This is the time of the year when ventilation systems in swine facilities are cycling thru many stages. The cycling of the various fan and curtain stages is totally dependent on how the controller(s) is set, and the location of … Continue reading →

In the past 2 weeks I’ve spoken at 6 different producer meetings in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. At every meeting one of the topics of conversation around the refreshment table was ‘when will prices improve’.   As readers of … Continue reading →

This week’s blog won’t be limited to a single theme – instead I want to visit about a variety of topics that I’ve come across in producer contacts this past week.   Let’s begin with the topic of added fat … Continue reading →

In the past 2 weeks I’ve been to 2 professional meetings. After attending the American Society of Animal Science Midwest Section meetings in Des Moines and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians meetings in Dallas, Texas, I’m full of enthusiasm … Continue reading →

Many of you have noted that I didn’t write a blog last week. I was attending the annual meeting of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians in Dallas, Texas and conducting a ventilation workshop. Probably the most common topic of … Continue reading →

In the past 6 weeks, I have been a speaker at pork producer trade shows in Minnesota, Iowa, Virginia, Ohio and Nebraska. At all of these shows, a common thread of discussion was prices, both for feed grains as input … Continue reading →

I spent 2 days this week working with producers who purchase feed ingredients from a regional supplier. At all of the sites, I was once again shocked by the lack of knowledge regarding the ventilation system. By lack of knowledge, … Continue reading →

I have been making the circuit of state pork shows and meetings in the past month (IA, MN, VA and OH so far). In visiting with feed company and other allied industry representatives, I am getting many reports of empty … Continue reading →

On Wednesday, February 4, the USDA released the 2007 Census of Agriculture (http://www.agcensus.usda.gov). This census gives us a very detailed look at the structure of America’s production agriculture base. Included in the census are details regarding on-farm inventories on December … Continue reading →

This past week I had an email asking for my thoughts on the future usage of DDGS in swine diets. This person has quite a few contacts in the grain and ethanol industry. The reason for his email was that … Continue reading →