February 15, 2009

Cover Story

Trickle Feeding Fits Sow Housing Remodel

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM, By Dale Miller Editor

The gestation housing option offers some new challenges and presents some hard lessons. Ten years ago, Sean Dolan and his father, Jim, hooked up with...

This Month's Focus: Energy Management

The Costs of Switching from Sow Stalls to Group Housing

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM, By Brian Buhr University of Minnesota St. Paul, MN

Study estimates the cost of transitioning the U.S. breeding herd from widely used gestation stalls to group housing. Voters and government are increasingly...

Fix These Costly Ventilation Mistakes

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM, By Mike Brumm Brumm Swine Consultancy, Inc. North Mankato, MN

Ventilation system management is the key to trimming your energy bill. In the pork industry, there are few available for comparison of energy expenses...

Simulating Energy Use Variables

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM, By Dale Miller Editor

Simulation model helps sort through energy cost variables nursery vs. wean-to-finish housing. As energy costs escalate, many pork producers are asking...

Tweaking Grow-Finish Ventilation

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM, By Loretta Sorensen

At first glance, everything in the relatively new 2,000-head, grow-finish barn seemed to be in order. But as Mike Brumm, an independent consultant from...

Beware of Energy Thieves

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM, Loretta Sorensen

Iowa State University agricultural engineer Jay Harmon says pork facilities often have less obvious energy leaks that they can correct without a large...

Energy Savers Earn Rebates

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM, By Karen Bernick

Energy-saving equipment can trim electricity bills up to nearly 50%. Lowering monthly electricity bills is probably motivation enough for most pork producers...

Unique Sow Parity Segregation Plan Bolsters Herd Health

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM, By Joe Vansickle Senior Editor

Coupled with sow herd reduction, efforts guide consolidation and resource conservation for this Michigan pork producer. In five short years, Bob Dykhuis...

Strive to Survive

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM

Fifty-year-old Bob Dykhuis is taking a conservative approach to protecting his family's hog operation for future generations. He believes it's necessary...

Feed Focus is a Balancing Act

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM, By Joe Vansickle Senior Editor

Cutting corn-soy diets and replacing with alternative ingredients and feeder management are ways that Dykhuis Farms reduces feed costs. With 195,000 pigs...

United Soybean Board Funds National Swine Nutrition Guide

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM

The United Soybean Board (USB) has approved soybean checkoff funding for the development and distribution of the National Swine Nutrition Guide by the...

Rural Energy for America (REAP) Funds Help Defer Update Costs

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM

In addition to power company rebates, agricultural producers and rural small business owners are eligible for federal grants that reimburse up to 25%...

From My Perspective

Democracy is not a Spectator Sport

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM, By Dale Miller Editor

What do a logger and a hog farmer have in common? More than you might imagine, according to third-generation professional logger and motivational speaker...

Veterinarians on Call

Porcine Respiratory Disease Complex Resurfaces

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM, By Keith Wilson, DVM Worthington, MN

Porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC) stages return as finishing pig foe. About three years ago, veterinarians coined the acronym PCVAD (porcine...

Research Review

Energy Audits Find a Wide Range of Energy Usage

Feb 15, 2009 12:00 PM

Energy use in Canadian barns surveyed differed by as much as four times. Energy audits conducted in 28 different swine facilities in Saskatchewan, Canada...