A revolutionary new computer program to help pig producers improve efficiency and target production more directly to market requirements is being pioneered by leading UK animal feed company, Harbro Ltd, of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

The program is already being used by major pigmeat processors, Grampian Country Pork, and producer co-operative, Anglia Quality Meat, and is attracting world-wide interest. It will be launched on to the international market at World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa, USA, in June.

redboxanalysis allows pig producers to benchmark performance against the industry average for a range of traits based on abattoir returns, analyse the most appropriate market for the type and weight of pig being produced and evaluate the likely impact on profitability of any change in circumstances, such as increased slaughter weight.

The program is already creating a great deal of interest among UK producers seeking to reduce production costs and optimise profitability and also among pigmeat processors who see the program as an aid to sourcing more pigs which precisely meet their requirements.

"redboxanalysis is a really exciting product which is set to play a major role in helping producers enhance performance and profitability," said Harbro's Dr Kevin Stickney. "The development of redboxanalysis is going to have a significant impact on the industry from producer to processor."

Dr Stickney said one of the merits of the program was that it did not involve the collection of data by producers who were already over-loaded with paperwork. It was based on slaughter information which participating abattoirs would make available to producers on the Internet within 24 hours of slaughter.

"The instantly available information will enable producers to base their management and marketing decisions on up-to-date facts and figures and not supposition," said Dr Stickney. "Producers will see at a glance if their pigs are hitting the "red box" - the carcase weight and grade specified by the abattoir - and take the appropriate action to meet the specification or seek an alternative market for which their pigs are more suited."

Dr Stickney said the program would give producers an immediate answer to "what if?" questions, such as what if growth rate, feed conversion ratio or days to slaughter were improved, the effect of split sex feeding or reducing the slaughter weight of female pigs by 5kg. The main benefit was the facility to benchmark performance against other producers and the industry average.

"The focus must be on reducing cost of production to improve the profitability of the industry and ensure pork, bacon and other pigmeat products are competitively priced on the supermarket shelf," said Dr Stickney. "I look forward to helping producers achieve that goal."

Dr Stickney said the real criterion was the cost of keeping a sow and the output of that sow in terms of kilos of finished pig sold. An extra 5kg per pig from 19 pigs per sow per year made a huge difference to the profitability of a pig enterprise.

"If benchmarking shows that you are achieving a lower performance than your peers in the industry, then you have to do something about it," Dr Stickney. "The real value of benchmarking is that you are comparing your performance with other producers rather than trying to meet some theoretical target."

redboxanalysis would not provide a "quick fix" but would give producers the ability to monitor performance, highlight weaknesses and take action to improve physical performance, whether by improved feeding, a better health programme, new genetics or hitting market specification.

Harbro technical director, Willie Thomson, said redboxanalysis valued every pig individually and compared the return achieved with contracts offered by other processors.

A number of producers had found the program invaluable in assessing the implications, in terms of physical performance, financial return and additional space requirements, of keeping pigs to higher weights to meet the specification, for example, of the Grampian Country Pork/ASDA heavyweight pig contract.

"The program will work out the margin per pig based on the higher return for a heavier pig, less the additional cost in terms of feed, lower feed conversion ratio and additional space required," said Mr Thomson. "You can then determine the effect on the profitability of the whole unit."

The financial implications of adopting a partial destocking programme to improve herd health can also be worked out while the cost of condemnations at the factory will highlight the need for action on problems such as tail biting or poor medication.

Results can be benchmarked against producer type, processor type, geographical region, national averages, international standards and breed type.

Already a number of leading UK pigmeat processors have acquired the program in order to feed information back to their farmer-suppliers.

"redboxanalysis is set to be widely adopted throughout the pig industry and will have a significant role to play in improving the efficiency and profitability of UK pig production and marketing," said Harbro managing director, Graham Baxter.