Lessons to be learned from others says Andrew McCrea

As mentioned before, I attended a great discussion group meeting organised by our indispensable CAFRE pig specialists Dr Mark Hawe and Liz Donnelly. Farmers at the top of the league table for different performance parameters were invited to share how they felt they achieved this.

One farmer told us how he managed to keep his wasted feeding days consistently below 10, by writing on whiteboards all sows at service and movements throughout pregnancy. He knows exactly where any sow is, at any time. He never loses any sows with missing tags as he can check the rest on the whiteboard. He also pregnancy tests twice during pregnancy.

Another farmer is consistently having pre-weaning mortality of less than 6%. He shared photos of his farrowing crates for gilts which were specially designed and manufactured with a rising floor, eliminating any risk of gilts savaging or overlaying piglets at night. They also use forward creeps which are not as common in new farrowing housing, but perhaps reducing mortality of the growing piglets by keeping them away from any dangers because of lying tight beside mother on a heat pad.

Congratulations to the Pig Grading Information System development team, Dr Mark Hawe pig specialist (CAFRE), Erica Chisholm and Mark Browne DARD on winning the practice with science award at the Oxford Farming Conference.

Farmer Focus: Andrew McCrea