hog production

The pork industry took a proactive step to protect animal health and producers’ livelihoods this week with the approval of a resolution aimed at enhancing the country’s live swine traceability system. The goal of the new standards is that of better controlling the spread of a foreign animal disease and lessening the economic impact of an outbreak should one occur. 

Joining Feedstuffs’ Ann Hess in this episode to discuss the importance of controlling foreign animal disease in our nation’s swine herd is Dr. Anna Forseth, Director of Animal Health for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). In her role, Anna is the liaison between the pork industry and the government on pre-harvest animal health and public health issues. We caught up with Anna at this week’s National Pork Industry Forum. 

This episode is being brought to you by United Animal Health, a leader in animal health and nutrition. You can learn more about United Animal Health and how they are working to advance animal science worldwide by visiting the website at UnitedANH.com

If you would like to hear more conversations about some of the big issues affecting the livestock, poultry, grain and animal feed industries, subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast channel. For daily news, visit us at feedstuffs.com; nationalhogfarmer.com and beefmagazine.com 

For those farms that became Prop 12 compliant, the industry is eager to learn about the challenges, opportunities, production considerations and lessons encountered along the way.

Joining Feedstuffs’ Ann Hess in this episode to discuss Country View Family Farms’ journey to become Prop 12 compliant is Dr. Carlos Roudergue, a veterinarian in the company's Production Department.  CVFF includes more than 300 family farms throughout Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Maryland and North Carolina.  All CVFF farms are create-free during gestation.  It is one of the top 11 hog production companies in the US, producing some 2. 7 million pigs per year.  

For more information on this and other topics, visit Feedstuffs.com; NationalHogFarmer.com and BEEFmagazine.com.

As we enter the new year, the time is now to focus on pork profitability. A good place to start is to set goals with a focus on improving KPIs, including that of improving pig health. Getting pigs started in a cost effective manner is particularly critical in these market conditions as our guests explain.

Joining Feedstuffs Precision Pork host Patrick Duerksen in this episode are Sabrina May and Ken Mooney. May is swine research and product development manager and Mooney is a swine nutritionist at Cargill.

Feedstuffs Precision Pork is brought to you by Cargill.  Never miss out on knowing today’s profitability outlook. To learn more about the general outlook, sign up for Cargill’s  Pig Flash newsletter. You can also customize the data to your operation using Cargill’s Producer Profitability tools so you always have the profitability outlook tailored to your specific situation. Just ask the Cargill team

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Pork profitability and risk management go hand in hand, and considering today’s market conditions its important to drop any existing biases and look strategically at what you might have done differently this year.

Joining Feedstuffs Precision Pork host Patrick Duerksen in this episode are Cargill’s Matt Wolfe and Andrew Leddy. They talk about specific steps that can be taken to strategically improve your operation's bottom line. It may be reevaluating your nutrition strategy, tightening down your feeder settings or doing a complete strategy review. Feed efficiency is clearly still important but, as they explain, what isn’t needed at this time is formulating for weight gain. 

Feedstuffs Precision Pork is brought to you by Cargill.  Never miss out on knowing today’s profitability outlook. To learn more about the general outlook, sign up for Cargill’s  Pig Flash newsletter. You can also customize the data to your operation using Cargill’s Producer Profitability tools so you always have the profitability outlook tailored to your specific situation. Just ask the Cargill team

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California’s Proposition 12, which restricts gestation crate usage and requires 24 square feet of space per sow, has been a hot topic of conversation in swine circles since the Supreme Court upheld the law earlier this year. While some producers swear they won’t make the change on their farms, other states are following in California’s steps. A similar law approved by Massachusetts voters in 2016 will finally go into effect this year, and recently New Jersey unanimously passed a similar law, making it the 11th state to implement such regulations.

The new laws ultimately force producers to expand the physical size of their barns or reduce the number of sows in their herd to accommodate the square footage required by law.

Regardless of what producers do to follow these rules, sow productivity, and piglet uniformity and livability are more important than ever. 

