The Rural Voice, 2003-03, Page 31how much variability is costing you."
The first step is to identify how
much consistency, or lack of it, you
have on your farm. Use dollar values
to really motivate yourself by doing a
small but representative growth or
fee intake trial.
Pay attention to the small details
in your operation that allow
variability to creep in, she advised.
Look at things like stocking density
differences between pens, air flow
patterns in different parts of the barn,
feeders and drinkers that are not
flowing properly. Make sure all pigs
have an equal opportunity to express
their full potential.
Variable performance should
be considered by comparing
the rest of the pigs in the barn
to the best 10 per cent.
It's much cheaper to reduce
variability early in the production
process rather than trying to
manipulate slow-growing pigs later
when feed and overhead costs are
higher, Aker said.
She quoted Dr. John Deen who
said that "consistency is the biggest
marketing tool we have in animal
agriculture".
One simple tip Aker passed along
for farmers in order to change their
management: weigh your pigs. "It's
amazing what a difference it can
make on your pigs," she said.
Dr. Tim Blackwell harkened back
to Dan Cohoe's question about
remaining a low-cost producer when
he noted that low-cost production
may relocate to South America, Asia
and Eastern Europe. Canada, he
suggested, should take lessons from
Denmark which has higher costs
without enjoying the advantages of
Canadian pork producers. Land costs
are higher, environmental restrictions
are tougher and Denmark must
import its feed, yet it remains the
largest exporter of pork in the world.
Denmark has turned strict
environmental, food safety and
animal welfare regulations into a
marketing advantage. Now that
Europe has banned gestation stalls,
the animal welfare issues has the
possibility of becoming a non -tariff
trade barrier, Blackwell said.
The good news about group
housing for sow welfare, said Frank
Kains, is that it's cheaper to build
and maintain than expensive
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