Farmscape for November 18, 2013

The director of marketing and producers services with h@ms Marketing Services suggests by making adjustments based on information contained in the kill statement pork producers can boost returns by anywhere from five to ten percent.
Most hogs in western Canada are purchased based on a grading index table and the kill statement is essentially the grading warrant and the basis for payment.
The topic "Interpreting the Kill Statement: Reading Between the Lines" will be among the topics discussed as part of Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2013 tomorrow and Wednesday in Saskatoon.
Bill Alford, the director of marketing and producers services with h@ms Marketing Services, explains grading instruments used by the packing plants on their kill floors provide three data points, backfat, loin depth and carcass weight and that data is then applied to the grading table to determine payment.

Clip-Bill Alford-h@ms Marketing Services:
When you're speaking of the grading table it is designed by the processor to procure, send a message or signal to the producer the type of hog they would best like their plant to process.
What I mean by that, specifically the targets in the exact loin and fat depth and weight that they can best sell the processed hog later on at.
By knowing those specifics and by interpreting that on the kill statement you can hone in and make decisions as a producer to, at the end of the day, market that hog that is best paid for by that packer and getting the most money out of that packer.

Alford says information on the kill statement can tell the producer whether he should be marketing the hogs heavier or lighter or selecting genetics to adjust backfat or loin size and by hitting those core targets he can increase returns by anywhere from five to ten percent, which is often the difference between break even and profitability.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council