Batch Farrowing Place
Summer infertility issues
Not all farms suffer from summer infertility, but those who do need to grasp the nettle and farm through the issues. They are predictable and occur every year. Looking at global data majority of farms have a summer infertility issue, it just needs to be recognised and farmed.
Summer infertility
The graph demonstrates that in the northern hemisphere the summer infertility issues starts mid Iuly to November it is shallower than that of the Southern Hemisphere but lasts longer. You need to look at your farrowing rate analysis to demonstrate the exact timing of your summer.
Once you have accepted the farm has a summer infertility issue, the next move is the set summer time breeding targets.
Setting the summer real time batch breeding target
The above table also considers the impact of season on the finishing herd - which will be discussed in more detail in the finishing section. Note if the herd is bigger in the summer, assessments using pig/sow/year become meaningless.
Gilt pool modification to provide sufficient gilts for the summer time
Once you have determined the time of your summer infertility problems and the batch breeding target, the gilt pool needs to be modified to ensure that these targets are met to ensure that the correct real-time batch breeding target is met - and achieved.
There is no reason why summer infertility should affect farm output.