Pig Farm Management Production Planning
Farm Management is the coordination and planning of farm activities. It also involves establishing and maintaining a good working environment where people can work effectively and efficiently to achieve targeted output. Why do people raise pigs? Before one decides to go into or expand his pig business, he has to consider first what would be his reason for doing so. What then are the most common reasons why people go into pig raising?
As a main source of income
Good local demand
Export possibilities
Utilization of farm products and by-products
Customs and tradition
Pork as a source of protein in the diet
Advantages of Pig Raising
After establishing a clear reason why we want to get involved in pig keeping, it is also advisable to look into some of the advantages:
By-product utilization. Pigs do not have to compete with human for food. Pig production with farm by-product utilization as feeds is possible. Plant products and by-products which are not usually suitable or accepted as human food can easily be converted by pigs into a protein rich food.
Soil fertility. With proper waste disposal and waste utilization, pig manure can positively influence soil fertility.
Pigs are efficient converter of quality feeds
Pigs can be raised under intensive system and technologies for such system are already available
Quick breed improvement
Adaptability to other systems and management
Factors to Consider Before Putting Up or Expanding a Pig Farm
Market situation. It is important to consider the present market situation and the possible situation in the future. Consider the local demand and export possibilities
Availability of feeds and water. These are the essential needs of pigs
Veterinary and extension services available in the area
Project site. Consider the accessibility to input and output markets, distance from residential areas, waste disposal system
Availability of labor. Consider their knowledge and skills needed for the successful operation of the business
Financial capability of the pig farmer
Presence of credit institutions
Production Planning
Suppose you have already decided on what to put up, two questions will be in your mind. First, how many sows if I want to produce 'N" kgs of pork? Second is, how many sows do I need in order to produce “n” number of piglets/finishers? The solutions to these questions can be made. But before we can do it, we should have a basic idea of how the farm works and the different areas of concern. Plan the number of farrowing If you have a farm with 100 productive sows and a litter index of 2, how many farrowings do you expect within a year? Assumptions: No. of productive sows = 100 Litter index = 2
In planning, you can make your own assumption on the litter index but you should have a clear understanding on how it was obtained. This can be done by making/or by computing the litter index based on the outcome from other farms or based on your planned program. Calculate the number of services per year If you have 100 sows and the farm litter index is 2 and the number of services per litter is 1.25, how many services do you need in the farm in a year?
Calculate the number of piglets born alive If you want to get the number of born alive piglets per year, multiply the number of born alive piglets per litter by the number of farrowings in a year.
Get the number of weaned piglets per year To get this figure, multiply the number of farrowings per year by the number of weaned piglets per litter.
Computing for the number of finishers produced per year To get the number of fatteners that can be sold, a similar procedure is followed.
Other assumptions being considered Average Daily Gain (ADG), Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), Culling Rate and Selection rate From these computations, it would be easy for us to project our stock at any given time of the farm operation. From it, we could also have a wise computation of the projected feed consumption of the farm at any given time.