Evaluating the less tangible issues
related to wean-to-finish is difficult.
But more questions are surfacing.
Dr. Joseph Connor of the Carthage (IL)
Veterinary Service, Ltd, says getting a handle on some
of the more subtle issues is the next step for evaluating
wean-to-finish systems. Producers often report that wean-to-finish
systems ease their flow of pigs, culls and feed. But we don't
truly know the dollars that return to a system with simplified
logistics. Even record-keeping can be less hassle, according
to Connor. Having a group remain intact for weaning through
finishing can help create cleaner, neater databases. "With
fewer ins and outs, you have less chance of recording error,"
Connor says. Another issue that Connor says needs to be brought
into focus is how herd health is impacted due to less movement.
Dr. Tony Forshey, a consulting veterinarian
in Archbold, OH, says he is not yet sold on wean-to-finish
because of the added building expenses, hefty utility costs
to heat the barn during the first six to eight weeks and because
specialized management is required for the nursery period
and not the grow-finish period. "I know from experience the
nursery manager is the real key to getting young pigs started,"
says Forshey. But after the initial period, Forshey says that
less intensive management skills are required so producers
would be hard pressed to justify paying for nursery level
expertise for much of a wean-to-finish building's operating
time. "Unless you are big enough — say 10,000 saws or
more — to have one person dedicated to overseeing all
the facilities during the first three weeks, I don't see how
an operation could pay for that expertise," says Forshey.
"People need to make sure to figure total costs and not leave
anything out," says Forshey.
Dr. Tom Fangman, a researcher at
the University of Missouri veterinary medicine college, is
wrapping up a comparative economic study looking at wean-to-finish
facilities versus conventional nurseries and grow-finish facilities.
According to Fangman, preliminary results indicate performance
advantages of wean-to-finish don't offset a $.90 per pig increase
in break-even cost for wean-to-finish versus conventional
facilities. But according to Fangman, that's not the whole
story. Wean-to-finish may still be viable because of things
like reduced labor requirements or improved employee morale.
He says that because workers have one less cleanup per group
in wean-to-finish systems, they may simply enjoy their jobs
more. But that's a hard item to put a figure on without in-depth
qualitative research. Logic tells us that happier employees
may stick around longer. But do we have a labor value to plug
into a spreadsheet comparing the two systems? Not yet, says
Fangman.
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