2015

Benchmarking 2014 Summary

Susan Olson

Benchmarking is an inevitable part of any production process. It can be done informally, through comparisons during conversations at meetings or other get-togethers. It can be done through retrospective comparisons, by asking producers to recall prior productivity levels. Finally, it can be done by taking the records and analyzing the data in a standardized method across farms.

“To view summaries from individual countries and archived summaries from the past 10 years, visit www.pigchamp.com/benchmarking”

USING OUR DATABASE OF CLOSE TO 1,000,000 SOWS YOU CAN:

  • Obtain our standard & targets to compare performance using the same software and measurements.

  • Evaluate farm against industry standards and help them in setting performance goals.

  • Percentile ranking for each farm value based upon comparisons to other eligible herds for continuous improvement on a quarterly basis for FREE

The first step in creating benchmarks is the establishment of a database that includes the records of the farms that share in the benchmarking project over the past 10 years. To allow comparison, only farms with stable herds that have reported production throughout the calendar year are included. These criteria are essential to ensure the quality of benchmarking. Inclusion of farms with incomplete data may adversely affect the ability to generalize the benchmarks for one or more variables. Similarly, farms with excessively unstable female inventories may be indicative of rapid expansion or termination of operations. These variables can have extreme values that may not represent the production performance or sustainable achievement of the herd.

Of course the more data available for Benchmarking creates a higher level of qualified information for standards and targets to compare performance against other swine production entities that are using the same software and measurements. You can evaluate your farm against industry standards and set performance goals based on trends you have seen over the last decade. Be sure to check Dr. John Mabry’s article in this magazine, An Overview of the last 10 years in Benchmarking.

“Using the benchmarking data, you can evaluate your farm against industry standards and set performance goals based on trends you have seen over the last decade.”

We understand farm-level summaries using average production numbers values represent averages across all farms and do not take into account differences such as herd size, health or genetics. However, all farms should recognize their opportunities to improve within the ranges shown by this database.

Factors Contributing to On-Boarding Success The new employee

For more information or to join the Benchmarking program, contact Susan Olson: benchmarking@pigchamp.com.


- Susan Olson
Susan Olson is the Knowledge Center Manager for PigCHAMP, Inc. Having worked in the swine industry for over 20 years, Susan has used and supported several of the largest record keeping software programs, and has extracted data from all to provide some of the largest producers and genetic companies vital data to help maximize profitability. As our Knowledge Center Manager for PigCHAMP, her current role is to manage the development and execution of programs, products and services that create customer and business partner value from their Benchmarking strategy.