The seasonal cycle often influences market prices for the swine industry. In the winter, there may be more supply of pork due to farmers finishing pigs that were raised during the warmer months. This can cause prices to dip. In contrast, selling in summer can allow farmers to take advantage of better market prices when demand is high, especially during holidays or events like Memorial Day, Independence Day or Labor Day in the U.S. In summary, selling pigs in the summer months tends to be more valuable because of higher demand for pork, lower operational costs, and potentially higher market prices.

So, are you ready? Hopefully you are because what you do today will have long term benefits or repercussions in the future. What I am referring to is the females that are breed today in sow farm will produce offspring that will be sold next summer, which are the highest revenue months for pork producers. Depending on the year, throughout a calendar year, margins per pig sold. In the winter months, margins can range from minimal profits to $20 loss or more. In the summer months, margins can range from minimal profits to $35 or even higher profits. This article will cover preparation, maximizing opportunity and limiting losses.

Sow farm analysis was performed utilizing the MetaFarms Ag Platform with specific focus on the U.S. customers only. In the calendar year 2023, the number of sow farms was slightly more than 350, with an average female inventory of 800,000. In 2023, U.S. MetaFarms customers had nearly 9,000 nursery closeouts with 20,000,000 pigs started, while finishing closeouts were near 10,000 or 19,500,000 pigs started

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Being ready

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today. From sow farms to nursery and finishing sites being prepared to maximize opportunities looks different but all have the same underlying message: Do what is best for the pig every day.

Here are a few areas of preparation for each phase of production:

Sow farms

Nursery

Finish

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Maximizing Your Potential

As discussed in the April 2024 National Hog Farmer article, ensuring your sow farm not only makes breed target but as important, having a quality breed group makeup can give you a higher potential of more of those breeds farrowing. With a high farrowing rate, there is a steady and predictable flow of piglets that eventually mature and are sold. This consistency in production helps maintain a steady cash flow for the farm, making it easier to plan for expenses, manage debt and reinvest in farm operations.

Below is sow performance based on farrowing rate for the first half of 2024, Jan. 1 to June 30. 

Observation takeaways:

Limiting losses

Raising pigs requires substantial investment in terms of feed, veterinary care, housing and labor. Each pig that dies represents a complete loss of that investment without any chance of recovery through sales. Producers lose not only the cost of raising the pig but also the expected revenue from its sale.  There are few things in life that hurt more than having something and letting it slip through your fingertips. Mortalities in the swine industry is a daily focus point and rightly so as the more you have of something the more opportunities there can be.

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In preparation for next summer, the following nursery and finish performance can help you with setting expectations within your own company. What are the “best of the best” doing as well as what does “average” look like? 

Observation takeaways:

Since the females being bred today will wean pigs in the late year/early next year we decided to look at nursery closeouts that occurred within January, February and March for the last three years.

The chart below looks at finishing closeout performance based on finishing group mortality ranges.  Data is compiled for closeouts between April 1 to August 31, 2024. Those finishing groups that closed out with a mortality average of 6% or higher had a higher feed cost per pound gain higher by $0.02, then those groups less than 2%. As an example, a 6% mortality group that started with 2,000 pigs, had a starting weight of 55 pounds and an average out weight of 285 pounds, had a net weight gain of 230 pounds. The $0.02 per pound gain difference, from a group less than 2%, is equivalent to $4.60 per pig or $9,200 higher feed cost. 

Observation takeaways:

The graphs below show the last three years of finishing closeout averages for groups closed out between April and August within their own perspective year. 

By comparing your data to a larger database, you can benchmark your performance against industry standards or other farms. This helps you understand whether your farm is performing above, below, or at the industry average. It provides context and allows you to set realistic goals for improvement based on proven data from a broader spectrum.

Here are a few reasons on why it matters:

Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail.” Pork producers must be ready for tomorrow and that means preparing today. To maximize profit potential for next summer, what opportunities are there today that can be captured? Does your sow farm staff have the tools they need to give maximum output? Are the grow finish team ready for the incoming pigs? Do not lose focus on the little things, such as vaccinations, ventilation and square footage because these little things can add up really quickly. The pork industry has recently had a few rough financial years, so be get ready today for a brighter tomorrow!

MetaFarms Analytic Insights were used to provide the context and trends for this article. If you would like to talk or see how prepared you are for next summer’s markets, or if you have suggestions on production areas to write articles about, please e-mail or call us. We enjoy being a part of the National Hog Farmer Weekly Preview team. Previous Production Preview columns can be found at www.nationalhogfarmer.com.

If you have questions or comments about these columns, or if you have a specific performance measurement that you would like us to write about, please contact Eckberg at [email protected].