Joining Feedstuffs in Focus host Sarah Muirhead is Novus Technical Service Manager Alex Hintz and Novus Sales Manager Andrew Howerton. Hintz is a veterinarian focused on maximizing lifetime sow productivity and profitability as well as nursery and growing pig performance. Howerton is a seventh-generation pig farmer who served as a production manager for a 5,600-sow unit prior to joining Novus.

Understanding the challenge producers are facing, intelligent nutrition company Novus International is sharing ways to support sows and the people who raise them. For more information, visit www.Novusint.com

There are plenty of diseases that can affect a production system, but what happens when the standard culprits don’t show up on a diagnostics test? 

Host Sarah Muirhead sits down with Dr. Tom Petznick of ArkCare to discuss lessons learned in uncovering and controlling porcine sapovirus.

They discuss: 

• Realizing he was dealing with a new challenge
• Next generation gene sequencing
• Treatments for a little known virus
• The costs of sapovirus to a system
• Lessons learned from a sneaky virus

Dr. Petznick, veterinarian at ArkCare, has been practicing swine veterinary medicine for 25 years and is this year’s Allen D. Leman Science in Practice Award winner. His expertise in managing purebred sows has made him an in-demand consulting swine veterinarian.

This podcast is one of a four-part series on controlling costs with herd health brought to you by Pharmgate Animal Health. Check out the other three episodes for discussions on PRRS, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and Lawsonia. Call your Pharmgate representative or visit pharmgate.com to learn about their broad portfolio options to support your protocols. 

There are plenty of diseases that can affect a production system, but what happens when the standard culprits don’t show up on a diagnostics test? 

Host Sarah Muirhead sits down with Dr. Tom Petznick of ArkCare to discuss lessons learned in uncovering and controlling porcine sapovirus.

They discuss: 

• Realizing he was dealing with a new challenge
• Next generation gene sequencing
• Treatments for a little known virus
• The costs of sapovirus to a system
• Lessons learned from a sneaky virus

Dr. Petznick, veterinarian at ArkCare, has been practicing swine veterinary medicine for 25 years and is this year’s Allen D. Leman Science in Practice Award winner. His expertise in managing purebred sows has made him an in-demand consulting swine veterinarian.

This podcast is one of a four-part series on controlling costs with herd health brought to you by Pharmgate Animal Health. Check out the other three episodes for discussions on PRRS, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and Lawsonia. Call your Pharmgate representative or visit pharmgate.com to learn about their broad portfolio options to support your protocols. 

In this episode of Feedstuffs Precision Pork, host Patrick Duerksen, Commercial Director for Cargill, is joined by Cargill nutritionists Chad Pilcher and Chris Parks to talk feed conversion and profitability. They kick off with a discussion on how best to roll up feed conversion and set as a priority that of saving money or making money.  

How then does one set a feed conversion goal for a hog operation based on economic conditions, energy costs and other factors? What about variation within an operation? What needs to be considered there? Can feed variation be a factor as well when it comes to feed conversion? These are all questions that are addressed.

Feedstuffs Precision Pork is brought to you by Cargill.  Never miss out on knowing today’s profitability outlook. 

To learn more about the general outlook, sign up for Cargill’s Pig Flash newsletter. You can also customize the data to your operation using Cargill’s Producer Profitability tools so you always have the profitability outlook tailored to your specific situation. Just ask the Cargill team. 

The U.S Supreme Court  this week rejected an appeal filed by the National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation challenging California’s controversial Proposition 12. That law, which passed in 2018, requires pork meat sold in the state to come from pigs born to a sow housed in at least a 24-square-foot-pen.

In response to the law, the NPPC and AFBF filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Proposition 12. They claimed it violated the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause, which gives Congress the authority to regulate interstate commerce. After the case was thrown out by a lower court, they appealed to the Supreme Court.

While the Supreme Court ruled that the case was properly dismissed by lower courts, the decision leaves many unanswered questions about industry-wide changes, pork prices, exports and future legal challenges.

