Variation has become an increasingly important topic within the pork industry. The need of packing plants to have uniform carcasses is important, but is difficult for producers to meet this need when dealing with normal livestock variability. Variability can be a blessing and a curse in the pork industry. In order to genetically select for desirable traits, variation is required. Environment also has an impact on the expression of genetic make up and overall performance that may be undesirable. Producers must be able to implement strategies to most effectively and efficiently deal with variability.
Two approaches commonly taken when dealing with variability are to manage the environment in such a way so as to minimize variability, or to manage the pig to minimize the impact of variability on net income. In other words, seek ways to minimize variability or ways to best manage existing variability.
Many attempts have been made to minimize the amount of variability and failed. Studies have shown that several common practises for improving uniformity do not actually work. For example, sorting upon entry to the nursery and restriction of feed intake. It seems the most practical strategy is to attempt to minimize the impact of existing variability. For example, time spent sorting pigs at marketing may produce a greater increase in net income than any other activity. This strategy has increased the average index on some farms by 4 points, a net value of $5.00/pig sold.
Variation is good for genetic selection, but can be very difficult in production, especially during the growout phase. The best strategy seems to be to minimize the impact of variation rather than attempting to change the amount of variation. Marketing strategies, separate sex housing and increased overall performance are likely to pay larger dividends than any other strategy to reduce variability. These benefits can be measured in dollars, not cents, per pig.