Moving Toward the 35-Pigs per Sow Target – Alltech’s Pig Performance and Profitability Calculator Launched during APSA

[MELBOURNE] – Global leader in animal health and nutrition Alltech launched its latest innovative tool for the swine industry, the Alltech Pig Performance and Profitability Calculator, at the company’s breakfast meeting during the Australian Pig Science Association conference (APSA). The easy-to-use program has been developed to measurably demonstrate improved profitability through enhanced performance and to support implementing Alltech programs to reduce the gap between current performance and the modern pig’s genetic potential.

Efficiency and profitability are two fundamentals within today’s highly competitive, global pig industry. It is crucial for every successful pig producer to identify the key performance indicators (KPI) of their animal production and benchmark them against industry standards. The Alltech Pig Performance and Profitability Calculator was designed to help identify those KPIs that are below the target and to calculate the cost associated with those differences in performance. It is well-tailored to the individual producer’s goals, ambitions and capacities.

“It is an interactive, easy-to-use, PC based program which can show pig farmers the areas where action needs to be taken for improved performance. Equally importantly, the program can clearly demonstrate the impact on the producer’s margins”, said Arturo Frio, technical manager, Alltech Asia-Pacific, during the Alltech On-Farm Pig Advantage Breakfast.

The program has already been successfully tested with numerous swine farms in Asia. One recent example comes from a 4,000 sow farm in Thailand. “With the program, we were able to compare the farm’s actual KPI values such as feed conversion ratio (FCR), average daily weight gain (ADG) and the average daily feed intake with the target industry standards. The program clearly indicated in numbers the potential within the pig farm for increased performance and higher profitability. The farmer now had his goals and, by implementing the Alltech’s W35 On-Farm Solutions program, he managed to lower FCR by 0,15 as well as increase ADG by 29 g per day, reaching 1,37kg heavier pigs by day 68. In terms of profitability, the program resulted in an extra $2,14 per pig net profit, which meant an additional $214,000 for the farm (4,000 sows x 25 piglets per sow per year).

“Modern pig production has the potential to produce up to 35 piglets per sow each year. Our latest program, the Alltech Pig Performance and Profitability calculator, is an innovative tool to support producers in identifying those factors that are limiting performance and in showing the farmer in numbers what opportunities they have when it comes to making more money,” said Matthew Smith, regional director, Alltech Asia-Pacific.