Where next for breeding herd performance?

English breeding herd performance is on the up. The best indoor producers are still getting better but the real success has been in the lowest performing section of the industry, according to the BPEX rolling 12-month dataset (from Agrosoft figures) up to June 2013.

The outdoor herd has also improved and, at around 25 pigs weaned per sow per year, the top 10% of outdoor producers have surpassed the average indoor producers – although, there are still big gains to be made in numbers born alive (read more on this in Pig World here).

In a Pig World online poll, 28% of respondents said they’ve achieved the Breed+3 target to wean three more pigs per sow per year, another 6% expect to in the next six months but 50% said they weren’t trying.

Our Breed+3 initiative is to encourage all producers to examine their unit’s performance and identify problem areas to focus on; there will always be a something that can be improved and myself and my colleagues in the knowledge transfer team are happy to help you review performance and achieve the next level.

We are keen to hear more from producers about what they think about the Breed+3 target – get in touch with us via email, phone or by commenting below.