There are two critical points to address when trying to shave feeding costs in the breeding herd, according to John Patience, Extension swine nutritionist at Iowa State University.

First, nutritional changes in one area of the operation can have major consequences further downstream. “If I make a mistake in the nursery feeding program, it only affects those pigs as they go to market. But if I make a mistake in the breeding barn, it may affect the pigs for their full lifecycle. So we need to be a lot more cautious in that respect,” Patience says.

Second, feeding nursery pigs based on their average growth rate ignores the fact that about 92% of these pigs grow at different rates of gain than that average. “Our data shows that lightweight pigs don't reach the average group weight at weaning for 3 to 21 days postweaning, and these lightweight pigs don't reach the weaning weights of the heavier pigs until four weeks after weaning,” he says (Figure 1).

When market prices are high and feed costs are low, the tendency is to feed for the better-than-average pigs because the goal is to take advantage of their potential to get to market as soon as possible.

But when market prices are low and feed costs are high, producers can't afford to follow this strategy. They need to closely monitor their costs and records for six key areas:

1. Average revenue per sow and total herd revenue per time period;

2. Average (total and variable) costs per sow and total and variable herd costs per time period;

3. Pigs weaned/sow/year;

4. Non-productive sow days;

5. Average cost (total and variable) per piglet sold; and

6. Weekly sales relative to the target.

Other measures are important, but the above items are good starting points to identify problems and/or determine success, he says.

Three of the six items relate to financial issues, not productivity. “Unfortunately, as an industry, we have gotten the mindset that productivity is equal to profitability — and that is not true at all,” Patience observes. “There are many farms that are highly productive that are not as profitable as other farms that are less productive.”

Feed for Success

Four feed items should be measured in striving for financial success in the farrow-to-feeder pig model that Patience discussed in his talk at the Swine Transition Options Seminar Aug. 5 in Sheldon, IA.

1. Quantity and cost of gestation and lactation feed/sow/year. “I like to look at the quantity of sow feed because if I am feeding more than 1.1 to 1.2 tons of feed/sow/year, I want to know why. It probably means I am overfeeding,” he says.

2. Total nursery feed and cost per pig sold.

3. Quantity and cost of feed per pound of piglet sold or transferred. If this number isn't reasonable, it may be time to find out if you are overfeeding sows or are not following the feed budget for the nursery pigs, he says.

4. Feed budget — formulated and actual. “By using a feed budget, I have got a target to compare my feed usage to see if I am on track or not,” he says.

With that feed information in hand, Patience suggests producers try to find expenses on the farm that are the biggest, easiest and least costly to achieve. It may be that some of the largest expenses, such as labor, are basically treated as a fixed cost that is very difficult to change.

Unintended Consequences

When considering cost reductions in the breeding herd feeding program, avoid making changes that could affect herd productivity and impair the herd's ability to take advantage of future market recovery.

Keep cost-cutting in perspective. “Because feed from weaning to 30 lb. accounts for only 5-6% of the total finishing budget, you would need to achieve an $18/ton savings in feed cost to equal a $1/ton savings in the late finisher,” Patience states.

Similarly, the cost of late nursery diets can be stretched by including up to 5-10% distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS). But the benefits aren't nearly as great as when DDGS is added to grow-finish diets, which represents 85-90% of total diets. Plus, DDGS inclusion rates can be 15-25% of grow-finish diets, he reminds.

Also, sow gestation diets can include up to 50% DDGS, but make sure the byproduct isn't contaminated with mycotoxins.

Next Page: Cutting Gestation Feed Costs