Benchmark Magazine Article Archive

Every year, the PigCHAMP team collects a lot of data.

Hundreds of producers send us backups of their PigCHAMP databases that we compile into personalized reports. We send these reports back to each producer, giving them individualized insights into how they line up with other farms that also share their information. We see the value of keeping precise, daily records.

Using gilts’ performance to gauge future health and production makes sense. The gilt and litter (parity) 1 journey become the building blocks of the parity 2, parity 3 and parity 4 sow.

When it comes to decision making within the swine industry, there are a lot of factors to consider. In this mix of competing priorities, biosecurity and logistics can sometimes take a backseat to topics like genetics, markets or technology. It can be easier to focus on the more enjoyable decisions that need to be made for your farm than it is to address the issues that take more planning to address.

In our industry, sow mortality has become a primary focus for producers, their veterinarians and diagnostic labs.

Only a short time ago, the mortality rates hovered around 5 percent in nearly all operations. In the past few years, however, the rates have escalated to unbelievable levels, often exceeding 10 percent for several weeks to months.

Benchmarking is the process of comparing your business processes and performance metrics to a database, allowing producers to make comparisons of the key drivers for production and profitability. This tool is extremely powerful when all participants use the same record-keeping system, which provides a basis for consistent interpretation.

We have no shortage in the amount of data available today. On the farm, we can access data from such information systems as PigCHAMP, historical data in barn controllers, cost data in accounting software, purchase history data from feed vendors, and software data in your mill. An individual does not have to go far to look for data to evaluate something about his/her pig business.

Number of Farms: 29

When we think about swine production in 2018, there’s a lot of areas of the industry to consider. The procurement sector takes great care in making purchasing and processing decisions.

For this Benchmark article, we asked two professionals in this sector to give some insights into the data they use to support choices and the ways they can use the information they collect to make future decisions.

Number of farms: 340

Time means everything for producers. Sometimes, it feels like your farm to-do lists are constantly growing. The PigCHAMP team is always looking for ways to help you be more productive in the barn so that you can keep accurate records, make informed decisions and, ultimately, move onto the next item on your list.

If you could look into a crystal ball to learn about the future of the swine industry, would you? While the PigCHAMP team does not have any magical powers, we do have a lot of great assets – and one of them is you!

The National Pork Producers Council has identified over 100 risks that a hog producer can face in any given year.

The United Nations indicated that we’ll need to feed 9.7 billion people by the year 2050. To account for the growing global population, agricultural production will need to increase by 60 per cent, according to World Agriculture Towards 2030/2050.