Feed Supply Sourcing Practices and Strategies of Commercial Swine Farms in the Philippines: Trade Insights and Implications

Purpose - Feeds comprise the majority of swine production expenses, and it has been the goal of livestock farmers to acquire feeds with the best value. This paper identified and analyzed the feed supply sourcing practices and strategies of commercial swine farms in a major hog-producing municipality in Bulacan, a province in the northern Philippines. Design/Methodology/Approach - Small, medium, and large commercial swine farms from Sta. Maria municipality in Bulacan province, 34 in all, were the study subjects. A descriptive method of inquiry/investigation was employed in the study using questionnaires in data gathering. Data was analyzed through mean, mode, frequency counts, and cross tabulation while a Chi-square Test of Independence and Cramer’s V were also used to scrutinize relationships between significant data results. Findings - Four feed supply sourcing strategies were identified in the study, namely (1) self-production of feeds (64.7% of the farms), (2) buying unbranded feeds (23.5%), (3) buying branded feeds only for piglets’ pre-starter and booster feeds while self-producing the rest (23.5%), and lastly, (4) buying feeds from commercial feed mills (11.8%). As the scale of an operation increases, self-production of feeds becomes more prominent due to its overall lower cost, while for farms with a smaller scale of operation, buying unbranded feeds is the more dominant practice due to its lower capital requirement and the relatively lower cost of unbranded feeds compared to those branded. Balance (quality and price) is the decision criterion mostly used by swine farms when choosing feed suppliers. Scale of operation, type of ownership, and years in operation are significant variables associated with the feed sourcing strategy used by commercial swine farms. Research Implications - Few studies focus on the feed supply sourcing of swine farms. Many of the recent studies focus on production, success factors, profitability, technologies, and new farming systems. This study addresses the feed supply sourcing research gap by focusing on the different practices and strategies pertaining to the feed supply sourcing of commercial swine farms. Such insights have crucial and strategic trade implications on the part of feed ingredient and feed suppliers in the country, and it defines specific opportunities for government support as well.