A theoretical optimum production system in North America would take into account financial risks, including currency exchange due to the connection between Canada’s industry and the US. The current production system has a large amount of Canadian feeder pigs exported to the US because many farrow-finish facilities are switching to wean-finish. Avoiding farrowing barns saves the cost of committing to a sow herd, and the problems associated with it.  High regulatory costs have prevented small or medium barn expansions in many cases, and favour large barns. To work towards an optimum system the right people need to be hired, and the pig flow needs to be matched with the facility. Lenders also shape the system, as they are more reluctant to invest in separate nursery and finishing barns than they are to invest on a wean-finish facility. To minimize size variation and for biosecurity, these facilities usually prefer pigs all from one source and 1-2 weeks in age of each other. For a farrowing facility to supply this number, they would need to have about 6000 sows. Batch farrowing is an option, but it usually requires an all-in all-out system with groups from different sources separated if possible. The maximum number of farrowing sources is usually 2, with each site having around 1200 sows. The optimum system has to consider the pig flow, and the various sizes of the facilities involved. Therefore, the optimum system should constantly aim to minimize all aspects of variation – like litter size, weaning weight and age, and market weight – and include a team of advisors to consider all aspects of a decision.