Oct 2023 - Journal Final - Flipbook - Page 8
Management
The importance of a
HEALTHY GILT SOURCE
A veterinarian originally from Chile, Rodrigo started his career in the
swine industry in 2004. He brought his knowledge and worldwide
industry experience to PIPESTONE in 2021 and serves as the Director of
Multiplication.
Rodrigo Tueber
Director of Multiplication
Pipestone Management
A commercial sow farm has
two options when it comes to
replacement gilts, the 昀椀rst is to
raise them internally, and the
second is to purchase them
from another site or company.
Producing replacements
internally requires a very broad
and intensive management style
to effectively run two different
populations within one farm.
The other challenge is genetic
improvement. If you don’t have
the luxury of utilizing the best
females for the purpose of
replacement, it is very dif昀椀cult to
keep up with genetic progress.
WHY DO I NEED A HEALTHY
GILT SOURCE?
A multiplier is designed and
focused on doing one thing well,
making a top-notch replacement
gilt. The objective starts with
the end product - the market
hog. With a healthy replacement
female, farmers maximize
performance by producing wean
pigs that are high-performing,
high-health animals, with a
genetic makeup that provides
for low mortality, ef昀椀cient feed
conversion, and fast growth.
In short, a healthy gilt source
ensures a wean-to-昀椀nish pig that
is pro昀椀table.
A healthy gilt from a
PIPESTONE managed multiplier
8 | PIPESTONE JOURNAL
is free of the heavy hitters of
disease - Porcine Reproductive
Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS),
Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED),
Mycoplasma hyopneumonia,
and carries high potential to
be free of 昀氀u. In addition, the
presence of secondary bugs
like Streptococcus suis and
Actinobacillus suis has been
vastly minimized thanks to the
diligent work of our vet team.
IMPACT
On average, a single gilt will
produce more than 50 wean pigs
in her lifetime. Multipliers have
a major impact downstream. For
example, a 5,000-head multiplier
will provide approximately
110,000 replacements - supplying
approximately 22 5,000-head
commercial sow farms. Those
replacements will yield nearly
3.3 million wean pigs for our
shareholders – in just ONE year.
All the more reason biosecurity is
of the utmost importance at our
multipliers.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
Biosecurity
Multipliers follow the same
biosecurity protocols as any
commercial sow farm. However,
in practice, these protocols are
carried out more frequently and
more intensely because the
downstream implications of a
health challenge are so vast. At
each of our multipliers vet visits,
testing, biosecurity and welfare
audits, and employee training are
carried out at least monthly, if not
bi-weekly.
Visitors, including PIPESTONE
personnel, are required to
have three nights away from
pigs before they are allowed to
shower in at a multiplier farm. All
sites take note of proper D&D
protocols, and each multiplier
employs an of昀椀ce manager who
provides our team with homecooked meals to ensure no pork
products are cooked on-site and
ensures all areas inside the barns
remain spotless.
Teamwork
If our multipliers are to
be successful, the collaboration
of our teams is vital. From
construction and human
resources to nutrition and
transportation, a healthy gilt
source is a direct result of our
PIPESTONE family working in
tandem.
Measurements
As multipliers have
different roles in the supply
chain, we measure success
through four big areas –
