February 15, 2008
Features
Lactating Sows Feed Themselves
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM, By Dale Miller Editor
New feeder design improves sow body condition and helps boost pigs-born-alive average. About three years ago, Iowa Select Farms set out to do a better...
This Month's Focus: Barn Management
Hog Barns Don't Come with Owner's Manuals
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM, By Mike Brumm Brumm Swine Consultancy, Inc. North Mankato, MN
An effective operations manual can help barn staffs keep production facilities running smoothly. Pork producers commonly invest hundreds of thousands...
Stalls Versus Pens
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM, By Joe Vansickle Senior Editor
The University of Minnesota's swine research facility at Waseca, MN, compares sows housed in individual stalls vs. pens, but the jury is still out. The...
Design Affects Creep Feed Intake, Wastage
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM, By Lora Berg
Creep feeder design can make a difference in the proportion of pigs that actually consume feed () and the amount of feed that is wasted. Kansas State...
Parity's Impact On Productivity
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM, By Ken Stalder Iowa State University
Parity structure of the breeding herd can have a significant effect on efficiency and profitability. The objective of this first in the 2008 quarterly...
TQA: What's In a Name?
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM, By Joe Vansickle Senior Editor
The pork industry extends its hog-handling focus from truckers to a broader Transport Quality Assurance program. To minimize pork quality losses during...
From My Perspective
Avoiding a Crash Landing
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM, By Dale Miller Editor
A few near-term adjustments could help ready your hog operation for long-term survival. My route to the office each day takes me across the low, swampy...
Veterinarians on Call
Pleuropneumonia Remains Threat
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM, By Reed Leiting, DVM Worthington, MN
Actinobacillus pleuropneumonia (APP) is a respiratory pathogen of swine that remains a deadly threat. Actinobacillus pleuropneumonia (APP) is a bacterial...
News and Views
How to Manage High Input Costs
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM, By Joe Vansickle Senior Editor
Changing times call for changing strategies in buying and selling. The time-honored strategy of buying low, converting efficiently and selling high is...
Evaluate Market Weights
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM
Today's low hog prices and high feed costs are squeezing producers' margins, and analysts have again called for lowering market weights to reduce supply,...
Pork Experiences Growth In National Meat Case Study
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM
New results from the 2007 National Meat Case Study will provide the National Pork Board with insights on trends and strategies in meat case merchandising...
Producer Cooperative Plans To Buy North Dakota Plant
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM
The Cloverdale Growers' Alliance Cooperative, a group of approximately 60 hog farmers in North Dakota, Minnesota and Montana, plans to purchase a majority...
Technology Watch
Pneumonia Vaccine
Feb 15, 2008 12:00 PM
A new Mycoplasmal pneumonia vaccine can be given alone or in combination with a circovirus vaccine. Administering vaccine to provide protection against...
