Investment appraisal of central boar performance testing in Queensland

Abstract

The contribution of Queensland's boar performance testing scheme to the genetic improvement of the State's pigs was estimated from a model comprising three tiers: (1) the performance testing station, (2) the stud herds and (3) the commercial herds. Improvement disseminated from the station by the movement of sires between the tiers. Monetary benefits to the pig industry and to the community as a whole were estimated using station, herd book and survey records. Costs and returns were discounted to present day values using real rates of interest in order to obtain the net present value of improvement from the testing programme. With a discount rate of 5%, the time taken for returns to exceed costs to the pig industry was 7 years, while to the community it was 1 2 years. Net present values of improvement over a 2a year evaluation period were $2.2 x 1 as and $6.2 x 1 as for the industry and community respectively, even though gross returns were only 13% of those which would have been obtained had all stud sires been drawn from the station and all commercial sires drawn from the studs. This inefficiency is largely due to the absence of the same control over the use of tested boars
as is exercised in European countries with central pig testing schemes.