Efficient management key to successful pig farming

The importance of efficient management and proper recordkeeping in pig production can never be stressed enough.

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GJ van Aardt and his wife breed 3 000 pigs per annum on their farm Sonneblom in the Aliwal North district. He says: “Without efficient management, a farmer always runs the risk of disease outbreaks, which could spread through a herd of pigs at a disastrous rate. At the same time, the inefficient farmer runs the risk of losing many young piglets.

“Record-keeping could save heavy losses that otherwise often goes unnoticed in a big herd. Adequate records, combined with good management, also means a continuous improvement in the breeding stock, as well as in the quality and the weight-for-age of the pigs being marketed.”

As an illustration of the losses that could be avoided by keeping records, Van Aardt mentions a time many years ago before he started keeping records when he had 14 sows that had not farrowed for 14 months before it was noticed they had slipped service. These sows were each costing R5 per month [about R500 today] in feed alone. This means that the 14 sews were costing Van Aardt R70 per a month