She’s resilient under pressure. She’s prolific. She’s efficient. Today’s sow is pretty incredible and arguably one of the most valuable investments on your farm.
“Today’s sow is a true testament to the power of genetic improvement,” says Erin Brenneman, a day one farrowing specialist and education and event coordinator at Brenneman Pork. “Over the past few decades, focused selection for key maternal traits such as prolificacy, uniformity and piglet viability has transformed the modern sow into one of the most efficient and productive animals in agriculture. She is a cornerstone of modern agriculture, driving performance from farrowing to finish with consistency and power.”
Brenneman says the consistency of today’s sow has made a big difference in the industry and is a great improvement over years past.
“Production systems today are running in warp speed — with staffing issues, aging facilities, changes in legislation and standard operating procedures (SOPs),” adds Amanda Uitermarkt, USA technical director for JYGA Technologies. “Our sows have continued to show us they can produce well under a very wide variety of conditions. With the many advances in technologies and precision, we are more closely dialing in requirements of sows, minimizing wastage and improving productivity.”
The prolificacy of today’s sow is noteworthy. Just 25 years ago, Joe Popplewell, manager of POD Business for The Pork Group, Pork Division, remembers talking about 30 pigs per sow per year as something that may never happen, even though it was discussed.
“The top farms in the world today are doing 35+ pigs per sow per year,” Popplewell says.
Kevin Stuckey, sow division manager for Cooper Farms in Oakwood, Ohio, says the efficiency of today’s sow stands out to him as one of her superpowers.
“She has the capacity to produce these large litters of heavy pigs with less feed than was needed only a few years ago,” Stuckey adds.
Stuckey joins along with Uitermarkt, Popplewell and Jeremy Robertson, head of live production at Brenneman Pork, to discuss challenges and opportunities surrounding the modern sow.
What is the biggest challenge facing the U.S. sow herd today?
Popplewell: Herd health and keeping a solid workforce intact are the biggest challenges facing the U.S. sow herd. Keeping disease out of our sow herds is critical to stay in business. Costs continue to increase (insurance, utilities, labor, etc.) and subsequent margins continue to shrink. So, staying healthy and having a high level of production is critical for success.
Robertson: The pace of genetic improvement with changing health challenges is creating a difficult evolving landscape. Efficiency-driven swine genetics are moving at record speeds outpacing current nutrition, rearing and caregiving practices. Today’s sow herd is seeing record numbers of total born pigs driving demand on sows, nutrition and staffing to raise these large litters while improving loss. Imposing health challenges along with the demand on the herd is impacting throughput within the wean-to-finish phases.
Stuckey: At the barn level, it’s keeping our herds healthy. Compromised health is such a limiting factor to production. At the industry level, it’s securing enough demand for the quantity of pigs we can produce.
Uitermarkt: Survivability. We are losing too many sows (and gilts) too early in life. We are missing key steps in the gilt growth and management process that inhibits their long-term retention in the herd.
What is one of the best sow management tips you could offer another producer?
Popplewell: Invest in the best people and best biosecurity you can afford. Genetic companies have made sows prolific, so if we keep them healthy and can manage them, the rest of it is detail.
Robertson: Show up at the slat level. What does this mean? Regardless of the system, everything comes back to the owner of the pig. Understand the moving pieces of your business, understand your production numbers and, importantly, costs. Be your own best advocate continuously learning how to innovate and adapt.
Stuckey: Take care of the sow and she’ll do a lot of the pig raising for you.
Uitermarkt: Use data to make educated decisions but never stop teaching and emphasizing animal husbandry. All the data in the world can’t help our sows when we miss all the clinical signs when she’s having problems. In some cases, we have dialed in too well on tasks and goals, and we miss caring for animals as individuals. Take time to look at water nipples and make sure they have been used recently. Be observant to an off-feed sow breathing heavily at two days post-farrow. Walk pens daily and try and catch early-onset of lameness before she has to be removed from the pen.
Why does sow care need to be emphasized now more than ever?
Popplewell: Because of her prolificacy, she must have excellent care. My farm pickup is very dependable, requires little care and gets me from point A to point B, but it does it slowly, deliberately and without much comfort. A high-end sports car will get me there much faster and has a lot of cool gadgets, but I have to make sure it’s tuned up regularly or it won’t perform at that level.
Robertson: Topics such as nutrition, caregiving practices, housing demands and oxidative stress, combined with herd health, have evolved with genetic improvement and the sheer amounts of requirements from today’s genetic lines. We are seeing higher productivity from sows in a short time demanding daily care that does not allow sows to have a bad day. There are too many areas of modern sow production that have not evolved at the same pace, leaving more questions than answers. The one thing we do know is the best sow care can provide the best recipe setting the sow up for success — regardless of the demand of her production phase.
Stuckey: Today’s sow is so efficient and high performing that the gap between success and struggle has narrowed. Systems like Prop 12 can add to that challenge.
Uitermarkt: Our staff on farms are further removed from practicing animal husbandry, and the ratio of animals to staff is always pushed. Utilize tools and technologies that will allow you to spread more skilled labor over more sows. Let technologies and reports assist you in focusing on the animals that need assistance.
What’s something we need to talk more about when it comes to the modern sow?
Popplewell: There was a book called “Stockmanship” by Peter English, Gethyn Burgess, Ricardo Segundo and John Dunne. On the first page inside the book, it has a graphic labeled, “The Forgotten Pillar.” At the top is animal production. The pillars are genetics, management, nutrition, administration, housing and health. On the corner is a stockman in coveralls and boots holding up the corner of the building. I think that needs to be talked about more. SOPs are critical, particularly in large systems. Things need to be repeatable. I guarantee the people raising 35+ pigs per sow per year are following SOPs but are also practicing excellent stockmanship. I believe that is what differentiates excellent from good.
Robertson: Lactation is one of the most demanding phases of a sow’s life. Her body is under tremendous stress as she transitions from giving birth to feeding a large, hungry litter. How she’s supported during this time directly impacts not only the health of her piglets, but also her own ability to stay healthy, maintain condition and ultimately rebreed. If we neglect this phase, we compromise her lifetime productivity.
Stuckey: Training and making sure our people know the “why” of what we do. Making sure they are engaged.
Uitermarkt: Sows are biological animals with inherent variation. We’ve created SOPs with the assumption all sows will respond the same to feeding levels, treatment protocols and farrowing techniques. We can better educate that the variation within sow herds exists, and better benchmarking on individual animals and herd variation can assist us in providing better sow care.
