Once again there have been reports of pig deaths due to fires in production facilities. Earlier this winter I wrote about communicating with your local fire department regarding details of your production site, maps of facilities, etc. I recently came … Continue reading
Last week I was a participant at the London, Ontario Swine Conference. This conference is the largest swine conference in Eastern Canada and was well attended. There were over 360 registrants for Wednesday’s general sessions and breakouts. On Thursday the … Continue reading
I’m writing this blog at the Minneapolis airport as I travel to London, Ontario for this weeks London Swine Conference and do a client farm visit. Both my presentations at the London Conference and my client visit deal with the … Continue reading
Spring doesn’t officially arrive in southern Minnesota until tomorrow evening, but signs of it are everywhere. I saw pits being pumped in Northwest Iowa this afternoon with dust being generated in the soybean stubble where they were injecting the manure. … Continue reading
It’s the season for producer meetings and I’ve already spoken with many producer groups and production system growers this winter. Another round of meetings begins again tomorrow. At the previous meetings this winter I’ve been asked to spend time on … Continue reading
USDA released the estimates for the combined US and Canada swine herds this afternoon. The US numbers are based on the quarterly USDA Hogs and Pigs report while the Canadian numbers are from Canada Statistics semi-annual inventory report. US numbers … Continue reading
When I arose at 6 am this morning the outside temperature at my house was -12F. With an office in my basement, I don’t have to go outside and ‘brave’ the cold today. However, all of those people responsible for … Continue reading
As carcass bids continue to decline at a relatively rapid rate and slaughter numbers grow, I’ve been asked about the expansion plans for 2015 that I and other have written about. Will producers go ahead with their plans in the … Continue reading
Several weeks ago I wrote about my thoughts regarding the future direction of slaughter weights in the US. As most of you will recall, the data suggests heavier weights in future years, even as we hear of packer concerns regarding … Continue reading
Last week I was a speaker at the 44th annual Banff Swine Seminar in Banff, Alberta. Attendance was 650 people for the 2 day event with good speakers and hallway interactions. About 40% of the audience was pork producers with … Continue reading