Culling, Mortality and Lifetime Production among U.S. Sows

Abstract

<p>To evaluate the present situation, sow removal and lifetime production was investigated among 132 U.S. pork producers participating in the Datashare program with PigCHAMP. Of the removed sows, 18% only produced one litter before removal, and less than 50% produced five litters. Most sows (32%) were removed due to reproductive disorders and only every fifth are removed due to old age. Of the removed sows 84% were slaughtered, 3% were euthanized on farm and 12% were mortalities found on farm. On average a sow weaned 40.6 piglets during her lifetime. There was a substantial variation between farms. Producers need to be aware of that too high and too early removal of sows result in lower profitability and evaluate their situation.</p>