From the Editor – September and October, 2001

From the Editor

Cate Dewey

One kilogram equals 2.2 pounds

It has been the policy of the Journal of Swine Health and Production to publish all measurements in both metric and imperial units. However, this becomes cumbersome when a manuscript has a plethora of measurements. For example, in the Fangman et al (2001) manuscript describing the differences in growth rates between wean-to-finish and grower-finisher facilities, one sentence reads "There were no apparent differences in weighted averages for hot carcass weight (WF 88.8 kg [195.6 lb], WNF 89.3 kg [196.9 lb]), backfat thickness (WF 22.3 mm [0.878 in], WNF 22.5 mm [0.889 in]) or fat free lean index (WF 48.4, WNF 48.7)." My first problem with this sentence is that there are so many numbers, the flow of the sentence is lost. My second problem is that I would like to know the standard deviation or standard error of each of the parameters. Without them, it is difficult for me to judge the difference between the two averages. However, if we were to add 10 more numbers to the sentence quoted above, it would become even more cumbersome.

The editorial board discussed this issue at the annual AASV meeting in March. The majority of the group believed that reporting the metric units was appropriate. A couple of members thought that we should continue to present both metric and imperial. The decision was made to use metric units with a few exceptions. When there is a statistically significant difference that is mentioned in the summary or the implications, both metric and imperial measures will be listed. The imperial units will also be used if the study is based on imperial units. For example, in Miller et al (2001), in which the economic spreadsheet is based on pounds of pork sold or ADG in pounds, the units will be kept as is. Each issue of JSHAP will contain a conversion table such as the one found in (Table 1). This will assist with the interpretation of information both for those of us who think in pounds and for other readers who are confused by pounds. I welcome letters to the editor relating to this decision.