Transition time
Transition time
OUR latest Signet Pigplan figures (see table) coincide with our financial year end of Nov 30. They show the changeover to a closed breeding herd, while so far maintaining our relatively disease- free status, has not been without pain, writes Jasper Renold.
The number of pigs sold is down from last years record breaking 8604 to 7911. We have also had to contend with compound feed price rises of £12/t for sow rations and £15/t for feeding rations. But, a rise in average annual gross price per kgdw from 90.81p to 96.18p and good performance in the growing and finishing herds, has been enough to keep us in the black.
Average carcase weight has increased by 0.5kg and the average P2 probe has dropped from 11.6mm to 11.3mm increasing the number of pigs getting top bonus.
Pre-weaning mortality has increased from 12.6 to 14.1 not helped by staff changes in the farrowing section. Piglets born to litters from dam line Landrace matings have been noticeably less vigorous, but on the other hand those from the PIC Pietrain Solution line are proving to be very lively. *
SIGNET SIGNET
Current year Previous year Top third Average
Period ended Yr ended Period ended Yr ended Compound Compound
30.11.01 30.11.01 30.11.01 30.11.00 30.11.00 30.11.00 Yr ended Yr ended
(3 months) (6 months) (3 months) (6 months) 30.09.01 30.09.01
BREEDING HERD
Herd Structure
Av no sows and gilts in the herd 387 383 379 375 383 391 230 265
Av no unserved gilts 15 15 16 23 29 34 23 21
Av no productive sows 372 368 363 352 354 357 207 244
Sow performance factors
% breeding sow replacements 10.3 19.8 43.0 12.8 18.8 39.9 39.7 36.4
% breeding sow deaths 10.3 20.1 36.7 18.7 25.8 49.6 35.6 34.4
Recorded Services: Farrowings(%)(*lagged) – 79.2* 78.6* – 82.6* 80.5* 82.2 79.4
Non-productive days 45 32* 31* 25 28* 26* 21 35
Av no litters/sow & gilt a year 2.19 2.28* 2.29* 2.33 2.31* 2.32* 2.34 2.26
Av no pigs reared/sow & gilt a year 20.6 21.6* 22.3* 23.9 24.1* 24.7* 23.9 21.6
Qty sow & boar feed/sow & gilt a year(t) 1.140 1.223 1.233 1.282 1.221 1.237 1.246 1.262
Cost/t sow and boar feed(£) 126.83 116.43 110.30 98.25 98.58 100.50 107.67 110.75
Litter performance factors
Av no pigs born a litter: ALIVE 11.18 11.12 11.33 11.92 11.99 12.21 11.53 10.93
DEAD 1.31 1.14 1.12 0.88 0.93 0.98 0.91 1.09
MUMM 0.19 0.27 0.25 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.17
TOTAL 12.68 12.52 12.70 13.00 13.11 13.39 12.64 12.19
Av no pigs reared a litter 9.41 9.47 9.73 10.25 10.43 10.66 10.20 9.57
Pig performance factors
% mortality pigs born alive 15.9 14.8 14.1 14.0 13.0 12.6 11.5 12.4
Total feed cost/pig reared(£) 7.38 6.92 6.47 5.68 5.40 5.54 6.44 7.11
Av weight of pigs weaned(kg) 6.8 6.8 7.0 7.2 7.2 6.8 7.0 7.0
Av weaning age(days) 25 25 25 25 25 25 26 25
REARING HERD
No of pigs in herd 1384 1373 1383 1422 1419 1445 2264 2477
Av weight pigs leaving herd(kg) 42.4 42.3 42.8 41.0 40.3 40.6 38.7 42.4
Av daily liveweight gain(g) 604 580 578 562 555 558 480 495
No of days in herd 58 61 62 59 59 60 66 72
Mortality(%) 1.4 1.6 1.6 1.1 1.2 1.3 6.9 6.1
Av feed/pig a day(kg) 0.91 0.89 0.91 0.90 0.89 0.89 0.85 0.93
Feed conversion ratio (kg feed/kg lwg) 1.50 1.54 1.57 1.61 1.60 1.59 1.77 1.89
Feed cost/kg lwg(p) 33.14 33.20 33.15 29.09 29.91 30.02 28.76 32.15
Overall cost/t feed(£) 220.72 216.07 210.47 181.20 186.59 189.00 162.29 170.37
FEEDING HERD
Av no pigs in herd 1453 1468 1503 1615 1667 1640 856 1089
No pigs sold 2049 3904 7911 2198 4328 8604 – –
Av weight pigs leaving herd(kg) 96.5 96.7 97.7 97.4 97.0 96.7 96.2 95.4
Av daily liveweight gain(g) 828 793 778 881 820 806 745 708
No days in herd 65 68 70 64 69 70 81 84
Mortality(%) 1.9 2.1 2.5 1.6 1.9 2.1 2.2 3.4
Av feed/pig a day(kg) 2.20 2.19 2.17 2.28 2.19 2.11 1.94 2.02
Feed conversion ratio(kg feed/kg lwg) 2.65 2.76 2.78 2.59 2.67 2.62 2.60 2.85
Feed cost/kg lwg(p) 36.69 36.47 34.99 29.34 30.27 29.84 29.20 34.60
Overall cost/t feed(£) 137.06 132.09 125.74 113.51 113.53 114.04 112.37 121.41
Av carcase weight(kg) 72.1 72.4 73.2 73.7 73.0 72.7 71.9 72.4
Av sale value(£)(live & dead sales) 67.96 70.42 70.37 72.72 71.97 66.03 70.27 70.09
Av price/kg deadweight(p) 94.32 97.22 96.18 98.65 98.58 90.81 97.80 95.71
REARING & FEEDING HERD COMBINED
Av weight pigs entering herd(kg) 6.8 6.8 7.0 7.2 7.2 6.8 7.1 6.9
Av weight pigs leaving herd(kg) 96.5 96.7 97.7 98.3 97.4 97.0 96.9 94.9
Av daily liveweight gain(g) 719 690 682 732 698 690 645 590
No of days in herd 123 130 133 123 129 130 139 149
Mortality % 3.3 3.6 4.0 2.7 3.1 3.3 4.8 6.4
Av feed/pig a day(kg) 1.57 1.56 1.56 1.63 1.59 1.54 1.49 1.47
Feed conversion ratio (kg feed/kg lwg) 2.18 2.26 2.29 2.23 2.28 2.23 2.31 2.49
Feed cost/kg lwg(p) 35.05 35.14 34.24 29.25 30.14 29.91 31.23 35.29
Overall cost/t feed(£) 160.64 155.24 149.39 131.03 132.32 134.30 135.13 141.90