When the dew point is 78F at 6 am, you know it’s going to be a miserable day in the upper Midwest. Unfortunately, it’s going to be a miserable week. It’s too late this year to begin thinking about how … Continue reading
Yesterday’s USDA acreage and stocks report is still sending tremors across the country. Maybe one of the most un-talked about consequence of two days of near limit down moves in the corn market is the difficulty of feed mills in … Continue reading
When crop producers wished for summer heat to push corn and soybean crops along, they didn’t have our current weather as their goal. For grain farmers in the upper Midwest, there is enough moisture from all of the June rains … Continue reading
On January 4, 2011, President Obama signed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This legislation gives FDA new responsibilities and powers in the prevention of food safety risks to American consumers. I’m sure few of … Continue reading
Last week was a busy week for me. I started the week walking producer barns in central Iowa with a client. Feeder issues were a dominant topic at many of the sites. With corn flirting with $8/bu on the board … Continue reading
Is the basic information necessary for successful pork production or even agricultural production in general becoming private? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. And this yes grew larger this week as the US House Appropriations Committee recommended a 20% cut in … Continue reading
When was the last time you had an insurance review of your swine facilities? I thought of this today after stepping into 1” of water in my basement on my way to my office early this morning. We had a … Continue reading
This past week I was reminded by an equipment supplier to the swine industry of an on-going conversation that he and I have been having regarding maintenance schedules of equipment installed in swine facilities. When we purchase cars, trucks or … Continue reading
The optimism is gone from the feeder pig market. Cash SEW pigs this past week averaged only $22.95 per pig as quoted by USDA. The lowest quoted price was $16 per pig. This is 50% of the $32/pig low the … Continue reading
In the past few weeks I’ve looked at a lot of fans that suffered damage from winter snows. A common problem is a broken discharge cone on a fan due to snow and/or ice sliding off of a steel room. … Continue reading