Throughput, defined in terms of pork production, is the number of pigs or pounds of pork “put through” any given system, farm or facility.

Efficiency of throughput is the ratio of useful output in relationship to the total inputs that are devoted to a given system.

Productivity is the marriage of the two — throughput and efficiency — as an indicator of how wealth and value are captured and added to the producer's bottom line. It is folly to focus on either throughput or efficiency at the exclusion of the other. They must be pursued together to create productivity.

The number of weaned pigs out the door is the measure of a farm's throughput, but this number does not indicate anything about the inputs required to produce these pigs. More importantly, the throughput number alone does not provide an indication of the productivity or profitability of the farm.

Maintaining top health is essential for maximizing throughput and optimizing productivity. When disease enters a population of pigs, it can affect productivity in many negative, decisive ways, such as increasing mortalities or reducing average daily gains.

But sometimes, in less obvious ways, disease can increase variability and cause a wide range of production challenges that increase the number of undervalued pigs, reduce overall efficiency and, thus, raise the cost of production.

For sow farms attempting to meet buyer specifications, such as batch size or weaning weight and average age, variability from week-to-week or within weekly batches of pigs can be devastating.

Variability is the range that a trait varies from the average of the rest of the group. For example, average daily gain or litter size traits are relatively easy traits to measure and compare.

Producers and veterinarians generally acknowledge that variability in production is bad. In most cases, wide variation in production measures will lower productivity and increase the number of “out of spec” pigs and groups.

Some variability is normal. Small ups and downs can be explained as normal biological inconsistencies.

Statistical Process Control charts are tools that help us understand variability and differentiate between normal biological variation and those fluctuations that require attention to a process that may be “out of control.”

The only time low variability would be undesirable is when the average of the trait is consistently poor.

Health Trumps Other Efficiency Robbers

Of the primary factors that affect throughput — efficiency and productivity — pig health is the trump card. Without top health:

• Genetic potential will not be expressed or realized;

• Optimum nutrition formulation will not produce top results;

• The perfect environment will not allow top levels of production; and

• The best management will not shine.

While all of these factors are interrelated, top herd health can help win the throughput game.

Top health has been defined many different ways. Most agree that health status can best be described by the absence of certain pathogens in the population.

For instance, we all know that some pathogens are much more important than others. The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus can be devastating to sow herd performance as well as in the growing phase of production. Other pathogens, such as porcine circovirus Type 2 (PCV2), are much worse in the grower phase than they are in the reproductive side of production.

But top health is not just the absence of the infamous pathogens. It is also the impact of overall disease pressure from common bugs such as Streptococcus suis, Echerichia coli and porcine parvovirus. These pathogens are called ubiquitous because they exist in nearly every herd.