The Rural Voice, 2002-02, Page 49PERTH 1!T
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Jim Van Herk, President
519-595-4863
• The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA.
What is the value of a boar?
Any opinions expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
We have very good pork
producers in this province both large
and small and, especially after 1998,
only the good producers remain. I
take my hat off to these people.
One area does puzzle me though.
As a breeder, it is always interesting
to see how boars are selected. Quite
often it is price that is the deciding
factor on which a boar is purchased.
(Fortunately this is by only the
minority.) While this may be a wise
approach generally, I think
purchasing the best boar is one of the
easiest ways for people to improve on
the profitability of their farm.
Most breeding stock suppliers
have a sliding scale of prices for
boars with lower performance boars
selling at a lower price and higher
performance boars selling at a higher
price. Depending on where you buy
your stock there could be $500 to
$1,000 difference between bottom
and top end boars. Most purchasing
decisions are made on boars that are
$100 to $300 apart because producers
tend to buy within a predetermined
price range. I would like to lay out
why you should consider the best
boar and why the cheaper boars may
not be the deal you think.
Assumptions:
The Canadian Centre for Swine
Improvement (CCSI) in Ottawa has
estimated that it takes 0.89 kg. less
feed for every day faster to market
and that it takes 1.06 kg. Tess feed for
every 1 mm reduction in fat. CCSI
also argues that for every one per
cent increase in lean yield there is an
increase of $2.55 in carcass value.
(For this example I will use 1 index
point/%lean = $1.50.) CCSI has also
estimated that every day faster to
market frees up barn space to have
more throughput and results in a
savings estimate of $0.30 per day.
For easy calculations, we will use
$200/tonne feed or $0.20 per kg.
I will be basing the performance
differences on Estimated Breeding
Values (EBV's) which are recognized
as the best measure of a pig's genetic
value. These compare the pig to the
genetic value of the current breed
average within the Canadian system.
Let's compare the following
boars:
Boar A: takes off 1.4 mm of fat
(EBV -1.4)
Grows 5 days faster (EBV -5.0)
Adds 0.9% lean (EBV +0.9)
Selling price $882.00
Boar B: adds 0.1mm (EBV+0.1)
Grows 1.5 days faster (EBV -1.5)
Adds 0.1% lean (EBV+0.1)
Selling price $672.00
The following performance
differences can be calculated:
Boar A's genetics are:
5.0 days - 1.5 days = 3.5 days faster,
-1.4mm- +0.lmm = 1.5mm leaner,
0.9% -0.1%=0.8% higher in lean
yield than Boar B.
Those differences translate into the
following dollars:
Feed savings 3.5 days x .89 kg.
= 3.12 kg. Feed/hog
1.5mm x 1.06kg. = 1.59kg. feed/hog
= 4.71 kg. feed/hog @ $0.20/kg. =
$0.94/hog
Space savings
3.5 days x $0.30 = $1.05/hog
Added carcass value 0.8% lean x
one index point ($1.50) = $1.20
Add these up to ($0.94 + $1.05 +
$1.20) and you get $3.19/hog savings
or extra revenue. This will vary
according to your grid and does not
even include the loin premiums
offered.
Let's assume that the number of
hogs a boar produces in its lifetime is
1,000 (conservatively). $3.19 times
1,000 equals $3.190. However. the
boar only contributes half of the
genetics to the market hog so the real
extra value is one half that or $1,595
not counting loin premiums.
The extra that this boar cost
initially is $210 plus two years
interest of $25.20 for a total of
$235.20. $1595 less $235.20 is
$1359.80 more in your pocket. To me
this is some of the easiest money you
can make.
There may be a few exceptions to
this but generally, the returns versus
the extra costs are dramatic. Use
your own numbers and add it up. If
you collect on farm of course
price does not even' enter into the
equation.
In my opinion, cheap boars are too
expensive and expensive boars are
too cheap!O
- Submitted by Joe Kolkman
PERTH COUNTY PORK
PRODUCERS' PORK PRODUCTS
• Smoked Pork Chops • Fresh Pork Chops
• Stuffed Loin Chops • Smoked Sausage
• Smoked Cheddar Sausage
• Bacon Burgers • Teriyaki Pork Steaks
• Vittorio's BBQ Sauce.
AVAILABLE FROM:
Steve Hulshof (Kinkora) 348-8167
Martin van Bakel (Dublin) 345-2666
Walter Bosch (Monkton) 356-9000
Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836
FEBRUARY 2002 45