Beginning today, the Chicago Futures will trade a contract for dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS). Since the majority of swine producers now include this ingredient in their grow-finish diets the addition of this contract is welcome. Last Thursday … Continue reading
In the past few weeks I’ve been involved in a series of discussions with producers and allied industry about production unit sizes. A common thread in the discussions was the idea of what size of production unit a producer should … Continue reading
Probably the biggest reason I love being involved in agriculture is the optimism that both crop and livestock producers bring to their careers. You have to be optimistic to plant corn without knowing how much rain you’ll get or to … Continue reading
What a week to be involved in pork production! After 2 years of almost consistent negative news, last Friday’s Hogs and Pigs report, when combined with the grain stocks report and planting intentions report this week put a smile on … Continue reading
It’s amazing how fast we’ve transitioned from winter to spring in the upper Midwest. Less than 3 weeks ago we had snow drifts and ice everywhere. On Thursday of this past week, near Waterloo, Iowa I saw 2 farmers applying … Continue reading
On Friday, March 12, there was a joint USDA – US Department of Justice workshop on market concentration issues at Ankeny, Iowa. This workshop was the first of 4 planned workshops to be held in various regions of the US. … Continue reading
This week I was a speaker at the Iowa regional swine seminars sponsored by the Iowa Pork Producer Association and Iowa State University. While the industry still is reeling from the loss in equity the past 2 years, at every … Continue reading
I am at the American Association of Swine Veterinarians annual meeting in Omaha. At the same time, the National Pork Board and the National Pork Producers Council have just wrapped their annual meetings in Kansas City. A hot topic … Continue reading
At every meeting where I talk about the ‘Dufus Factor’ I ask for a show of hands of who in the audience has been involved in removal of dead pigs from a production facility following a power outage. I have … Continue reading
This past week I spent time in southwest Ontario, traveling with a swine veterinarian and presenting at a couple of producer meetings. On Tuesday of this past week, the January 1 pig inventories for Canada were also released by Statistics … Continue reading