—Lancaster Farming. Saturday. Dec. 4, 1976
94
Champion hogs are no accident
By DIETER KREEG
STEWARTSTOWN, Pa. -
The main things to consider
in coming up with good
quality hogs are daily ob
servation and dedication,
according to John
Strawbridge, who has been
raising champion hogs for
more than three decades.
With that kind of experience
behind him, and scores of
championship ribbons to his
credit, Strawbridge should
know.
The York County hog
producer further believes
that good breeding, good
feeding, and good
management are of upper
most importance. “They all
go hand in hand,”
Strawbridge told Lancaster.
Farming in an interview
recently.
Strawbridge’s herd of
Yorkshire and Berkshire
hogs is officially registered
under the names of
Strawbridge and McCleary.
The partnership has been in
existence for years and has
built a widely dispersed
reputation for producing top
quality hogs.
At the recently held
Keystone International
Livestock Exposition, for
example, the York Countains
won a fistfull of cham
pionship ribbons - and a
number of reserve champion
honors. Not surprisingly,
they were named premier
breeder and exhibitor for
Yorkshire and Hampshire
hogs. They won every first
place in the Hampshire
breed show, and took four
out of six blue ribbons in the
Yorkshire event. When it
was all over, Strawbridge
had three grand champions
in the show.
The 1976 Keystone Ex
position was the 20th annual
livestock spectacular to be
held in Harrisburg.
Strawbridge has been to all
of them, and he has always
left his mark.
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John Strawbridge has a record of that organization for having given
showing champion hogs which dates him directions for the purebred hog
back to his 4-H days, and he credits business.
farm is located in southern
York County. He keeps
approximately 50 to 60 sows
for breeding purposes.
Roughly a third of the herd is
Yorkshires, the balance are
Hamps. All told he has 400
head.
“It takes a lot of hard work
and good management to
have good hogs year after
year,” Strawbridge ex
claimed. “It’s not something
you can work at for a while
and relax later. It takes daily
dedication - daily ob
servation - to make sure
everything is alright, that
there are no farrowing
problems, etc.”
The recipinet of both the
Keystone and American
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~ Hv
Strawbridge started in the you’d do it over even if he
purebred hog business in the had to get you Old; of bed late
Fall of 1939. He says 4-H that night!” he remem
projects got him started in bared,
that direction and his father It’s a philosophy that has
made sure he did things stuck with Strawbridge.
right. “There were no short Work is to be done properly
cuts allowed,” the hog or not at all. That’s why he
breeder emphasized. “If emphasizes dedication and
Dad said do something a daily observation so much,
certain way, and you didn’t, Being with the sows at
Cut bedding costs 75 per cent, reduce labor for
barn cleaning and cow washing, reduce teat and
udder injury to the minimum house your
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provided a stall for loafing She won’t be stepped
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Our free stall partition may be mounted on wooden
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farrowing time - be it day or
night - is a point he un
derscored repeatedly.
“You’ve got to really want to
do something if you’re going
to do it right,” he said.
Getting up at 2 a.m. to assist
a sow with her litter isn’t for
everybody.
Strawbridge has some of
his hogs housed inside while
others roam around out
doors. Neither program is
better than the oilier, ac
cording to Strawbridge’s
findings. They’re fed from
self feeders which contain
mostly home-grown
products.
Aside from their numerous
winnings at major Penn
sylvania shows, Strawbridge
and McCleary have been at
the top many times at other
expositions. Among their
conquests are championship
appearances at the Virginia
State Fair, the Maryland
State Fair, and the North
Carolina State Fair.
With all this success and
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glory to look back on,
Strawbridge can form a
pretty accurate opin'on on
what a hog judge looks for.
Be says:
“The judge looks for a real
productive animal - a car
cass which the housewife
will want to buy, one that is
as free of fat as we can
possibly give her.”
That’s quite different from
the hogs which farmers
raised less than a generation
ago, hog experts point out.
Sm
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717-665-2186
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717-393-1369