Carcass gain per kg feed intake: developing a stakeholder-driven benchmark for comparing grow-finishing pig...

Area of Science:

• Animal Science
• Agricultural Economics
• Veterinary Medicine

Background:

• Feed conversion ratio (FCR) is crucial for pig farm profitability but current calculation methods have limitations.
• Inconsistent FCR formulas among stakeholders lead to 'definition nonconformity' and hinder accurate farm comparisons.
• Existing FCR approaches struggle with data accuracy and variations in pig weights and mortality rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To optimize feed conversion ratio (FCR) calculation methods for grow-finishing pigs.
• To develop standardized formulas for accurate FCR assessment and farm benchmarking.
• To address the 'definition nonconformity' in FCR calculations through participatory research.

Main Methods:

• Employed participatory qualitative research involving a multidisciplinary research group and 31 stakeholders.
• Conducted literature reviews, 25 in-depth interviews, and expert focus groups to formulate FCR equations.
• Iteratively refined formulas through revision rounds with stakeholders, resulting in two complementary calculation methods.

Main Results:

• Developed two new FCR formulas: plain carcass gain per kg feed intake (CGF) and standardized CGF (CGFstandardized).
• The CGF formula provides an objective measure of animal performance.
• The CGFstandardized formula enables farm benchmarking by correcting for mortality and standardizing weight trajectories (25-115 kg).

Conclusions:

• The new CGF and CGFstandardized formulas offer improved accuracy and comparability in pig farming FCR assessments.
• CGFstandardized facilitates effective farm benchmarking, allowing comparisons across diverse weight trajectories and mortality rates.
• A webtool was created to simplify the CGFstandardized calculation process for stakeholders.