I spent much of this week with clients reviewing winter ventilation details and evaluating temperature logs from recorders placed in barns earlier this month. In every instance, I found mistakes in controller settings that cost producers a lot of money. Read More...

This week I was reviewing DDGS pricing and nutrient assays from a number of ethanol plants in southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa. It was interesting to note the wide variation in grain pricing for December delivery to the various plants. December basis ranged from -$0.25 to -$0.10. For many of the plants with a -$0.10 basis for December delivery, the basis widened to -$0.25 or more for January deliveries.  Read More...

Today USDA and Statistics Canada released their joint report on the combined hogs and pigs inventory of the 2 countries. This is important since our industries are so closely linked. Not only do we have similar genetics, but Canadian producers ship approximately 90,000 weaned pigs per week to US production sites for growth to slaughter, 10,000 barrows and gilts to slaughter plants in the US and 8-9000 cull breeding stock to slaughter plants in the US. The weaned pigs show up in the kept for market inventory of US producers in the quarterly USDA Hogs and Pigs report, and the slaughter animals show up in daily and weekly slaughter numbers. Read More...