With spot packer bids continuing to decline in the face of very large supplies, one of the few opportunities to lower the cost of production is to purchase ingredients at lower prices. Fortunately for the swine industry, the very large … Continue reading
Yesterday, USDA reported that the average live weight for Iowa and Southern Minnesota barrows and gilts for the week ending on September 24 (NW_LS720) was 280.0 lbs, down 1.6 lb from the previous week. Many commentators have noted this decline … Continue reading
While we’re all aware of the concentration of nursery, grow-finish and wean-finish production facilities in Iowa (31.2% of the June 1, 2016 kept for market inventory was in Iowa), have you thought about the concentration of slaughter plants? In a … Continue reading
The major market advisory services have begun releasing their corn and soybean crop estimates, along with projected carry-outs for the coming years. The most widely followed projection is the ProFarmer tour which was recently completed. All projections are for a … Continue reading
Temperatures this morning in southern Minnesota were in the low 50’s, meaning furnaces were operating in swine nursery rooms with newly weaned pigs or in wean-finish sites with small pigs. Many producers have begun thinking about being sure furnaces in … Continue reading
In a conversation with a writer this week I was asked a variety of questions about this falls markets and the opening of new slaughter plants next summer. I’ve also had conversations this week with equipment suppliers and producers that … Continue reading
Anyone following the US slaughter hog market these past few weeks knows that weekly pig numbers are already growing. Weekly kills of 2.2 million are upon us already and we’ve got 3 months before the greatest crunch hits around the … Continue reading
Climatologists tell us we are on the back-side of summer heat. Historically, the last 2 weeks of July have the highest sustained temperatures. While we will still have days of heat, going forward we can expect night time lows to … Continue reading
Unless you live in a foreign country, you know it has been hot this week in the regions of the US where pigs are grown. Dew point temperatures in the upper Midwest have been in the upper 70’s to low … Continue reading
Last week I did the math on how much manure is captured each year in typical grow-finish facilities. Today I’d like to do the math regarding the expected value of this manure as a fertilizer resource when injected in the … Continue reading