Evaluating the less tangible issues related to wean-to-finish is difficult.
But more questions are surfacing.

		Dr. Joseph Connor

Dr. Joseph Connor of the Carthage (IL) Veterinary Service, Ltd, says getting a handle on some of the more subtle issues is the next step for evaluating wean-to-finish systems. Producers often report that wean-to-finish systems ease their flow of pigs, culls and feed. But we don't truly know the dollars that return to a system with simplified logistics. Even record-keeping can be less hassle, according to Connor. Having a group remain intact for weaning through finishing can help create cleaner, neater databases. "With fewer ins and outs, you have less chance of recording error," Connor says. Another issue that Connor says needs to be brought into focus is how herd health is impacted due to less movement.

		Dr. Tony Forshey

Dr. Tony Forshey, a consulting veterinarian in Archbold, OH, says he is not yet sold on wean-to-finish because of the added building expenses, hefty utility costs to heat the barn during the first six to eight weeks and because specialized management is required for the nursery period and not the grow-finish period. "I know from experience the nursery manager is the real key to getting young pigs started," says Forshey. But after the initial period, Forshey says that less intensive management skills are required so producers would be hard pressed to justify paying for nursery level expertise for much of a wean-to-finish building's operating time. "Unless you are big enough — say 10,000 saws or more — to have one person dedicated to overseeing all the facilities during the first three weeks, I don't see how an operation could pay for that expertise," says Forshey. "People need to make sure to figure total costs and not leave anything out," says Forshey.

		Dr. Tom Fangman

Dr. Tom Fangman, a researcher at the University of Missouri veterinary medicine college, is wrapping up a comparative economic study looking at wean-to-finish facilities versus conventional nurseries and grow-finish facilities. According to Fangman, preliminary results indicate performance advantages of wean-to-finish don't offset a $.90 per pig increase in break-even cost for wean-to-finish versus conventional facilities. But according to Fangman, that's not the whole story. Wean-to-finish may still be viable because of things like reduced labor requirements or improved employee morale. He says that because workers have one less cleanup per group in wean-to-finish systems, they may simply enjoy their jobs more. But that's a hard item to put a figure on without in-depth qualitative research. Logic tells us that happier employees may stick around longer. But do we have a labor value to plug into a spreadsheet comparing the two systems? Not yet, says Fangman.