Benchmarking Works

Any discussion on standards of performance in pork production inevitably comes down to benchmark figures. Benchmark figures are used as a standard to compare production of individual units with. There are two things to remember about benchmarks. Firstly, benchmarks are figures that whole unit size farms are producing, and secondly, they are not the final goal for any unit. In fact, it is desirable to be able to exceed the benchmark and it is important that we understand that it will change over time.

Annual Total Production

This is fairly easy to calculate but can be a chilling experience. The first method takes the total number of animals sold in a year from a sow unit and divides it by the number of sows. The result should be over 20 and in some cases over 22. The second method takes the number of sows in your herd, multiply by the 20 or 22 figure and compare the result with your total market pig sales for the year. The benchmark here is that a lot of operations consistently produce and sell in excess of 22 animals per sow per year, while many more are at the 20 or less figure.

To generate these total sales, there are some other figures to be looked at very closely as they directly affect production.

Mortality levels in the breeding herd (include sows, gilts and boars) should be less than four percent per year. Preweaning death loss – that is died while with the sow, should be 10% or less of numbers born alive. Inclusion or exclusion of stillborns and mummifieds can cause a lot of variation in this figure. Often achieving the 10% figure requires extra help or assistance especially in the first 48 hours of life but is easier to achieve with facilities where temperature variation, sanitation and protection from the sow are superior.

Nursery death losses should be less than 2% and require attention to nutrition, temperature, sanitation and a rapid response to disease outbreaks. The finishing phase of the operation typically should operate at 3% or less death losses. The real tough one to achieve is the percent of animals that end up as "tail enders" or 20 lbs. light and 20 days late. The percentage of animals that fit into this category should be less than 2%, but many producers struggle with figures higher than this.

Farrowing Rate – This figure is considered to be difficult to calculate and many producers do not concern themselves with it. It simply means what percentage of animals bred actually farrow. It varies with the seasons of the year and can be affected by factors including temperature, feed quality, disease, and semen problems, to mention a few. It can be calculated fairly easily on a four month cycle using achieved results. The benchmark figure is over 80%. Many operations run well below this, and a lot just don’t know.

This list is by no means complete. It is important to keep in mind that nutrition, housing, genetics, environment and people can influence all these benchmarks. A change in any one factor may not be fully visible in a herd for a long period of time and the results of it may be positive or negative.

What is important is that managers have some system in place where they can determine and record the benchmark performance levels of the herd and be able to compare these results with other benchmarks across the industry.