Extension Software Program Measures Sow Performance

By Mindy Ward Special to Agri-View
Thursday, November 13, 2008 12:47 PM CST

Farrow-to-finish operators have seen negative returns in seven out of nine months this year, according to Iowa State University.

These negative returns are causing many pork producers to take a long, hard look at sow performance. Colin Johnson says that can only be done well with a software management program.

“The biggest reason to manage records is to make sure we are not having empty sow days, which cost the farm,” says the Iowa State University Extension swine specialist.

Johnson notes feeding a sow and housing her while she is not carrying litter to gestation or not nursing or lactating is a big expense on the farm.

“The goal is to eliminate nonproductive days.”

Rob Turner, a sow manager at an East Central Iowa farm near Walker, Iowa, keeps a close eye on the number of pigs per sow per year.

“That is how most of our bonuses are paid out.”

Turner, such as many other producers, uses the swine-management program Pig Champ to monitor his 1,200-sow herd.

“It is something we are used to and comfortable with.”

However, when the Iowa Pork Industry Center (IPIC) contacted him about piloting a new software tool, Turner decided to try it.

Sow Tracker was launched earlier this year. The entry-level software is designed to assist swine producers in managing breeding, farrowing and weaning aspects of their operation.

The program is written in Microsoft Access, and all of the data can be exported to Microsoft Excel. By exporting data, producers can create their own reports, in addition to the reports generated by the program.

Sow Tracker comes with 14 built-in reproductive data management reports that help producers improve efficiency. The sow management lists assist producers in identifying non-productive sows in a herd.

The farrowing/pregnancy report lists the matings used over a number of weeks and the number of sows pregnant each week. This report also documents the reason for a sow not being pregnant by week and parity and documents non-productive sow days.

Producers also can compare genetics and print off sow cards for use in the farrowing barn.

Johnson concedes there are many great sow-management programs available to producers. However, their biggest drawback is price.

Leading swine management software companies often charge an annual licensing fee, which can start at $500 per year.

“As Extension we respond to needs,” he explains. “Our main goal was to make sure that there were no sow farms out there without records. We didn’t want anybody to be void of sow management software.”

The program has a one-time base fee of $300.

“Our goal is not to detract from other companies,” Johnson adds. “Our goal is to make sure it is available to everybody at a reasonable price.”

Cost is one reason Turner decided to pilot the program. Some of the other programs are really expensive, he says, and it seems they are getting more expensive as new updates come available.

However, cost is not the only roadblock for pork producers searching for a software program. For many, Johnson says using electronic software is just “overwhelming.”

“There are some individuals who started using computers 10 or 15 years ago,” he says. “But, there are some who still are not comfortable with it.”

He says the Iowa Pork Industry Center understood their concerns and looked for ways to make Sow Tracker easy to use.

The program allows the transfer of data from other popular software programs with just a click of the “mouse” or key.

Sow Tracker also offers drop down menus for ease of data entry. All basic events, such as entry, mating, pregnancy check, group ID, location ID, farrow, foster, pig death, wean, part wean, nurse on, nurse off and sow removal are included.

There is also a dictionary with categories for genetics, abortion reasons, death reasons, treatments, mating types and origins.

As with many new software programs, Sow Tracker has some glitches.

“That is why we wanted to get it into the hands of producers to see where they are and how to fix them,” Johnson says.

Producers got their first look at the program in 2007. Since then, updates and corrections have been put into place.

“But, I think it will continue to be refined this first year,” Johnson adds.

Johnson also adds Sow Tracker does not include economic data. It will not allow for economic or business planning.

“It simply manages the production side — the pig-flow side — of the operation.”

For more information on Sow Tracker log onto http://www.ipic.iastate.edu or call 800-808-7675.

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