In this episode, our Ann Hess talks with NPPC President Scott Hays and Michael Formica, NPPC’s chief legal strategist, about the Supreme Court ruling and what’s next for the US pork industry. 

This episode is sponsored by United Animal Health, a leader in animal health and nutrition. You can learn more about United Animal Health and how they are working to advance animal science worldwide by visiting the website at UnitedANH.com

For more information, on this and other topics, we invite you to visit our websites - www.Feedstuffs.com and www.NationalHogFarmer.com. While you are there be sure to check out our digital editions and our new Feedstuffs 365 platform.

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Agriculture Specialist Mike Lewis talks about pastured hogs based on his experience on his Kentucky farm, where he raises farrow-to-finish heritage hogs on pasture and in the woods.  

NCAT Livestock Specialist Linda Coffey poses questions to Mike asked by her beginning farmer son, John, who plans to raise pastured hogs in Arkansas. Mike shares valuable tips about reducing feed cost, making the enterprise labor efficient, taking good care of the land, and starting small to figure out what your niche will be.  

Many other practical topics are covered in this episode, which is the first of a series called “In the Pigpen with Mike and Linda.” 

If you would like Mike and Linda to do more episodes and maybe connect with them about a topic for the series, you can reach them at mikel@ncat.org or lindac@ncat.org.    

Related ATTRA Resources: 

·        Hogs: Pastured or Forested Production

·        Farrowing on Pasture

·        Looking for On-farm Diversification? Consider Pastured Pigs

·        The Life and Death of Lucy the Sow

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You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

In this episode of Feedstuffs Precision Pork, Mark Hulsebus, Swine Commercial Director at Cargill, offers some animal feed and hog market perspective, with an eye toward the latest Hogs & Pigs and Planting Intentions reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Hulsebus also discusses the effect that rising fuel costs continue to have on the availability and price of DDGS and liquid fats in swine rations.

Finally, Hulsebus provides an update on the outlook for swine production profitability given the uncertainty in Eastern Europe and how that has roiled the feed markets.

These are uncertain times, and it will pay dividends to be well-prepared. If you have questions on this week’s episode or want to discuss something not covered, feel free to ASK MARK at mark_hulsebus@cargill.com

Plan today for tomorrow’s success.

Follow Feedstuffs Precision Pork on your favorite podcast platform or find it on www.Feedstuffs.com and  www.NationalHogFarmer.com.

With the warm weather approaching, the time is now to start thinking about those summer profitability strategies.

Joining us on this Feedstuffs Precision Pork podcast are two experts on the topic from Cargill Animal Nutrition. We talk with Mark Hulsebus and Matthew Ritter about feeding strategy, outlook, optimum weights and more. 

Plan today for tomorrow’s success. These are uncertain times, and it will pay dividends to be well-prepared. Hog nutrition experts at Cargill are available to assist you with your questions.

Follow Feedstuffs Precision Pork on your favorite podcast platform or find it on www.Feedstuffs.com  and  www.NationalHogFarmer.com

On any given day a producer must think about feed costs, biosecurity measures, vaccinations, marketing.. the list goes on. One area of production that is often overlooked is water quality. Ensuring that water is of good quality, properly delivered, and available to all pigs is not always as easy as it sounds. 

In this episode, we talk with Erin Ehinger, Cargill Production Support Specialist, and Bob TenHove, Cargill Account Manager, to discuss why water is important and what a producer can do to ensure good water quality. 

Plan today for tomorrow’s success. These are uncertain times, and it will pay dividends to be well-prepared. Hog nutrition experts at Cargill are available to assist you with your questions.

Follow Feedstuffs Precision Pork on your favorite podcast platform or find it on www.Feedstuffs.com  and  www.NationalHogFarmer.com

Winter is here! With this change in season, comes the need to change our mindsets when it comes to our hog barns. Switching from controlling excess heat to conserving heat, while still maintaining adequate air exchange, is important for both air quality and pig comfort. 

Today we are joined by Cargill production support specialists Erin Ehinger and Joe George to find out their tips and tricks for preparing for winter. 

