Now we use a 1200 sow operation and get comments that it is too small. With increased application of technology and capital structure, swine operations have entered the industrialized era where capital is substituted for labour, farm output is increased and the move is towards harnessing the biological system to produce a uniform pig commodity. Disease management technologies allow housing of large numbers of pigs at single site and digital technology is in place to control ventilation and feeding systems. Increasingly digital systems trace individual animals and satellite systems track pig inventories and movements to manage logistics. The post-industrialized era is marked by increased product differentiation.
Pork ceases to be a commodity and becomes a product.
Brand names grow in importance and customer satisfaction becomes the order of the day. Today, Japanese food retailers allocate space in their meat displays for brand name pork produced at identified farms. Multiple grading grids at our provincial pork processing plants indicate a move away from a generic pig. Heavy, standard and light pigs are processed according to consumer demands for differentiated products and price signals transfer this information to producers via grading grids. This table lays out the pricing and transfer points of a pig from conception to consumption.