The run up in feed costs has impacted the profitability of hog
operations in a number of ways. One of the relative costs often
overlooked is the cost of raising replacement gilts and the
associated breakeven as it relates to the market price of newly
weaned pigs or market hogs. Whether producers raise their own
replacement gilts or rely on a seedstock supplier, these
fluctuating costs must be covered if all segments of the
industry are to thrive. Disproportionally high sow culling and
mortality rates can be costly. To examine the effects of input
costs and the market price needed to reach reasonable breakeven
sow parities, we used three different feed price levels. With
the assistance of colleagues at Kansas State University (KSU),
we established the “current” feed cost, the “high” feed cost
(experienced last summer) and a “midpoint” or “fall” feed cost
(set between the current and high averages). KSU feed costs were
utilized since the spreadsheet used to calculate the breakeven
parity was developed using the