If you’ve heard me do a presentation at a meeting in the past few years, there is a good chance somewhere in the presentation I’ve talked about feeder design. As our sale weights increase, feeder dimensions need to increase also … Continue reading
With the weather turning warmer and fields firming up, producers are turning their thoughts to field work with less attention often paid to the pigs in production facilities. In the past couple of weeks I’ve seen many dairy producers hauling … Continue reading
Many have written about the March 1 Hogs and Pigs report and their interpretation of why the numbers don’t appear to add up. As might be expected from these comments, there remains general confusion as to what is really happening … Continue reading
By now the ‘trade’ has digested the hogs and pigs report and given the response by the futures market, they apparently feel pig numbers will be manageable yet this fall. Of course that doesn’t mean we won’t have big weeks, … Continue reading
This past week I attended the Midwestern Section of the American Society of Animal Science annual meeting in Des Moines. This meeting has become the location for graduate students and faculty from around the US to present their latest swine … Continue reading
It appears that producers remain current on market hog sales. Some have speculated that the current larger than expected runs are due to producers pulling pigs forward. However, mandatory price reporting data suggests that producers are current in their sales. … Continue reading
This past weekend I was in New Orleans for the American Association of Swine Veterinarians annual meeting. In addition to presenting on the ‘Housing Requirements of Heavy Weight Pigs’, I made sure to enjoy Bourbon Street and the tremendous variety … Continue reading
I’ve been asked by many people the past few weeks for my thoughts on pig numbers going to slaughter in the coming weeks. All of this is in light of the December 1 pig crop report which suggested declining numbers … Continue reading
As I write this blog, roads in southwestern Minnesota are once again closed due to blowing and drifting snow. Wind chills in the region tonight are expected to be as low as -25F (-32C) with low temperatures around 0F (-18C) … Continue reading
A few weeks ago I wrote about my thoughts about slaughter weights for barrows and gilts in coming years. Most readers will recall my conclusion that weights will continue to increase for a variety of reasons. Today I saw an … Continue reading