The productivity of the UK pig breeding herd improved again in 2015, according to latest figures from Agrosoft, but the gain was smaller than in most recent years.
The number of pigs weaned per sow per year averaged 24.1 across all breeding herds, 0.2 more than in 2014. This is the smallest rise recorded since 2010, with increases of 0.4 to 0.6 in the intervening years. Both indoor and outdoor herds recorded similar improvements. Modest gains in the number of piglets born alive per litter and pre-weaning mortality were behind the rise in productivity, partly offset by a slight drop in the number of litters per sow. Read more