Research quantifies cost of "gilt gap"

Researchers at Kansas State and Ohio State universities recently calculated that performance gaps between barrows and gilts cost integrated swine operations as much as $5.12 per gilt, a significant cost you might think of as “The Gilt Gap.”Dr. Jason Woodworth, a nutritionist at Kansas State University, and Dr. Ben Bohrer, a meat scientist at The Ohio State University, conducted a statistical analysis of the combined results of 34 peer-reviewed scientific studies representing almost 16,000 pigs.The study showed gilts were associated with 5.9% lower average daily gain, 11.4% lower average daily feed intake and 4.3% better feed efficiency rate compared with barrows. In this episode, Dr. Woodworth and his post-doctoral research associate Dr. Jamil Faccin share their findings about “the gilt gap” and what producers need to know about the gilts in their operation.RELATED: Read more about the gilt gap at Feedstuffs.com, or watch our recent Feedstuffs 365 interview with swine industry consultant Steve Pollmann for some insights into the practical implications of the study.