The relationship between veterinary management and performance of Hungarian pig farms - a methodological experiment and conclusions

The article demonstrates and quantifies the stochastic interrelationships between breeding technology, housing conditions of pig-producing units, herd health management, farm management strategy and performance of pig production. Performance is defined in a broad sense, reflecting to the complexity of pig production, taking into consideration technological and economic indices. According to the hypothesis of researchers, there is statistically significant relationship between the above factors and the performance of a pig farm. Structural equation modelling was carried out to test this hypothesis. Data for analysis have been acquired by a direct-question survey of 120 Hungarian pig-breeding farms in 2004. The fitness of structural equation model to system characterising interrelationships between different factors, such as management strategy, herd health management, housing construction, breeding technology and performance of pig-production has resulted in a statistically significant solution. It means that the system of equations is able to characterize the interrelations between the examined factors. Results of the survey highlight the great impact of management strategy and herd health management on the performance of farms. The correlation with the same level of significance could be proven between herd health management, housing construction and epidemiological situation.