It’s a project of the United States
National Pork Board, but it extends to Canadian herds.
“It is felt that measures such as
pigs per sow per year are not sufficient for determining the overall
efficiency, and profitability, of a production system,” writes Jaydee Smith,
swine specialist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural
Affairs, in the ministry’s newsletter fo the pork industry.
“More systematic measures of
performance are needed, e.g. sow lifetime productivity (SLP).”
The goal of a 30 per cent increase
would mean an increase from 34 to 44 piglets per sow.
“Some challenges being encountered
are that the relevant data is not routinely recorded in most operations, there
are limited benchmarks available, and standard practices around culling vary
between operations, etc.,” Smith writes.
“The research will address these
challenges. The potential impacts on improved financial returns per pig
indicate that it will be well worth- while, and this is a project worth keeping
an eye on.”
She intends to keep the industry
informed and is planning a presentation during the London Swine Conference
April 5 and 6.
