When producers evaluate production performance, mortality is usually reviewed as a result.
A mortality rate is reported at the end of a batch, after pigs have already been lost. The challenge is that mortality is often treated as an outcome rather than a process.
In reality, mortality rarely occurs suddenly.
It is often the final consequence of changes that started days or even weeks earlier. By the time mortality becomes visible in production reports, the opportunity to prevent losses may already have passed.
Learn how continuous monitoring helps producers identify problems earlier.
→ Read: How Continuous Monitoring Enables Earlier Detection of Production Problems
The direct cost of losing animals is easy to calculate.
The indirect costs are often much larger.
Mortality is frequently associated with:
These effects often begin before mortality rates rise.
As a result, the financial impact can be significantly greater than the value of the animals that are lost.
Discover how continuous monitoring helps reveal the early changes that often precede production losses.
→ Read: How Continuous Monitoring Enables Earlier Detection of Production Problems
Many of the factors associated with mortality develop gradually.
Examples may include:
In many cases, small deviations appear before obvious symptoms become visible.
The challenge is that these deviations are often difficult to identify consistently through manual observation alone.
Learn how continuous monitoring provides earlier visibility into developing production challenges.
→ Read: How Continuous Monitoring Enables Earlier Detection of Production Problems
Modern livestock production is becoming more complex.
Producers are managing:
This makes it more difficult to maintain a complete overview of what is happening in every barn at all times.
As complexity increases, so does the importance of identifying deviations before they develop into larger problems.
Discover how continuous monitoring supports earlier insight and more informed decision-making.
→ Read: How Continuous Monitoring Enables Earlier Detection of Production Problems
Mortality is often treated as an isolated KPI.
However, it is frequently a symptom of underlying issues that have already affected production.
Understanding mortality therefore requires looking beyond the final number and focusing on the conditions that influence animal health and performance over time.
The earlier these conditions can be identified, the greater the opportunity to act before losses occur.
Mortality is rarely the first sign of a problem.
It is often the final outcome of challenges that have been developing for days or weeks.
For producers looking to improve performance, the key question is not only:
How can mortality be reduced?
But also:
How can mortality risks be identified earlier?
Learn how continuous monitoring helps producers identify developing production challenges through changes in water consumption, growth performance and other key production indicators.