Using Variation in Pig Body Weight to Optimize Facility Throughput Beau Peterson, Ph.D. Associate Director, Swine Production Scientist The Maschhoffs

Understanding and Utilizing Body Weight Variation to Your Advantage Variation in body weight within a pen of pigs will always exist Weaning weight is not always a good predictor of a pigs potential for growth Even when reduced by sorting, within pen variation will return to normal levels after a short period of time Therefore attempting to manage variation through sorting at placement is not always effective Using variation within a pen to optimize space utilization can actually be beneficial for increasing throughput BP will present some concepts and the research behind many of the management practices we have in place today. CJ is going to give you ideas on how to actually take the concepts and apply them in your barn. End result is OPTIMIZING your time spent with your pigs and increasing Grade A throughput in your barns

Research Suggests Pigs in Commercial Production Do Not Achieve Potential Research Farm Commercial Farm The last thing I would like to talk about is the third driver we presented in the beginning – using your barn to its fullest to capture lean growth potential The pigs have a great deal of genetic potential and the more we capture, the more profitable we are (compare to fuel economy in a car) Again, we are talking about strategies to drive throughput This graph suggests that there is more genetic potential to be captured in our pigs

Impact of Environment on Pig Growth Potential Simple Management Strategies Can Help Capture More of the Pig’s Growth Potential Simple steps to achieve this Load the pens correctly at start-up to take full advantage of natural variation Standardize stocking rate in all pens at the beginning of the finishing phase Strategically use the barn to capture extra potential Impact of Environment on Pig Growth Potential Environment Item Commercial Unrestricted P value ADG, lb 1.61 2.29 < 0.001 ADFI, lb 5.41 6.60 < 0.05 Feed:Gain 3.29 2.85 Combine example Describe study to again highlight the potential of the pig A great deal of opportunity exists! Holck et al., 1998

Weaning Weight Can Be Influenced by Many Factors that have Little to do with the Pig’s Growth Potential Peterson, et al. 2008

Effects of Weaning Weight on Overall Growth Performance Peterson, et al. 2008

Body Weight and Growth Rate Follow a Normal Distribution within a Population Item Minimum Average Maximum Standard Deviation Weaning weight, lb 6.9 13.1 23.8 2.98 8 week weight, lb 20.0 65.1 110.0 13.18 20 week weight, lb 104.0 247.2 328.0 29.32 Overall ADG, lb 0.66 1.68 2.25 0.201 Describe in the context of reaching the upper limit, later We know that the body weights of pigs in any natural population is normally distributed (compare to the people in the room) Relate this to lbs/sqft – all big pigs will be more lbs/sqft than all small pigs or a mixture Peterson, et al., 2005

If Variation within a Pen is Unavoidable, Why Not Use it to Your Advantage Sorting based on weaning weight is not very effective Variation is caused by multiple factors Social status/Natural variation Gender Birth weight Genetics Variation within a pen is unavoidable Why not use it to maximize space utilization and production efficiency? BP will present some concepts and the research behind many of the management practices we have in place today. CJ is going to give you ideas on how to actually take the concepts and apply them in your barn. End result is OPTIMIZING your time spent with your pigs and increasing Grade A throughput in your barns

If Variation within a Pen is Unavoidable, Why Not Use it to Your Advantage Sorting based on weaning weight is not very effective Variation is caused by multiple factors Social status/natural variation Gender Birth weight Genetics Variation within a pen is unavoidable Why not use it to our advantage then to maximize space utilization and production efficiency? BP will present some concepts and the research behind many of the management practices we have in place today. CJ is going to give you ideas on how to actually take the concepts and apply them in your barn. End result is OPTIMIZING your time spent with your pigs and increasing Grade A throughput in your barns

Impact of Floor Space on Growth Performance Floor Space, ft2 Item 8.0 7.3 6.6 P value Start weight, lb 74.7 75.0 NS End weight, lb 283.1a 281.6a 276.4b 0.001 ADG, lb/day 2.08a 2.07a 2.01b ADFI, lb/day 5.15a 5.08a 4.97b Feed:Gain, lb:lb 0.41 One of the biggest factors we can influence is floor space Pigs are very sensitive to lower floor space and therefore we need to do all that we can to ensure it has a minimal effect. Throughput and maximum growth rate is an inverse relationship Describe study – emphasize the difference going down versus going up in floor space Peterson et al., 2003

Measuring Stocking Rate in lbs/ft2 Lbs/ft2 is a way of assessing the effects of stocking rate at any point in the growth period There is an upper limit to the number of lbs/ft2 after which growth is impacted Pens should be stocked so that this upper limit is reached as late as possible within the pen Even mix of barrows and gilts to take advantage of growth variation and feed efficiency differences during marketing period Randomly fill pens to ensure variation in body weight and thus lower lbs/sq ft with the same number of pigs at the beginning of marketing Use table after first bullet point to illustrate You can get more small pigs in a pen without impacting growth than you can big pigs – pretty simple Therefore if we measure in lb/sqft its an absolute measure of stocking rate at any size of pig Stocking rate and lbs/ft2 Body weight Lbs/ft2 Pigs/pen 100 30 300 250 120

Other Considerations for Maximizing Facility Utilization Improper Number of Cull Pens Item 8 4 ADG, lb 1.71 1.75 Days to market 152 148 Uneven Stocking Rates in all Pens Item 135 150 165 Floor space, ft2/pig 7.3 6.6 6.0 ADG, lb 1.79 1.75 1.65 Days to market 145 148 158 Another way to impact floor space is to have to many cull pens Use picture to describe – empty pens is space that could be used to raise pigs and give all of them more room 4 days to market

Begin With the End In Mind Barn stocking strategies will allow you to: Optimize the space in every pen More easily identify big pigs at market Improve the growth performance of the smaller pigs in the barn after top out Improve efficiency by leaving gilts in the barn longer than barrows Reduce variability within the barn and site Reduce the days required to turn the barn Increase throughput and get the most out of your investment

Thank You