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January 2007 Issue
New year, new approaches
by Rick Pfortmiller
"Corn makes an unprecedented fall harvest rally.” “Another ethanol plant opens its doors.” “Hog break-even prices will approach $45.”
You likely identify the theme: Corn is getting more expensive and will raise our costs of producing pork.
This takes me back to a county pork producers meeting I attended as a breeder in 1995. Our guest speaker was an extension swine specialist, and his topic was a futuristic look at pork production. He looked into the crowd of producers in their early 30s and said, “In your lifetime, you will have to find alternative grain sources and methods of feeding because corn will be too expensive.”
My fellow pork producers and I chuckled. After all, we were meeting in McLean County, Ill. – one of the leading corn-producing counties in the state and nation. How could we run out of corn?
Well, here we are in early 2007, and the likelihood that sub-$2-per-bushel corn could become a thing of the past.
With the resulting rise in producing a pound of pork, how can you respond?
Your first reaction will likely be to watch your own feed costs. At the same time, your attention should turn to your customers.
Growth rate and feed efficiency now become even more important to profitability. For example, if you produce genetics that will increase average daily gain (ADG) by 6 percent, or about a tenth of a pound per day, this could reduce days to target market weight by seven days. In a 1,000-head finishing group, that equates to more than 55,000 pounds of feed saved; or about a semi-load of corn less for that group of hogs.
Producing genetics that are documented superior for feed conversion and growth rate may become a prerequisite for industry survival as a seedstock supplier.
This year may go down in history as one of dramatic shifts in production methods. Knowing our breeders, I believe we are up to the challenge.
STAGES adaptations. NSR’s genetic improvement program, STAGES, recently has undergone upgrades at the request of breeders and with the expertise of the Genetic Advisory Committee. The changes allow our breeders to remain progressive in genetic improvement.
The first change is with the Terminal Sire Index (TSI). The values on many animals likely have moved higher due to changes in the values and calculations for the Pounds of Lean estimate.
This change indirectly places more emphasis on growth while remaining lean. In the data analysis prior to implementation of this change, contemporary group rank changed very little, but the indexes of the better-performing animals increased slightly.
This modification will apply more to the breeders that perform whole-herd performance testing. For commercial producers that utilize STAGES data as a selection tool, rest assured that the animals ranked at or near the top of the contemporary groups are great candidates for making genetic progress.
The other edit to STAGES is on the Sow Productivity Index (SPI). NSR has initiated a new automated sow contemporary group assignment.
Previously, a contemporary group was defined as all sows that farrowed in the same time period under the same herdmark, regardless of group size.
The new, automated step establishes some minimum thresholds for group size within a given time period, as STAGES requires critical mass to accurately predict genetic value.
The process for registering litters has not changed. You will still receive your sow contemporary group report after you register your litters. But this summary will be an interim report, as the automated process is done every weekend. Based on the automated assignments, the EPDs and SPI may change slightly.
NSR strongly encourages all breeders to enroll their sow herd in Sow Productivity. Raw production data will always be printed on the pedigree to assist in selection and marketing, irregardless of the contemporary group design.
If you have questions on how either STAGES modification affects your herd, please contact me at the NSR office.
