Assessing Variation in Carcass Weight and Leanness of Ontario Pork
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Abstract
Variation affects all sectors of the pork industry. Producers encounter profit loss due to marketing pigs with high levels of variation. To analyze this loss in profit, modelling can be conducted using a simulation of marketing strategies and their effect on pork carcass variability and producer profitability. To further comprehend the current pork industry, carcass parameters collected from an Ontario pork processor were analyzed. Weak correlations were found using correlation analysis, with the conclusion that there are no consistent weight thresholds where pigs were fatter or heavier muscled. However, with the categorical data analysis approach, it was determined that heavier carcasses were fatter, heavier muscled, and had a lower predicted percentage lean; while, carcasses with greater iodine value were heavier, heavier muscled, and had a greater predicted lean yield. This demonstrated the high level of influence individual pig has when assessing variation in the commercial pork industry.