COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) is a progressive disease in humans that makes it hard to breath. In general, the airways to the lungs become congested, restricting air exchange. As I visit swine production facilities across the Midwest, I routinely … Continue reading →

Fall harvest will begin in 3-4 weeks in the upper Midwest. With the expansion of the drought area, silage harvest is in full swing for dairies and feedlots, with some regions completed already. All of this activity means that pit … Continue reading →

This week has been the hottest week for pigs in production facilities in the upper Midwest for this summer. While I wrote last week about the sale weight impacts of summer heat, I did not address many of the common … Continue reading →

I missed writing last weeks blog because of all of the activities surrounding the wedding of my middle daughter last weekend in ONeill, NE. A wonderful wedding for this proud father with no thoughts of blog writing. Thus the writing … Continue reading →

Last week I was asked by 2 different clients for data on the productivity of the US breeding herd. In reply to their question I went back and looked at data from the quarterly USDA Hogs and Pigs report. I … Continue reading →

While this summer in southern Minnesota has not been anywhere close to having record heat, I’ve still had quite a few discussions with growers and managers about maximum ventilation rates for heat relief. The basic question has been – how … Continue reading →

The past couple of days I’ve been doing some comparisons on lighting options for swine facilities. As part of the comparisons I’ve had to examine our current lighting expenses in our research barns. All of the swine industry is currently … Continue reading →

I’ve been tracking USDA SEW and feeder pig pricing reports since 1999. Beginning in 2003 I’ve also been tracking both the source and destination of the pigs cited in the report (http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/nw_ls255.txt). This morning I did some quick graphing and … Continue reading →

The demand for good quality weaned pigs and feeder pigs is heating up several weeks earlier this year than compared to historic records. In the past 10 years (2003-2012), weaned pig prices as reported by USDA (http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/NW_LS255.txt) bottomed during week … Continue reading →

Summer heat arrived this weekend in the upper Midwest. Relatively high dew point temperatures (67F dew point at 8:30 am as I write this) mean pigs are having trouble dissipating heat. I continue to walk wean-finish and grow-finish sites that … Continue reading →