MS—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 2,1951 NEWARK, Del. Have you heard the story about the farmer who heard a disturbance in his hog house one night and took his gun along to investigate? He found a thief had loaded a few pigs on a truck and was ready to leave. He held the gun on the thief and made him take the whole herd. Tell swine producers they need to raise more pigs per sow to stay in business today and some will laugh at the suggestion they feed Unique greenhouse the floriculture market. Commercial greenhouses use about two gallons of fuel a year to heat each square foot of growing area. At today’s oil prices, heating a 120,000-square-foot greenhouse with power-plant reject heat could save the owner between $lOO,OOO and $125,000 annually. The research project is designed to make use of an inexpensive, abundant, reliable and un derutilized heating source, PP&L has been interested m using this heat for many years, and has in the past engaged in other research projects designed to use power plant discharge heat. If power-plant reject heat is harnessed and used on a large scale, it could help to limit PP&L’s systemwide load growth and thereby tend to reduce the utility's need to add new generating capacity. In addition, many energy-saving concepts will be experimented with m the greenhouse for possible adaptation by residential, in dustrial and commercial customers. Several agencies and PP&L worked with Bryfogle in The TIMBER EZE is especially designed to hook up with your central hot water or hot air heating systems thus eliminating the need to burn costly fuel Simply install the TIMBER EZE beside your furnace and connect the water pipes to the boiler and let the TIMBER EZE heat your water system FEATURES: Four Models To Choose From • Automatic Temperature Control • Burns Logs up to 28” • Heavy Duty Cast Iron Rocking Grates • Weight 710 lbs • Cast Iron Doors • Constructed of 3/16" and 1/4" steel • Fire Brick Lined • Available in BV2 or 3‘/i gal water jackets A.R. FLAUD SALES Timbereze Distributor & Sales RD #2, Rock Road, Honey Brook, Pa. 19344 For More Information Call 215-273-3211 DEALER INQUIRIES WELCOME Boost sow productivity to stay afloat more animals when they’re already losing money. But there are other farmers who say even though they lose money on a per head basis, they make up for it in volume. Right not the greatest single factor in staying in business for the commercial sow herd owner is the number of pigs produced per sow per year, says University of Delaware Extension livestock specialist Richard Fowler. Gross (Continued from Page Dl5) developing a financing package for the $1.2 million commercial greenhouse project. Recognizing the significance of the project in finding new ways to conserve fossil fuels, the Ap palachian Regional Commission approved a $350,000 federal grant for the project through SEDA COG, a Lewisburg-based regional development organization. The Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority approved a $316,650 loan through the Greater Danville Development Corp. for the project. The remainder of the money was borrowed through the Lycoming County Industrial Development Authority and Northern Central Bank of Williamsport. PP&L received permission from the Public Utility Commission to guarantee a portion of the loans, with Bryfogle himself backing the remainder of the loans. PP&L constipated the $700,000 from the plant to the greenhouse. Bryfogle is leasing the land from PP&L, and after a two-year test period, he will pay PP&L for the warm water supplied by the plant. hog business m returns double when the annual number of pigs weaned per sow increases from 12 to 20. , Most producers who can afford to stay in business are weaning enough pigs to break even. It takes 83 sows weaning 12 pigs each a year to produce 1000 head of hogs. The number of sows drops to 50 if each one produces 20 pigs a year. The 33 sow difference means about 33 tons of feed at ap proximately $2OO per ton or $6OOO a year m sow feed savings. How can producers increase litter-size? One way is to reduce the interval between farrowing and concention. This can be done by reducing lactation length and the period between weaning and conception, says Fowler. In theory, the number of litters per sow per year can be increased 0.1 percent by shortening the lactation period by one week. Lactation periods of less than three weeks may cause inconsistent post weaning estrus. Conception rates will also be lower. Very early weaning also affects subsequent litter size. Three-week weaning works best with a cage or deck system, but baby pigs often have a lag in growth when weaned that soon. Recent research suggests four-week weaning is best for both the sow and her pigs. The period between weaning and conception affects sow produc tivity. Sow anestrus is a serious problem especially during late.-a summer. Although all the reasons for summer infertility aren’t clear, boar presence has a stimulating effect on sow breeding activity, so housing systems should take into account the effect of sow and gilt Sealcrete can paint your farm buildings quickly and inexpensively... for >estimate. HYDRAULIC AERIAL EQUIPMENT proximity to boars. Fence line contact is important for both developing gilts and newly weaned sows. Ovulation rate or the number of eggs available for fertilizing also affects productivity. A sow ovulates about 17 eggs. Gilts in creased in ovulation rate when fed an additional pound of feed 10 to 14 days before mating. Some producers withhold feed from sows on the day of weaning to get better drying off. But research now shows that such starvation has a harmful effect on conception rate and the amount of time from weaning to estrus. State’s cattle up HARRISBURG Pennsylvania cattle feeders had 70,000 cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market April 1, according to the Pennsylvania Crop Reporting Service. This total was up three percent from last year’s 68,000. Marketings of fed cattle during the January-March quarter, at 17,000, was 19 percent below the 21,000 marketed the same quarter a year earlier. Placements of cattle and calves on feed during the first quarter totaled 11,000, eight percent below the same penod a year ago. Expected marketings during the April-June 1981 quarter, if realized at 30,000 would be up three percent from the same period in 1980. In the 23 major cattle feeding states, cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market April 1 totaled 0 million head, down four Instead, feed about six pounds per sow daily during the first week after weaning. Ovulation rate increases from the first to second heat and from the second to heat. Gilts studied averaged £tf 9.8 and 10.2 pigs respectively on their first, second and third heats. Selection is another way to maintain high reproductive ef ficiency in the-sow herd. Identify replacement gilts from sows that have a good record. Cull sows that don’t cycle 4-7 days after weaning or gilts that don’t show estrus at eight months. Good records are important in accomplishing these I goals. I percent from a year ago and 12 percent less than two years ago. This is the lowest April 1 number on feed since 1975. Placements of cattle and calves on feed during the January-March quarter were 5.15 million, one percent fewer than in the corresponding quarter in 1980 and 12 percent less than the first quarter of 1979. Other disap pearance, at 502 thousand head, leaves net placements of 4.65 million. Marketings of fed cattle for slaughter during January-March totaled 6 million, down two percent from the same penod last year and 11 percent from January-March 1979. Marketings and placements for the 23 states during the' January-March quarter were the smallest since 1975. _ Contact Allen B. Shirk Seal Crete, Inc. RD2, Ephrata, PA A 717-859-1127 9
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