Plan today for tomorrow’s success. These are uncertain times, and it will pay dividends to be well-prepared. Hog nutrition experts at Cargill are available to assist you with your questions.

Follow Feedstuffs Precision Pork on your favorite podcast platform or find it on www.Feedstuffs.com and  www.NationalHogFarmer.com

Welcome to this episode of Feedstuffs Swine Healthline, brought to you by Pharmgate Animal Health and focused on Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae.

M. hyo doesn’t have to be a part of pig production anymore. As we hear in this episode, elimination programs can be a cost-effective solution versus controlling this troublesome pathogen. 

Our guest is Dr. Amy Maschhoff, DVM, associate director of health for The Maschhoffs, LLC. Dr. Maschhoff earned her veterinary degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and began her career as herd veterinarian for The Maschhoffs. Now she serves in a more central role for The Maschhoff system, as well as supports the health assurance program for Acuity Genetics. Dr. Maschhoff also served on the National Pork Producers Council Swine Veterinarian Public Policy Advocacy Program. She is actively enrolled in the University of Illinois Swine Executive Veterinary Program. 

Dr. Maschhoff shares practical, on-farm experiences with eliminating M. hyo., the benefits of developing an elimination program, as well as the factors veterinarians should take into consideration when moving from M. hyo. control to elimination. She shares the lessons she has learned and will use in the future to improve elimination programs, as well as gilt monitoring programs. 

Thank you for listening to the podcast series, made possible by Pharmgate Animal Health.

You know that Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is a primary pathogen in swine respiratory disease (SRD) complexes and a gateway to endemic health challenges. 

Jordi Mora of ECO Animal Health explains the impacts of M. hyo and swine respiratory disease in modern finishing operations and what swine health professionals can do to prepare for continuing challenges.

This podcast is brought to you by Pharmgate Animal Health.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s quarterly hogs and pigs report has been a mainstay for the hog industry for decades. Right now, though, it has never seemed more confusing, according to Dave Bauer, senior market analyst for Provimi. 

Per the inventory results this quarter, the number of hogs that are supposed to be showing up at slaughterhouses, 9.8% over last year, don't seem to be matching up with what's actually showing up. And yes, producers have performed what one analyst has called magic and erased as many as 1 million pigs from our memories. This is where the revisions that USDA typically applies to past quarterly reports could help to perform the magic of now syncing up the numbers with the reality of what's actually coming to slaughter. But to quickly summarize the report didn't reflect the kind of shrinking inventory that Bauer feels needs to be seen. He also doesn’t believe we can export our way out of this supply dilemma even though recent price rallies are betting we can.

What going on with African swine fever in Germany.

What's the word on forward profitability? 

Take a listen as Bauer walks us through all that. 

As Bauer points out, these are uncertain times and it will pay dividends to be well-prepared. If you have questions on this week’s recap or want to discuss something not covered, feel free to ASK DAVE at David_Bauer@cargill.com. Plan today for tomorrow’s success.

Follow Feedstuffs Precision Pork on your favorite podcast platform or find it on www.Feedstuffs.com and www.NationalHogFarmer.com

The coronavirus pandemic resulted in delays and extended shutdowns at numerous packing plants, all the while straining the pork industry as market hogs had to be held in facilities longer than expected.

To minimize sorting losses and keep as many pigs in market condition as possible, the feed industry stepped up to help hog producers adjust their rations. The goal was that of reduced growth rates and feed intakes. 

In this episode of Feedstuffs in Focus, Feedstuffs editor Sarah Muirhead talks with Dr. Jim Smith, senior technical swine nutritionist at Kent Nutrition, to discuss how amino acid imbalances can aid in the slowing of pig growth. Specifically, they discuss the reduction of DL-methionine in rations of late finishing pigs.

This episode is sponsored by Hog Slat; from cleanup to startup, we're here to supply the products you need.  As close as your local Hog Slat store or order online at www.hogslat.com.  

For more information on this and other stories, visit Feedstuffs .com.

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