January 30, 2008

UK pig farmers sees hope of increasing returns
 

Improving growth rate in finishing herd by just 70kg per day could help hard-pressed pig farmers increase returns, said Ed Sutcliffe, technical director of pig genetics company, ACMC.

According to a BPEX survey, only Italy's pigs are growing slower and this is influenced by production for the specialist Parma ham trade.

Increasing the average daily live weight gain of British pigs from 655 grams to 727 grams over the 30 kg-to-slaughter period could increase finishing weight by 7.7 kg per pig.

The extra meat would improve returns for pig farmers by GBP 6.55 (US$13) per pig, increasing the margin by GBP 2.86 (US$5.68) after allowing the cost of additional feed. Sutcliffe said the margin would amount to over GBP 30,000 (US$59,698) for the annual output from a 500-sow herd.

Fast growing pigs would reach their finishing weight earlier, thus reducing the cost of feed for maintenance. This would increase throughput, taking the pressure off housing space and allowing more time for cleaning and disinfection routines that could improve health and performance.

Sutcliffe believes that British pigs grow slower partly due to their more extensive systems, aging housing and lighter UK slaughter weights. He also believes that growth rates could be improved by carefully monitoring throughput of pigs at each stage of the finishing system.

According to Sutcliffe, bottlenecks can easily occur at different production stages if pigs are not moved on to the next housing phase at the right time. Ironing these out by focused management, could improve growth right through the system, he said.