industry productivity analysis

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITYDepartment of Animal Science

U.S. 2007 – 2012 Pork Industry Productivity Analysis

C. E. Abell1, C. Hostetler2, and K. J. Stalder1

1Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-3150 andNational Pork Board, Des Moines, IA 50325

2013 Pork AcademyDes Moines, IA

June 5 & 6 , 2013


Data DescriptionProduction data obtained from a large U.S.

data record keeping organizationAgreement with the National Pork Board to share limited

information.Uses: 1. Quantify the annual production levels and variation

associated for several key productivity indicators2. Establish industry benchmarks for all swine production

phases Breeding herd Nursery Wean – to – finish Conventional finishing


Data DescriptionProduction data obtained from a large U.S.

data record keeping organizationAgreement with the National Pork Board to share limited

information.Uses: 3. Quantify seasonal affects associated with the key productivity

indicators4. Identify research opportunities that would improve the U.S.

pork industry production efficiency


Data descriptionStatistical process

Industry TrendsRaw means and standard deviations were used

Seasonality evaluationLinear model was used

Fixed effects Company Month Year

Covariates – for nursery, grow-finish, and wean-to-finish Start age Start days Days in facility

Covariates – Sow farm Weaning age


Data description cont’Data (records) reported monthly for each

production phaseNursery and finishing data –

Monthly averages are based on animals exiting the facility that month

Sow farm data –Monthly averages are based on litters weaned in that month


Table 1. Number of companies and farms used in analysis for each facility type by year.a

Year Conventional Finisher Wean-to-Finish Nursery Sow

2007 Companies 29 17 29 31 Farms 849 251 398 507 2008 Companies 46 23 41 39 Farms 1339 385 719 708 2009 Companies 49 20 41 40 Farms 1376 334 679 683 2010 Companies 43 19 36 33 Farms 1350 527 571 526 2011 Companies 44 21 35 33 Farms 1382 775 594 564 2012 Companies 50 28 45 40 Farms 1744 830 796 766 aMore than one farm can be managed by the same company. A farm represents a single production site.


Company / farm summary Increase in the number of companies and

farms represented Tremendous increase in the data volume evaluatedResults in improved information and interpretations that

can be made

Companies becoming much more data driven in their decision making process


Company / farm summaryGrow-finish and wean-to-finish becoming farms

becoming more like their sow farm counterparts Farm level decisions much more data driven

Continue greater use of data when guiding company decision process regarding: EmployeeFinancialHealthNutritionalGeneticSome combination


Benchmarking - What is it?Definition of benchmark:a standard of excellence, achievement, etc., against which similar things must be measured or judged(Dictionary.com)

Definition of benchmarking:the process of using benchmarks to identify areas for improvement, strategies to achieve improvement and implementation of those processes(Common Industry)


Why do we do it?Compare with other businesses

Within speciesAcross species

Compare herd performanceWithin companyWithin countryEtc.

Set goals for improving herdFor a specific trait or several traits


Overall Averages


Key productivity indicatorsSow farm KPIs

Pigs/mated sow/ yearLitters/mated sow/yearTotal bornStill born and mummiesNumber born aliveNumber weanedPre-weaning mortality %Weaning weightWeaning age


Key productivity indicators cont’Nursery KPIs

Nursery mortality %Nursery out weightDays in nurseryNursery feed conversion


Key productivity indicators cont’Conventional finishers and wean-to-finish

facilities KPIsFinisher (wean-to-finish) mortality %Finishing weightDays in finisher (wean-to-finish)Finisher feed conversion (wean-to-finish)


Key Productivity Indicator AveragesMeans and standard deviations across all

farms and operations.Sow, nursery, wean-to-finish, and conventional grow-

finish data

Developed to examine yearly trends across the U.S. Swine industry.

