By the numbers… the 2021 dataset represents: 

  • 1.4 million female breeding stock 
  • 18.8 million nursery pigs 
  • 19.3 million finish pigs 
  • 10.6 million single-stocked wean-to-finish pigs 

Note: Benchmark data is broken into top 10, top 50 and bottom 10 percentiles, which allows for easy reference to your own production data. 

Key Data Points

While the full report offers a comprehensive insight into the many specifics of pork production, these specific data points are especially relevant when trying to see how your production data stacks up. 

Sow Productivity Highlights 

  • Average born alive was 13.6 and pigs weaned per sow at 11.40. Both are at 5-year highs.  
  • There was a year-over-year increase in pigs weaned per mated female per year (25.74), however, this was partially offset by a 5-year high in preweaning piglet mortality at 14.4%. 
  • The preweaning mortality gap between the top 10% and the bottom 10% continues to be very wide (8.3% vs. 20.2%). 
  • Sow mortality at 12.6% continues to be elevated compared to historical levels of 11.1% in 2017. 

Nursery 

  • Days on feed for nursery pigs remained unchanged at 44.7 days. However, the out-weight increased by 1.29 pounds from 2017 to 2021. 
Grow-Finish 
  • From 2017 to 2021, days on feed decreased by 4.1 pounds while the out-weight increased by 4.77 pounds. 
Wean-to-Finish 
  • Feed conversion has changed little going from 2.57 to 2.61 pounds of feed per pound of gain from 2017 to 2021.