YES WE CAN: MAKING MONEY IS

POSSIBLEJan VugtsHK Agri Oy

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Personal introduction

• Jan Vugts• 40 years old• 25 years experience in the pig

industry• Adviser HK Agri since 28-9-2002• Married with Anu• 1 daughter named Laura

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Finnish pig production Strenghts

+ Health status+ Grain prices+ Expansion possiblities+ Welfare image

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Finnish pig production Weaknesses

- High investment costs- Knowledge level- Low efficiency- Welfare costs

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Data instead of opinions

• Most farmers are focused on prices instead of margins

• Most farmers do not know their key figures

• Most farmers do not have clear targets for their production

• Most farmers act based on their feelings

• Most farmers do not make money

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Average vs. Top

Average producer

March 2013

Top producer March 2013

FCR 2,76 2,62

Daily gain 906 967

Pigs in farm 115 days 89 days

Mortality Average Low

ROA 2,9% 9,5%

ROA = Return on assets including subsidies

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Feed costs

• Feed costs are the main costs in pig production so they should be optimized first.

• Sows:– Sow feeding based on measured condition– Feed use & costs / sow– Feed use & costs/ delivered piglet

• Fatteners:– Feed use & cost / fattener– Calculate feed margin/place/year

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Better feeding

Feed solutions instead of just filling silo’s:

– Customized diets and feed schedules based on farm specific performance (data!)

– More focus on how the feeds are used:• Milling & mixing• Feed installations• Animal performance (stable)

– Condition– Behavior– Digestion

– Basic management advices

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Healthcare

• Lot of veterinarians time is spend on obligatory inspections /recordings

• Poor monitoring of common diseases– ”we are so healthy”– Limited possiblities– Too slow

• Not enough focus on disease prevention

• Performance data not (much) used

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Most damaging Finnish pig disease:

BadManagementDisease

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Cause of B.M.D.: Farm Blindness

• Not enough in farm support• No data, No targets• No benchmark

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Current situation

Adviser

Feed supplier

Veterinarian

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Desired situation

Adviser

Feed supplier

Veterinarian

Common targets

Uniform recommendations

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BASICS FIRST !

Climate

Water

Replacement

VaccinationsHygiene

Housing

Feed

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Conclusions

• Pigs must be produced more efficient if we want to stay self sufficient

• We need more data and less emotions

• Producers need uniform advises

• More cooperation is needed on farm to get the producers to put the basics in order

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Thank you for your attention