Mechanical Measurement of Fatness and Carcass Value on Live Hogs

Abstract
A probing technique for measuring fat covering on live hogs is described. The method is very quick and easy to apply and causes little discomfort to the pigs. The correlation between the average of four backfat measurements taken on carcasses and on live hogs was .81. Measurements made on 96 live hogs were slightly more accurate as indicators of leanness and percentage primal cuts than were carcass measurements of backfat thickness. The most accurate locations were just behind the shoulder and at the middle of the loin about 1½ inches off the midline of the body. Copyright © . .