Economic and Marketing Information
FOR INDIANA  FARMERS
July 29,   1958
Prepared by the Agricultural Staff of Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana
INDIANA  FARMERS
Moderately Large Hog Enterprises Pay Best
by R.  H.  BAUMAN and PAT POWLEN, Agricultural Economics
(Based   upon   Purdue   Agricultural   Experiment   Station   Project   #   787)
ET RETURNS to two-litter
hog producers on 54 central
Indiana farms increased a little
faster than herd-size up to 40 or
50 sows. Although the total net
returns increased as the enterprises got bigger than this, due to
increased volume, the net returns
per unit of production tended to
drop slightly. The 1956 data were
adjusted to a corn-hog ratio of
13.6 to 1 (long-time Indiana average) with corn at $1.28 per bushel
and hogs $17.40, adjusted seasonally, to more nearly reflect the
average situation.
Various measures of returns
tended to go up as size of enterprise increased, up to the 40 or 50
sow level (Table 1). Beyond this
Table 2. Financial and Physical Requirements for Two-litter Swine
Enterprise by Number of Sows in Herd, Central Indiana,  1956.
 Size   of   Enterprise	
10-sow    20-sow    30-sow    40-tow    50-sow    60-sow 120-sow    Avg.
Number  of  farms
Total   feed
Buildings    &    Equipment
Breeding    Herd    (incl.    boars)
All   other
Total   investment
11
12
14
54
Investment per   Sow and   Two   Litters
$82 $67    $91    $74
267 210    208    183
84 77    76    77
56 46    58    48
489 400    433    382
S79
S72
S86
$78
193
193
183
214
71
87
85
78
50
52
51
52
393
404
405
424
Annual   Use   Costs Buildings &   Equipment—per   Sow and   Two litters
Buildings   (fixed   &   portable)               $31 $23          $24          $20          $23 $19 $20 $24
Equipment   (fixed   &   portable)               12               7             11             10               5             13 5 10
Total   annual   use   cost                         43            30            35            30            28            32 25 34
Percent Various Costs Were   of Total Costs
Feed 67 67             70 70 71
Man   labor 6 7               6 6 4
Building   use 6 6               5 5 5
Machinery    and    equipment    use 6 5               5 4 4
All  other 15 15             14 15 16
Corn equivalent  (lbs.)
35%   protein   equivalent   (lbs.)
Pig   starter   (lbs.)
Mineral,   salt,   other   (lbs.)
Total  feed   (lbs.)
Per   sow   &   2   litters   to   weaning
Per   2   litters   weaning   to   market
Total   man   hours
Per   cwt.    hogs   produced
Feed Requirements—per Cwt. Hogs Produced
408 347
28 36
4 5
2 2
442 390
365
39
7
2
413
Hours of   Man Labor*
18 14 14
14 14 15
32 28 29
1.1 1.1 .9
351
36
10
2
399
9
14
23
.8
334
34
15
2
385
64
8
5
9
14
369
28
3
2
402
20
14
34
1.2
75 69
3 6
4 5
3 6
15 15
376 365
40 35
10 7
1 2
427 409
8 14
4 13
12 27
.4 .9
'Includes   labor  chargeable  directly   to   hog  enterprise.
Table 1. Costs and Returns for Two-litter Swine Enterprise
by Number of Sows in Herd, Central Indiana,  1956
Size of Enterprise
10-sow 20-sow    30-sow
(5-14)    (15-24)    (25-34)
40-sow
(35-44)
50-sow
(45-54)
60-sow
(55-64)
120-sow
(Over 65)
Avg.
Number  of  farms
Avg. number of sows farrowed
ngs  farrowed   per   litter
Pigs weaned  per  litter
rigs raised  per  litter
Avg. weight hogs sold-pounds
11             12            14
10.1         20.6         29.8
9.0           8.2           8.7
7.0           6.9           7.6
6.6           6.6           7.4
212          213          221
7
39.6
7.9
6.8
6.3
222
6
48.8
8.4
7.3
7.0
211
2
63.8
7.8
7.1
6.6
229
2
120.0
9.2
7.4
6.9
218
54
31.7
8.5
7.2
6.8
217
Net  return   to   labor   and
management
Per Enterprise
$820      $2035      $3755
$5494
$6750
$6824
$11864
$3747
Per Sow and Two-litter
Total receipts
Total costs   (incl.   labor)
Net   return
$536        $474        $621
495          402          524
41             72            97
$538
426
112
$560
441
119
$520
447
73
$543
458
85
$547
464
83
Total  receipts
Total costs (incl.  labor)
Net  return
Per Hundred Weight Hogi
$18.04     $17.72     $18.39
16.94       15.34       15.60
1.10         2.58         2.79
Produced
$19.04     $18.03
15.06        14.28
3.98         3.75
$18.77
15.82
2.95
$18.08
15.23
2.85
$18.26
15.59
2.67
Unit Costs and Returns
Net return  per  man   hour'
Jfoss  return   per   $   feed   fed
<-°st per  weaned   pig   (incl.
labor)
$2.65       $4.05       $4.94
1.66         1.80         1.72
13.00       10.76       1121
$4.97
1.86
11.05
$7.01
1.80
9.31
$ -
1.86
9.86
$ -
1.58
12.26
$4.38
1.75
11.31
For 47 farms,  10 to 50 sow size groups.   Includes labor chargeable directly to  hog enterprise only,
farms   from   which   these   data   were   obtained   are   in   Carroll,   Clinton,   Miami,   Montgomery   and
Tippecanoe   counties,
retailed records were  kept on  the  54  herds which  ranged  from  7  to   127  sows.
point the number of cooperators
was too small to give much reliability to the results. While the
data suggest moderately declining
returns to size beyond the 40-50
sow level, at least constant returns per sow are possible in the
larger size groups.
"Multiple farrowing" farms,
that is, farms having two or more
groups of sows farrowing a month
or so apart in the spring and in
the fall, had lower production
costs. Most of the potential cost
reduction in multiple farrowing,
however, seems to have been
achieved by the time two or three
groups of sows, farrowing in suc-
(Continued  on  Page  5,  Col.  3)