Look at the numbers. Have big discussions. Pull in multiple voices. At World Pork Expo last week, AgriTalk’s host, Chip Flory, sat down with Cara Haden, DVM and veterinarian with Pipestone; Randy Kuker, The Equity; Brad Eckberg, MetaFarms; and Farm Journal’s PORK Editor, Jennifer Shike, to talk about the importance of the State of the Pork Industry report and its implications to the industry.
“Randy brings so much to the table that’s different from my perspective,” Haden says. “Brad has a perspective that’s different from mine. The more we can throw these numbers out and have conversations around them, I think the more other people will start having conversations and we can continue to move forward as an industry.”
In light of economic conditions, we can’t be isolating ourselves, Eckberg adds.
“We need to be able to collaborate with other people to be able to say, ‘Hey, what are your issues? What are my issues,’” he says. “Especially from a veterinarian perspective, if you can have a vet-to-vet conversation, and ask, ‘Hey, where are these pigs going? What are the health issues?’”
He points out asking these questions and working together to keep disease out will help the industry from a production standpoint. Kuker agrees.
“I always say you can’t manage what you don’t measure,” he says. “Our company uses Brad’s platform that provides some good insights and provides different ways that we can analyze that data. From the top down, taking it to the people that work in the barns, and telling them these are the KPIs that you need to really be interested in—these key performance indicators. This is what’s going to give our producer the best chance for profitability, so he’s going to continue to be able to afford to put pigs in their barn.”
Having real-time data is important to producers to be able to address the goals and needs of their operations.
“Putting the right information in the right hands for the right role is something that we try to strive for every day,” Eckberg says.
That data includes animal health information, which is usually the No. 1, if not for sure the second topic that comes up at World Pork Expo, Flory observes. From a veterinarians perspective, a healthy animal and animal health from a producer’s perspective of efficiency have to be aligned for the industry to move forward.
“I think more and more people are starting to see the value of a healthy pig,” Haden says. “It is so fun to raise healthy pigs. I think everybody’s starting to realize that pig health is a huge make or break for the industry.”
Pig health translates to efficiency in the farrowing house in a big way. The industry is seeing big numbers of pigs saved per litter.
“I think the foundation of these farms that are having astronomical numbers, it’s absolutely pig health,” Haden adds. “You just cannot achieve some of these amazing numbers that Brad is showing if you don’t have a foundation of a healthy sow and healthy pigs.”
Kuker also reiterates the importance of pig health as he’s seen some unhealthy flows. He says it affects moral in the barn when producers can’t execute some of those health protocols.
“You better have a healthy pig when it comes in the door if it’s going to be a profitable pig when it leaves the finishing house,” Flory says.
“I think as a veterinarian, it’s really easy for me to say that but it’s good when production and numbers people chime in and say it’s all about the health,” Haden adds. “There’s been so much work done. If you get a healthy pig in the door, your production is going to be better. If you can keep that pig from getting sick, absolutely your production is going to be better We talked about one of the main things we saw on the report was these astronomical differences between the top 25% and the bottom 25% of producers. I think so much of that it’s health that makes those differences.”
As with animal health, profitability tops the discussion list for producers. While it’s not a great economic time, some producers get creative reducing feed costs, looking at different technology, looking at different feeder types, water types, ventilation types, having that visibility.
“Ultimately, when it comes down to a breakeven standpoint, it’s all about revenue and expenses,” Eckberg says. “So how can it make as much money and keep expenses low?”
Sow numbers, heavy carcass weights and even the recommended temperature to cook pork are also topics the pork industry continues to have. Along with those, demand is also an important component of this profitability in the industry.
“We need to talk about the demand side as much as we do anything else,” Flory says. “We’ve got to make customers happy. If we can make customers happy, we can take more of that consumer dollar, work it down the supply chain, and get it all the way back down to the producer that’s putting pigs in the in the trailer and taking them off to the farrowing house. Eat more pork.”
The demand discussion is one Kuker gets excited about.
“The good news is I’ve heard more about what you’re talking about from many people in the industry at different levels,” Kuker. “They’re talking about more in the last six to nine months than I’ve ever heard in my 20 some years. Keep talking about pork.”
Full episode
Check out the State of the Pork Industry Report here and watch for the next quarterly report.