Operations can compare one or a number of KPIs to see if they are above or below average


Table 2. Conventional finisher average (±standard deviation) productivity from 2007 to 2012a

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Percent Mortality 6.98 (±5.61) 6.29 (±4.60) 5.12 (±3.44) 4.70 (±3.05) 4.48 (±2.49) 5.03 (±3.30) Finishing Weight (lbs) 260.1 (±17.0) 261.2 (±16.1) 265.0 (±14.9) 268.7 (±13.4) 271.5 (±12.8) 269.2 (±14.1) Days in Finisher 124.2 (±11.0) 125.7 (±11.0) 124.3 (±11.4) 124.6 (±10.3) 122.7 (±9.7) 121.5 (±10.8) Average Daily Gain (lbs) 1.71 (±0.16) 1.69 (±0.16) 1.75 (±0.15) 1.76 (±0.14) 1.81 (±0.14) 1.81 (±0.15) Feed Conversionb 2.75 (±0.26) 2.82 (0.32) 2.76 (±0.27) 2.77 (±0.25) 2.71 (±0.24) 2.68 (±0.23) aAll farms were given equal weighting. bFeed conversion is defined as feed to gain.


Table 3. Wean-to-finish average (±standard deviation) productivity from 2007 to 2012a

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Percent Mortality 8.25 (±4.64) 7.92 (±4.91) 7.61 (±4.79) 6.30 (±3.55) 6.33 (±3.96) 6.39 (±4.79) Finishing Weight (lbs) 262.2 (±12.5) 261.7 (±12.5) 264.2 (±11.0) 270.5 (±13.5) 273.6 (±12.8) 270.1 (±12.9) Days in Finisher 161.5 (±10.8) 162.5 (±11.4) 164.2 (±10.7) 167.9 (±10.3) 166.4 (±9.0) 164.3 (±9.9) Average Daily Gain (lbs) 1.55 (±0.12) 1.54 (±0.13) 1.54 (±0.11) 1.54 (±0.11) 1.57 (±0.10) 1.57 (±0.11) Feed Conversionb 2.52 (±0.17) 2.51 (±0.17) 2.54 (±0.18) 2.52 (±0.20) 2.50 (±0.20) 2.50 (±0.18) aAll farms were given equal weighting. bFeed conversion is defined as feed to gain.


Table 4. Nursery average (±standard deviation) productivity from 2007 to 2012a

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Percent Mortality 4.42 (±4.12) 5.82 (±5.71) 4.68 (±4.41) 4.12 (±3.62) 4.32 (±4.32) 3.80 (±3.01) Exit Weight 48.0 (±7.5) 49.0 (±9.2) 49.4 (±8.4) 50.7 (±9.1) 50.3 (±9.3) 50.7 (±8.4) Days in Nursery 47.1 (±5.0) 47.4 (±6.8) 46.2 (±5.4) 46.2 (±5.5) 46.0 (±6.1) 46.0 (±5.1) Average Daily Gain (lbs) 0.76 (±0.12) 0.78 (±0.14) 0.80 (±0.13) 0.82 (±0.14) 0.81 (±0.14) 0.82 (±0.13) Feed Conversionb 1.51 (±0.23) 1.54 (±0.30) 1.53 (±0.29) 1.52 (±0.28) 1.53 (±0.25) 1.48 (±0.19) aAll farms were given equal weighting. bFeed conversion is defined as feed to gain.


Table 5. Sow farm average (±standard deviation) productivity from 2007 to 2012a

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Pigs/Mated Sow/Year 22.6 (±2.8) 22.8 (±2.9) 23.2 (±3.0) 23.5 (±2.7) 24.1 (±3.1)

23.9 (±2.8)

