Do labour productivity and preferences about work load distribution affect reproduction management and performance in pig farms - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Livestock Science Année : 2008

Do labour productivity and preferences about work load distribution affect reproduction management and performance in pig farms

Résumé

Increases in labour productivity are essential factors, as well as technical effectiveness, for the competitiveness of pig farming. However, the preferences of farmers for controlled (i.e. limited) daily working hours or available days for vacation also increase. The objective of this study was to explore how these preferences about work might be associated to specific combinations of practices or affect performance. The study was carried out by direct investigation of the stockbreeders. Data analysis used factorial analysis to identify relationships between practices, labour productivity, sow productivity and work load distribution. Results showed independence between sow productivity and labour productivity. Three independent types of preferences about work load distribution were identified: the limitation of density of daily work, the avoidance of insemination activities during the weekend and the avoidance of far rowing supervision during the weekend. These preferences about work load distribution were mainly related to weaning, oestrus detection and insemination techniques. A relationship was also seen between far rowing and cross fostering techniques, and labour and sow productivity. Results suggest that preferences about work load distribution influence the choice of reproduction practices without influencing performance. Finally, concerning the labour productivity, it was linked with some specific techniques at far rowing but the results also indicated that it was mainly related to the size of far rowing batches.

Dates et versions

hal-01195163 , version 1 (07-09-2015)

Identifiants

Citer

Gilles Martel, Jean-Yves Dourmad, Benoit Dedieu. Do labour productivity and preferences about work load distribution affect reproduction management and performance in pig farms. Livestock Science, 2008, 116 (1-3), pp.96-107. ⟨10.1016/j.livsci.2007.09.012⟩. ⟨hal-01195163⟩
65 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More