By Jack Bosworth, Director, FJ Bosworth & Sons. Published 28 November 2022.
I hope everyone is well.
Back in September, I explained that we were experiencing poor parity 2 conception rates compared with all our other parities. Following some expert advice, we built a new feed plan into Velos, the Nedap platform that runs our Electronic Sow Feeding (ESF), heat detection and separation units. The new plan is used only for second parity animals. Gilts have their own plan during gestation. Everything from parity 3 upwards stays on what we now call the original plan.
Here is what we changed, and what has happened since.
The original feed plan (parity 3 and above)
| Days post-service | Feed allowance (kg per day) |
|---|---|
| 0 to 50 | 2.8 |
| 51 to 85 | 2.6 |
| 85 to 103 | 3.2 |
| 103 to 107 (approx.) | 3.0 |
| 107 onwards (pre-farrowing move) | 2.8 |
The new P2 feed plan
Parity 2 animals had been on the plan above. From the week commencing Monday 5 September 2022, they moved to a new P2 plan. The key difference is that it offers a higher feed allowance immediately after service:
| Days post-service | Feed allowance (kg per day) |
|---|---|
| 0 to 8 | up to 3.2 |
| 8 to 85 | 2.9 |
| 85 to 100 | 3.1 |
| 100 onwards (pre-farrowing move) | 3.0 |
Across the gestation period, the new plan offers only about 20 kg more feed in total than the original. That is an increase of around 6 per cent. Not a step change in volume, but front-loaded into the window where it appears to matter most.
A note on what the feed costs us right now
Both plans are using our home milled-and-mixed Dry Sow meal. The average cost of that ration so far this year:
- January to November 2022 average: £256.45 per tonne.
- January 2022 to the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: £218.30 per tonne.
That is real money on real volumes, and it is the backdrop against which any feed plan decision needs to make commercial sense.
The conception data: before and after
These are the numbers, taken from our own herd data via Velos.
Period 1: 1 January 2022 to 4 September 2022
This is the baseline period under the old plan. Across parities 1 to 7, we recorded 1,034 services in this window.
| Parity | Conception rate |
|---|---|
| 1 | 81.68 per cent |
| 2 | 69.18 per cent |
| 3 | 80.12 per cent |
| 4 | 84.16 per cent |
| 5 | 85.71 per cent |
| 6 | 89.47 per cent |
| 7 | 87.50 per cent |
Parity 2 is the clear outlier.
Period 2: 5 September 2022 to 29 November 2022
This is the new plan in action. There is obviously less data because of the shorter time frame, but the results at scanning are very encouraging:
- Parity 2 conception rate: 96.10 per cent.
- Average conception rate across all parities: 90.74 per cent.
Heading in the right direction
I do not like to speak too soon. I do like to be optimistic. From where I am sitting, it looks like we are genuinely heading in the right direction.
Big thanks again to Alex and Zoe for their continuing determination and hard work in getting our conception rates back to where we need them to be. The plan on paper does nothing without the people who put it into practice on the unit, day after day.
About the author
Jack Bosworth is a fourth-generation farmer and Director of FJ Bosworth & Sons, an arable and pig farming business at Spains Hall, Willingale, Essex. The farm has been in the family since 1919, and Jack farms alongside his father Stuart Bosworth, who was named Farmers Weekly Pig Farmer of the Year in 2011. The business is Red Tractor assured and runs an integrated farm-to-fork model, with home-grown cereals milled on site using solar-generated electricity.
You can follow Jack’s articles on fjbosworth.com, or get in touch via the WhatsApp link on the site.
Fourth-generation farmer at Spains Hall, Willingale. Runs the contracting team and writes most of what appears here.