The variability of pigs that go to slaughter resulted in a loss in 2002 of $3.63 per pig. Dressed weight at market needs to be adjusted, as it is farm specific, and continue to be adjusted as various market factors fluctuate. Sort losses are a huge contributor to pig variability. This variability results in a variety of weights of pigs going to market, less targets being hit, and a reduction in net returns to the farm. To reduce sort losses, producers can define the barn’s optimum market weight, based on financial returns, determine the barn’s capacity for shipping some pigs sooner, to reduce heavies, or some pigs later, to reduce lights, weigh pigs, and address variability. Smaller pigs growing faster, decreasing disease, and ensuring adequate access to feeders and drinkers can control uniformity of pigs. Variability can be managed by pre-sorting the pigs into predicted groups of performance, removing lighter weight pigs at weaning to increase throughput, and not mixing gilt offspring with sow’s offspring due to compromised immunity of the gilts offspring.
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