Pork Per Tonne of Feed - A  Measure of Efficiency

An increase in sow productivity, or in numbers of hogs or kilograms of pork produced per square metre of barn has some value in comparing one operation with another. But what if the resulting increase in returns of x dollars cost 1.25x dollars to achieve? (The cost could come from the use of feed additives, sow turnover, extra labour, or medicine costs, for example.) Performance measures are useful. Sometimes, however, it's interesting to look for an overall measure of efficiency that reflects profitability.

Calculating cost of production can become just about as complicated as you want to make it, depending on how far you want to itemize and quantify the inputs in your operation.  FCR and ADG can be difficult to estimate accurately on the farm.  There are, however, some simple alternatives. Consider, for example, the simple measure of the amount of pork produced per tonne of feed used (PTF). 'Pork' refers to dressed carcass weight, not live weight. This should be calculable for any desired period of time based on OPPMB receipts, or estimated by calculating the growth in liveweight times dressing percentage (e.g. 80%). Feed consumption can be determined using feed company receipts and/or farm records of harvest/milling etc. For a number of reasons, it needs to be qualified by the weight range under consideration, such as PTF 300kg (25-90kg).  This means that 300kg of pork was produced per tonne of feed, when pigs were fed from 25 through to 90kg.  Obviously this would mean something different than PTF 300kg (40-90kg).

PTF is a simple measure of efficiency, and is independent of prices of pork or feed. This makes it useful for comparison from year to year. On the other hand, it is easy to plug in current prices of pork and feed to obtain returns over feed costs. But aside from that, what good is it, really? It can be a useful tool in management decision-making. When considering adopting changes or making adjustments to an operation, it can be difficult to assess the potential benefit versus the cost. (This refers to small adjustments like using a feed additive or vaccine, disinfectant, changing feeders to wet/dry, etc. but not major barn redesign)

If you can obtain information about trials that have been done with a product, or can test it out on your own farm, PTF can provide a basis for assessment. For example, consider a hypothetical trial involving a feed additive. The results indicate an increase in PTF of 10kg over control pigs grown without the additive. How can we make use of this? First, that extra 10kg can be equated to savings in feed cost:

This means that using the additive is equivalent to a $13.50 discount per tonne of feed. Second, if the additive cost $5/tonne of feed, the return amounts to $13.50-$5=$8.50. Third, the return on the extra outlay is $13.50/$5=2.7. This number can be used to compare products or services; the one with the highest return on extra outlay is best.  A ratio of 1 means all you've gained is the experience of running the trial.  Anything less than 1, as you would realise before you even did the math, would represent a losing proposition.

On-line Calculator

You can use the PTF calculator to determine the difference in pork per tonne of feed and compare the returns on the extra outlay for two real or hypothetical trials. See "related links", below.

(PTF Calculator was developed based on articles by John Gadd in Pig Farming.)

Related Links

• Pork Per Tonne of Feed calculator

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