animal units (AU) or greater (a 2800 head hog feeder barn or 800 feeder calves) must file a plan on an annual basis with Manitoba Conservation. The province now proposes to lower that threshold to 300 AU (2100 feeder hogs or 600 feeder calves). Between the release of the Livestock Stewardship Report in December of 2000 and mid-July 2002, the government changed several laws and regulations governing animal agriculture. Further, in their July 22nd formal response to the recommendations of the Livestock Stewardship Report, the province announced several additional improvements to the livestock review and approval process to occur over the next 12 to 18 months. These laws, rules and regulations will help ensure that agriculture remains socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. Hopefully hog farming will continue to figure prominently in the mix of agricultural activities. It is noteworthy that in 2001, pigs represented more than $850 million in farm gate receipts, nearly 25% of the provincial total. In that same year, hog farming generated more than $2 billion for the provincial economy and employed 15,000 people directly. The bottom line is that sustainable and responsible agriculture makes for a stronger more vibrant Manitoba.
Reproductive Management of Pigs: A Simple to Use CD-ROM for Accessing Information
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Producers struggle to find information regarding effective reproductive management to increase profitability of their operation. Scientists from around the world have gotten together to put together a CD-ROM containing valuable information that can be used by producers to increase their knowledge of many subjects. Topics for breeding herd management include gilt management, mating management, boar/AI management, pregnancy management, farrowing management, lactation management, weaning-to-estrus interval, and culling management. Topics for production modification include nutrition, environmental factors, and hormones. Other topics of interest include litter size, litters/sow/year, and a problem solving section.
Creating Special Pork for the Japanese Market
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The Japanese market has two pork markets: delicious or healthy. The Japanese consumers accept Canadian pork and it is sold chilled (not frozen) beside domestic Japanese pork. The most famous type of pork in Japan is the English Berkshire Pork (Kurobuta). It costs a lot more than regular pork but it is known for its great taste. Tokyo X pork is derived from the Beijing Black Pig. It is known for its marbling ability, which directly improves the flavour. This pork in Canada would cost about twice as much as regular pork. Golden Pork/Super Golden Pork are very highly marbled. It took 50 years to create Golden Pork from the lines of Large White, Landraces, and Duroc (Super Golden Pork was created from Duroc, Large White, and English Berkshire). Super Golden Pork is the most expensive on the Japanese market. Smithfield in the US has a hand in marketing these products. Japanese value tenderness the most, which is why highly marbled pork is desirable in Japan.