The top 10% of GB indoor herds weaned 33.06 piglets per sow per year, with the top 10% of GB outdoor herds weaning 28.18 piglets per sow per year, in the 12 months to the end of March.
Overall, in a sample for the year ending March 2022, indoor and outdoor breeding herd performance shows to have improved slightly since the end of December 2021.
An average of 27.81 piglets were weaned from indoor sows in the year ending March 2022, compared to 27.72 for the year ending December 2021. For outdoor sows, piglets weaned per sow per year was 24.29 – compared to 24.26 in the year ending December 2021.
AHDB’s lead analyst, in farm economics, Carol Davis, suggested that if the GB industry (60% indoor sows and 40% outdoor) performed at the level of the top 10%, there would be an 8p per kg reduction in the overall cost of pork production.
Similarly, for rearing and finishing herds, Ms Davis stated that if all pigs in GB performed at the equivalent of the pigs in the top 10% feed conversion ratio (FCR) group, at April feed prices, the cost of production could be reduced by 38p per deadweight kg.
The AHDB figures also show that ‘there was a much greater difference between the average performance and the pigs in the top 10% group, ranked by FCR’.
The average FCR rearing performance for the year ending March 2022, was 1.85. In comparison, the top 10%’s FCR was 1.43. The daily live weight gain average was 480g per day, whereas the top 10% FCR piglets were achieving 456g per day; and the average mortality rate was 3.93% compared to 4.71% for the top 10% FCR piglets.
For finishing herds, the average FCR was 2.79, with the top 10% achieving 2.06. Daily liveweight gain average was 859g per day, compared to 838g per day for the top 10% FCR pigs and average mortality was 4.04% compared to 3.05% for the top 10% pigs.