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PRODUCTION SYSTEMS PIH-16 pork industry handbook COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE • PURDUE UNIVERSITY • WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA Pork Production Systems with Business Analyses Producing Feeder Pigs (Low-Investment) Authors David H. Bache, Purdue University James R. Foster, Purdue University Reviewers David Spruill, North Carolina State University Clyde Weathers, North Carolina State University Low-Investment Feeder Pig Production.. What It Is and Where It Fits This enterprise produces pigs (common sale weight, 30-60 lb.) which are sold to feeders who carry them to slaughter weight. Success depends upon the manager's willingness and ability to maintain a highly-productive breeding herd, to control disease and to develop good markets. In other words, the goal is to produce large litters of high-quality pigs that are free from disease and parasites, and to market them in groups that are uniform in type and size. This publication deals primarily with low-investment feeder pig production—i.e., the relatively small enterprise designed to supplement rural family earnings. We do not discuss here the feeder pig production "factories which have appeared in recent years. Low-investment feeder pig production seems to fit "best" where the following conditions exist: 1. It fits the producer who has labor for care and management of the sow herd but does not produce enough grain for hog finishing. The enterprise may be appropriate for a part-time farmer and/or where the wife is willing to take on another job but does not want to leave home to do so. 2. It fits in grain-deficit areas on the fringe of feed grain-producing regions. 3. It fits on relatively small and rough farms in feed grain-surplus areas where nearby grain producers provide a market for the pigs. 4. It may fit as an interim stage for the producer launching a new hog production enterprise. Advantages ■ A feeder pig production enterprise can be launched with relatively small capital inputs. ■ The farrowing schedule can be planned to provide frequent sales and thus a stream of income similar to that of milk or egg production. ■ Much feed and manure handling is avoided. On a per hog basis, 75-80% of feed consumption and manure production occurs after the feeder pig stage. Disadvantages ■ The price of feeder pigs varies greatly from season to season and over the hog cycle. ■ The demands for both husbandry skills and labor are great. ■ Many diseases can impair conception rate, embryonic survival, lactation and livability of the baby pig. ■ The market for feeder pigs is imperfect—i.e., at any given time, the price paid for comparable pigs varies considerably from producer to producer and from sale to sale. ■ The economics of feeder pig production often leads to adoption of a tight farrowing schedule, which can make the job very confining. Scheduling Facility Use and Labor Whereas a farrow-to-finish operation often "shares" labor with an important cropping enterprise, feeder pig production usually does not. Therefore, in planning production, emphasis is on making full use of a set of buildings and a constant supply of labor, instead of trying to “work around" cropping activities. Facilities Use Most feeder pig producers should not consider farrowing more frequently than every 7 or 8 weeks. Running sows through a farrowing house more often than this will only modestly reduce building-use cost, but may greatly increase the threat of disease. Figure 1 presents a sample occupancy schedule for a set of feeder pig production facilities (described in Table 4). The schedule is based on a 36-sow operation which follows this management plan: 1. A 10-sow farrowing house is used by 3 groups of 12 sows each, farrowing every second month. Sows are Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, State of Indiana, Purdue University and U. S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating. H. G. Diesslin, Directory, West Lafayette, IN. 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, color, sex, religion, national origin, age or handicap.
Object Description
Purdue Identification Number | UA14-13-mimeoPIH016 |
Title | Extension Pork Industry Handbook, no. 016 (no date) |
Title of Issue | Pork production systems with business analyses, producing feeder pigs, (low-investment) |
Genre | Periodical |
Collection Title | Extension Pork Industry Handbook (Purdue University. Agricultural Extension Service) |
Rights Statement | Copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
Coverage | United States – Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Date Digitized | 10/26/2016 |
Digitization Information | Original scanned at 400 ppi on a BookEye 3 scanner using Opus software. Display images generated in Contentdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
URI | UA14-13-mimeoPIH016.tif |
Description
Title | Page 001 |
Genre | Periodical |
Collection Title | Extension Pork Industry Handbook (Purdue University. Agricultural Extension Service) |
Rights Statement | Copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
Coverage | United States – Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Transcript | PRODUCTION SYSTEMS PIH-16 pork industry handbook COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE • PURDUE UNIVERSITY • WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA Pork Production Systems with Business Analyses Producing Feeder Pigs (Low-Investment) Authors David H. Bache, Purdue University James R. Foster, Purdue University Reviewers David Spruill, North Carolina State University Clyde Weathers, North Carolina State University Low-Investment Feeder Pig Production.. What It Is and Where It Fits This enterprise produces pigs (common sale weight, 30-60 lb.) which are sold to feeders who carry them to slaughter weight. Success depends upon the manager's willingness and ability to maintain a highly-productive breeding herd, to control disease and to develop good markets. In other words, the goal is to produce large litters of high-quality pigs that are free from disease and parasites, and to market them in groups that are uniform in type and size. This publication deals primarily with low-investment feeder pig production—i.e., the relatively small enterprise designed to supplement rural family earnings. We do not discuss here the feeder pig production "factories which have appeared in recent years. Low-investment feeder pig production seems to fit "best" where the following conditions exist: 1. It fits the producer who has labor for care and management of the sow herd but does not produce enough grain for hog finishing. The enterprise may be appropriate for a part-time farmer and/or where the wife is willing to take on another job but does not want to leave home to do so. 2. It fits in grain-deficit areas on the fringe of feed grain-producing regions. 3. It fits on relatively small and rough farms in feed grain-surplus areas where nearby grain producers provide a market for the pigs. 4. It may fit as an interim stage for the producer launching a new hog production enterprise. Advantages ■ A feeder pig production enterprise can be launched with relatively small capital inputs. ■ The farrowing schedule can be planned to provide frequent sales and thus a stream of income similar to that of milk or egg production. ■ Much feed and manure handling is avoided. On a per hog basis, 75-80% of feed consumption and manure production occurs after the feeder pig stage. Disadvantages ■ The price of feeder pigs varies greatly from season to season and over the hog cycle. ■ The demands for both husbandry skills and labor are great. ■ Many diseases can impair conception rate, embryonic survival, lactation and livability of the baby pig. ■ The market for feeder pigs is imperfect—i.e., at any given time, the price paid for comparable pigs varies considerably from producer to producer and from sale to sale. ■ The economics of feeder pig production often leads to adoption of a tight farrowing schedule, which can make the job very confining. Scheduling Facility Use and Labor Whereas a farrow-to-finish operation often "shares" labor with an important cropping enterprise, feeder pig production usually does not. Therefore, in planning production, emphasis is on making full use of a set of buildings and a constant supply of labor, instead of trying to “work around" cropping activities. Facilities Use Most feeder pig producers should not consider farrowing more frequently than every 7 or 8 weeks. Running sows through a farrowing house more often than this will only modestly reduce building-use cost, but may greatly increase the threat of disease. Figure 1 presents a sample occupancy schedule for a set of feeder pig production facilities (described in Table 4). The schedule is based on a 36-sow operation which follows this management plan: 1. A 10-sow farrowing house is used by 3 groups of 12 sows each, farrowing every second month. Sows are Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, State of Indiana, Purdue University and U. S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating. H. G. Diesslin, Directory, West Lafayette, IN. 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, color, sex, religion, national origin, age or handicap. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Digitization Information | Original scanned at 400 ppi on a BookEye 3 scanner using Opus software. Display images generated in Contentdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
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