Litters/Mated Sow/Year 2.36 (±0.22) 2.35 (±0.23) 2.34 (±0.21) 2.33 (±0.20) 2.33 (±0.22) 2.31 (±0.22) Total Born 12.3 (±0.9) 12.5 (±0.9) 12.8 (±0.9) 13.0 (±1.0) 13.4 (±1.1) 13.4 (±1.0) Stillborn and Mummies 1.19 (±0.42) 1.23 (±0.49) 1.20 (±0.46) 1.22 (±0.48) 1.24 (±0.49) 1.17 (±0.46) Number Born Alive 11.1 (±0.8) 11.3 (±0.8) 11.6 (±0.9) 11.8 (±0.9) 12.1 (±1.0) 12.3 (±0.9) Number Weaned 9.5 (±0.7) 9.7 (±0.7) 9.9 (±0.8) 10.0 (±0.7) 10.2 (±0.7) 10.3 (±0.7) Pre-weaning Mortality % 14.2 (±5.6) 14.2 (±5.5) 14.5 (±5.6) 14.6 (±5.8) 15.5 (±5.9) 15.5 (±5.7) Weaning Weight (lbs) 12.3 (±1.3) 12.4 (±1.3) 12.8 (±1.5) 13.0 (±1.4) 13.1 (±1.4) 13.2 (±1.6) Weaning Age (d) 19.5 (±1.7) 19.7 (±1.8) 20.5 (±2.0) 20.8 (±2.1) 20.9 (±2.5) 21.5 (±2.8) aAll farms were given equal weighting.


Overall data summaryFinishing mortality has declined over time

while market weight has continued to increase Improving mortality by 2% for a 1000 hd. finishing facility

would be equivalent to adding $3,240 each barn turn assuming 270 lb. market hog and $60/cwt.

Days in the finisher have remained relatively constant over timeAverage daily gain has increased slightly over time

Feed conversion has improved slightly across both finishing facility types


Overall data summary cont’Nursery performance has change little across

the reporting time periodPigs/mated sow/ year has increased by almost

2 pigs from 2007 to 2012.Litters/mated sow/year has changed little

during the time periodMost of the improvement in PSY is a result of improved

litter sizeSome of the PSY increase is greater stillborns and

mummiesNumber weaned has increased by 0.8 pigs


Overall data summary cont’Percent pre-weaning mortality has increased.

Represents lost opportunityEasy to improve??

Weaning age has increased by 2 days from 2007 to 2012. Weaning weight has increased by 1 lb.


Plots of Averages


Description of figuresFigures 1 -24 graphically depict the change for

the top 25%, overall, and bottom 25% for each KPI for the 2007 to 2012 time period.Top 25% represented by red linesOverall average represented by black linesBottom 25% represented by blue lines

More easily view the rate of change for each KPI across the 2007 to 2012 time period


Figure summaryKPIs are changing at the same direction for all

three groups Each group slope or rate of change may slightly differ

Examples:1. Litter size averages have increased at almost the same

rate across the top 25%, overall average, and bottom 25%.

Litter size limit not reached yet for any group


Figure summary cont’Examples:

2. Percent finisher mortality variation among the 3 groups has changed substantially across the 2007 to 2012 time period for the three groups.

Result from increased importance or focus placed on reducing mortality by owners, barn managers, and barn workers

New vaccines Better herd health status


Seasonality Estimates


Seasonality graph descriptionLeast squares means were used to obtain the

month estimates using the model previously described.


Seasonality graphGraphs clearly show the months when

decreased performance occurs for each KPIDecreased performance represents substantial

productivity and economic losses for the US swine industry

Identifying causes and methods to mitigate seasonality effects on the KPIs would have a large economic impact on the entire swine industry.


Seasonality graph cont’ In general lowest finishing performance was

seen during the summer monthsSow farms had the lowest production during

winter months (sows experience hot weather and then express the effects during the winter months).

Except for nursery mortality, seasonality has less impact on nursery performance relative to other production phases.


Summary The US swine industry has been successful at

improving production efficiency Some traits (mortality) still represent future opportunities

Increasing the pounds of pork produced in a given period of time and reduced finishing mortality has improved finishing throughput.

Combining improved litter size and pounds of pork produced, the throughput of the US swine industry has increased as a whole.


Summary Key productivity indicator trait improvements may be

the result of – Better genetics Improved health Superior management Other

The results from this analysis can be used to determine when management practices need to be improved and/or maintained to ensure optimal performance level for each swine production phase.


Thank you for your time and attention !

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industry productivity analysis

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