Understanding variation in a pig production process is a data thing. In order to manage something or improve it, it must be measured. Measuring variation has not been a high priority in the first phase (if you will) of the modern pork industry, at least at the production level. Most record systems and the available technology to-date have focused on measuring and recording group averages. Kill sheets traditionally have provided more information about variation but until relatively recently, most producers have not had access to individual pig outcomes even from the packer (which is the only place in the vast majority of operations, where individual pigs are weighed and evaluated for quality). Typical kill sheets group pigs in ranges without giving individual animal weights and lean percents.
