The pathway to future profitability for agriculture, in general, but especially for the modern meat production complex is centered as it always has been in innovation...More
Serious problems that developed in the agricultural credit market in 2009 could escalate in the next 2-3 years. The impact on pork and dairy producers will be magnified by the fact that the livestock portion of the farm operations often represents the majority of the business' assets...More
The answers to a dozen questions will help develop the documentation needed in a loan package or a business plan. These are business-oriented questions that should be addressed from a risk management standpoint...More
Pork producers have learned some hard lessons about raising and selling hogs over the last 10 years or so. First, not that anyone needed the lesson, but 1998 taught us that losing as much as $60/head was no fun at all...More
One would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the American pig industry who does not think that feeding pigs successfully is more difficult today than it was just a decade ago. The trend toward more complex feeding programs will likely continue, driven in part by the demand for corn by the biofuels sector...More
Agriculture continues to adapt to changing demands from the global economy producing food, fiber, feed and fuel with the biggest shift driven by the research and development of renewable sources of energy...More
Genetic improvement has played a role in improving nearly every production efficiency trait evaluated in livestock, including pigs. The rapid evolution of gene technology allows swine breeders and commercial pork producers to make breeding decisions based on gene marker technology...More
Great strides have been made in the designs of animal and poultry production facilities over the last 40 years. Many labor-intensive chores have been automated. In many cases, the automatic climate control systems in livestock barns are better than what we have in our homes...More
