RED DEER – Like any good financial planner, John Patience believes in the importance of budgets.
The Prairie Swine Centre researcher knows a good budget can point out where money is leaking. It can show whether some pigs are being overfed and money is being wasted.
“Feed budgets have the potential to be extremely useful to us,” Patience told producers at a conference designed to improve profits in the pig business.
He said producers need to plan exactly how much feed should be fed to each animal at each stage of its growth. Then use feed records to compare the actual amount of feed with the amount that was supposed to be fed.
Read Also
Forecast leans toward cooling trend
July saw below average temperatures, August came in with near to slightly above average temperatures and September built on this warming trend with well above average temperatures for the month.
“You can look at how much you thought you spent and how much you actually spent,” said Patience, who showed an example of feed for the barn that was $6.23 per pig over budget.
“The bottom line is we’re talking a lot of money.”
While pork producers have been making money in the past six weeks, the combination of almost two years of low hog prices and high feed prices made it difficult for producers to earn a profit.
Producers can stay profitable by adopting new research and realizing the importance of examining each step of the business.
Patience suggested producers recheck and reformulate their rations each month to take advantage of the lowest price feed available. Nor is it acceptable to feed “extra nutrients” just in case. Each ration should be carefully balanced.
“I’m not suggesting we underfeed nutrients, but overfeeding nutrients is just a waste of money,” said Patience.
Producers also can’t assume that higher weight barley is better for hogs than lower weight feed. During recent tests, barley that weighed 51 pounds a bushel had the same energy level as less expensive barley that weighed 44 lb.
“Bushel weight is not a good indicator of the feed value of wheat or barley,” said Patience, who recommended producers check the energy level of the feed they’re buying instead of making assumptions.
Even small things like splitting the barrows from the gilts can save money.
The barrows reach market weight five to seven days faster than the gilts, saving a week’s worth of feed.
