How To Use Your Farm’s Insights To Break Habits and Make Better Decisions on Today’s Swine Operations
The pork industry has plenty of data. And sometimes, that’s the problem. Data without direction or communication is hard to act on and usually results in producers and systems sticking to the same patterns and habits.
In an industry where business decisions and markets are changing by the minute, doing things how they have always been done is no longer an option. By using interconnected tools, applied and managed by experts, systems can have a deep understanding of how to harness the power of data to make informed decisions. Using data to manage nutrition decisions helps ensure that by knowing precisely how to design, purchase and build swine diets, systems are in control of changing their profitability outcomes for the better.
For Sietsema Farms in Allendale, Michigan, operating as a family-owned farm since 1940 does not mean operating as if they were still in 1940. By combining traditional values with a modern, data- driven approach, Sietsema Farms contributes to the production of some 800,000 swine as well as 1.3 million turkeys per year.
“We review our marketing plan weekly, utilizing market analysis tools which incorporate fixed and variable costs, so we’re able to target our desired market weight,” Rick Sietsema, owner at Sietsema Farms, says. “Nutritionally, we’ll achieve that target through the most productive diet formulated by Provimi’s knowledgeable team.”
A real-world example of how diet design can benefit an operation like Sietsema is when seasonal swings in market weights are flattened out. “Through seasonally varied caloric content of feed, we have been able to reduce the summer lighter market weights and minimize the fall heavier weights,” Sietsema says.
Everyone is facing ever-increasing feed costs and variable markets but backed by the power of Provimi’s digital tools and insights, many pork producers find that timing is everything when it comes to forward profitability.
“One way we help producers make smart decisions is through diets designed to match gains to the target market date and price,” says Mike Warsco, strategic account manager at Provimi. “Our revenue tools look at forward profitability and contracts to assist in the critical decisions about which pigs to slow down and which to speed up based on market conditions and input costs.”
Chad Pilcher, Ph.D., swine nutritionist at Provimi, appreciates the ability to transform data into decisions. “In order to be profitable, pig producers and nutrition professionals need to make fast, informed decisions on nutrient supply and demand to ultimately optimize pork system profit,” he explains. “By analyzing nutrient supply and demand, we can determine the optimal outcomes in key performance areas that would have been missed if business was being done as usual.”
“At Provimi, we’re building toward a future that brings these tools and insights together across the entire pork system,” says Patrick Duerksen, strategic marketing leader. “We start by evaluating ingredients on a precise nutrient basis and choosing the right suppliers to control nutrients at the best cost. We then pull that data into our diet design, formulation and revenue tools to optimize animal performance for a given marketing period.”
Duerksen adds, “We are changing the way producers control their own operational profitability through predictable animal performance.”
For more information on digital nutrition and Provimi’s age-based approach to optimal swine nutrition, visit provimiUS.com .
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Sponsored by Provimi
By starting with projected profitability, Provimi helps tailor ingredient and diet design to assist in bringing pigs to market at the right time, right weight and the right cost.
