PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
PIH-13
pork
industry
handbook
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE • PURDUE UNIVERSITY • WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA
Pork Production Systems with Business Analyses
The Two-Litter Pasture System (Farrow-to-Finish)
Authors
David H. Bache, Purdue University
James R. Foster, Purdue University
Reviewers
David Spruill, North Carolina State University
Clyde Weathers, North Carolina State University
The Two-Litter System...
What It Is and Where It Fits
This is a pasture system that operates on a 6-month cycle, with sows farrowing in late winter and late summer. It fits “best” on crop farms where hog production serves as a secondary enterprise to utilize available seasonal labor and salvage other under- or unused resources, such as feed that would otherwise be wasted, certain buildings, machinery and fencing.

Crop production is characterized by periods of intense labor activity and then periods of almost no activity. Farrowings in a 2-litter system can be scheduled to utilize the labor available during these “inactive” times. Also, because the system does not call for permanent buildings, it fits where the manager cannot or will not make a long-run commitment to hog production but needs a livestock enterprise in the short run.

Advantages
■	Building and equipment investments are relatively small and, except for wells and concrete feeding slabs, represent salable items that are not tied to the farm.
■	The 2-litter system is a good one for learning the skills needed for larger, more complex operations.
■	Unlike high investment confinement systems, this one permits considerable flexibility. The 2-litter operator is not locked into production by the fixed-costs of expensive facilities, but rather is relatively free to expand and contract production.
■	Wise use of pasture will significantly lower the bill for purchased supplement. And since the feeding program for finishing hogs is usually built around ear or shelled corn with protein supplement fed free-choice, the producer can minimize his shelling, grinding, feed storage and handling costs.
■	The disagreeable aspects of confinement production-odor, flies, cannibalism, manure handling—are largely avoided.
Disadvantages
■	There is a temptation, under a 2-litter system, to be overly responsive to current market price and thus become an "in and outer."
■	Because this has long been the dominant pork production system in the nation, peak hog marketings (and therefore, weakest hog prices) occur in March-April and in October-November-December. These peaks have been moderated somewhat by the shift to multiple farrowing systems. Nevertheless, the 2-litter operator will likely sell his market hogs for 5% less than the yearly average price.
■	The system requires both bedding and pasture. In some areas, bedding may be scarce and expensive. And pasture systems do not fit all farms. The charge for land should reflect the lost opportunity of using the land in its highest paying alternative.
■	A 2-litter operation has a relatively high labor requirement—from 50 to 100% greater per hog produced than with slatted-floor, environmentally controlled confinement systems.
■	Such a production system is vulnerable to unfavorable weather—mud, cold, heat and dust—which can adversely affect animal performance and does add to the discomfort of the operator.
Developing a Production Calendar
Two-litter hog production is distinctly seasonal; and many operators will combine it with crop production, some other livestock or an off-farm job. Therefore, it’s very important to develop a calendar of management activities for a 2-litter system so one can forecast, by month, his needs for various resources—especially labor. Table 1 presents such a calendar for an enterprise where farrowing is scheduled to begin March 1 and September 1.

The figures in management activity #9 of Table 1 represent our best judgment of percentage distribution of
Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, State of Indiana, Purdue University and U. S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating. H. G. Diesslin, Director, West Lafayette Ind. Issued in furtherance of the Acts of May 8 and June 30,1914. It is the policy of the Cooperative Extension Service of Purdue University that all persons shall have equal opportunity and access to its programs and facilities without regard to race, religion, color, sex or national origin.