DEFENCE ANNOUNCEMENT   
Final Examination for the Degree of MSc - ZIYU (AMY) ZHOU  

Examining Committee  
Dr. Michael Rogers, Chair  
Dr. Benjamin Bohrer, Advisor  
Dr. Lisa Duizer, Advisory Committee Member   
Dr. Shai Barbut, Department Member  
  
TITLE: ASSESSING VARIATION IN CARCASS WEIGHT AND LEANNESS OF ONTARIO PORK  
  
ABSTRACT:   
Variation affects all sectors of the pork industry. Producers encounter profit loss due to marketing pigs with high levels of variation. To analyze this loss in profit, modeling can be conducted using simulation of marketing strategies and their  effect  on pork caracass variability and producer profitability. To further comprehend the current pork industry, carcass parameters collected from an Ontario pork processor were analyzed.  Weak  correlations  were  found  using  correlation  analysis,  with  the  conclusion  that there are no consistent weight thresholds where pigs were fatter or heavier muscled.  However, with categorical data analysis approaches, it was determined that heavier carcasses were fatter, heavier muscled, and had a lower predicted percentage lean; while, carcasses with greater iodine value were heavier, heavier muscled, and had a greater predicted lean yield. This demonstrated the high level of influence individual pig has when assessing variation in the commercial pork industry.