UK: Indoor herds drive better pig results
Great Britain’s breeding pig herd performance improved in the year to June, with the number of pigs weaned a sow averaging 23.6/year, according to data from Agrosoft.
That was a rise of 0.5 head on the previous year, albeit not on a directly comparable basis.
“The increase was driven by indoor producers, who weaned an average of 25.6 pigs, up by 1.5 on a year earlier,” said a report by Bpex. “Improvements were recorded for each of the key measures: Litters a sow/year, piglets born alive a litter and pre-weaning mortality.”
In contrast, overall productivity of outdoor producers fell slightly, to 21.6 head. “A slight improvement in the number born alive a litter was offset by higher mortality rates and a small drop in litters a sow.” Feeding herd performance improved slightly, with the feed conversion ratio in the rearing stage marginally better at 1.73, and markedly better in the finishing herd, where it fell from 2.81 to 2.66, said the report. “Daily weight gain was higher in the rearing herd, up from 488g to 511g/day, with little change in the finishing herd, at just under 800g/day.”
Source: Olivia Cooper, Farmers Weekly
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