KSG Agro agricultural holding’s pig farming

Pig farming is one of the top priorities for the agricultural holding

According to KSG Agro’s development strategy, pig farming is one of the two priority areas of development along with crop production.

The history of KSG pig farming began in 2011, when the agricultural holding acquired a 50% share in the livestock complex in the village of Niva Trudova (Apostolivsky district, Dnipropetrovsk region), the third largest in the territory of the former USSR.

In 2013, after the reconstruction of part of the housings and equipping them with state-of-the-art equipment from the German company Big Dutchman, we purchased a batch of pigs – about 3 thousand sows and boars – the Danish DanBred breed – one of the best in the world (in 2021 they were supplemented with 1000 sows of Genesus Canadian Genetics). The staff of the pig complex underwent professional training with the help of Danish and Canadian specialists.

На свинокомплексі одноразово утримується 52,5 тис. голів свиней, які у перспективі планується подвоїти. 

At the pig complex, 52,500 pigs are kept at one time, we planned to double the figure in the future.

Currently, 16 buildings have been reconstructed and put into operation. In 2022-2023, three buildings of the pig complex undergo renovation, thanks to which the number of pigs will increase by 2.5 thousand and reach about 55 thousand heads of one-time keeping to grow the volume of pig sales by 7% per year.

The reconstruction of the fattening complex will, among other things, improve the level of biosecurity. With its commissioning, sanitary gaps will be widened and the number of sanitary treatments will increase.

In 2023, the reconstruction of the breeding area will be completed, which will increase the number of sows by 30% — from 4,500 to 6,500 heads.

An important competitive advantage of the holding is the presence of a compound feed plant in its structure. Having its own raw materials for the production of compound feed using the crops grown by holding’s farms (wheat, corn, sorghum, etc.), KSG Agro has the opportunity to achieve the optimal cost price, despite the increase in the price of compound feed, mainly of foreign production.

The key task for the pig breeding department of the holding is to grow the herd to 110-120 thousand heads of one-time keeping and improve the quality of pigs. This goal is facilitated by the start of work with Genesus Canadian genetics in 2021, in particular, the purchase of repair (2 thousand heads) and purebred (400 heads) livestock, as well as 12 boars, from this reputable Canadian producer.

The advantages of Genesus genetics are high safety at the brood stage, non-aggressive sows with increased maternal instinct, better appetite compared to other genetics, low aggression at the fattening stage (related to high appetite), high gains, the possibility of using cheaper compound feed, excellent taste quality and "marbling" of meat (the main difference from other genetic companies).

Active work to optimize the herd structure is central when it comes to pig breeding; introduction of high-quality repair stock (produced by Genesus) and culling of inefficient sows are also very important.

Since 2021, the holding's own line for the production of packaged pork has been operating in the city of Dnipro to offer product packaging, both in group and in individual formats. 

The main priorities in the field of pig breeding are: 

• reaching full effective strength in 2027 – 77,000 livestock, 6,000 sows, sales of 17,000 tons per year,
• ready for repair with own purebred livestock in 2023,
• gradual increase in the number of sows – up to 350-400 heads;
• streamlining the slaughterhouse efficiency, in particular, increasing the slaughter to 360 heads per day.

Starting from the first days of the coronavirus pandemic, we implemented an action plan against COVID-19 at the pig complex. Using Strong-Invest, which is part of KSG Agro, as the basis, an operational headquarters for combating the coronavirus were created. Its functions include the provision of practical assistance for the prevention of coronavirus infection by the pig complex employees, their families, all Niva Trudova residents during the quarantine period, as well as the provision of informational and psychological support.

Special attention is paid to the dispersion of employees on production sites. The entire pig complex staff wears protective masks, without them it is impossible to transport and pass the sanitary check point. Employees who have clinical signs of infection (elevated body temperature, cough, malaise, etc.) are not allowed to work. Before the start of each new working day, a clinical examination of the staff is carried out.