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What's the Secret to Economic Resiliency in the Pork Industry?

One thing economists are particularly bad at is predicting what the future holds for the economy or specific market trends. Still, economists find gainful employment making predictions. The reason comes down to economic resiliency. 

Everyone is hoping to obtain a bit of information that will help them make better decisions and maintain profitability even when times get tough. Knowing if prices will be up or down would certainly be a tremendous advantage, but the real secret to economic resiliency lies much closer to home than we might realize.

WHAT IS ECONOMIC RESILIENCE?

Before we proceed, let’s clear up the term economic resilience. In general, resilience is the ability of a system to continue operating after sustaining a shock. In economic terms there are two aspects, static and dynamic resiliency, each describing a different response to sustaining a shock. 

Static resiliency is the ability of a system to continue to use resources efficiently after a shock, and dynamic resiliency is the speed with which a system can return to maximum output after the shock. In simple terms, static resilience is how well your business can take a hit, and dynamic resilience is how quickly your business gets back to normal after the hit.

PREPARE FOR PROFITABILITY SHOCKS

With this definition in mind, we can see how economic resiliency does not lie in better knowledge of future events but rather in preparedness for the arrival of shocks to profitability. One of the best examples is found in your farm’s disease management practices. Disease has a significant influence on long-term profitability. Disease management is one of the most important tactics to improve and protect profits. Keeping disease out falls under static economic resilience, while effective treatment, stabilization and recovery falls under dynamic economic resilience.

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Nothing Slows Down on a Pig Farm

Video: Nothing Slows Down on a Pig Farm



50 yards of concrete went down at the Manure Seperation building today. Forms set, rebar tied, gravel packed, and the trucks running one after another until the pad is poured and the crew is finishing it flat.

And because nothing on a pig farm waits for you to finish one job, the semi shows up while the concrete's still wet. Tork and I unload another load of pigs into the barn, get them sorted into pens, and walk the barn once they're settled. Two big jobs, one day, and both of them had to happen.