Fl2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 7,1984
New Park couple moves from part - to full-time farming
NEW PARK - When Dan and
Amelia Buttorff established a gilt
producing program in 1979, their
success enabled them to switch
from part- to full-time farming.
“This is something we had
dreamed of doing during the
previous 10 years,” Dan says.
“And without our gilt producing
operation, I know I wouldn’t be
farming full-time right now. I
definitely believe it has helped us
to farm successfully.”
For ten years prior to starting
their gilt producing operation, Dan
worked full-time as a public utility
representative. He resented the
double burden of farming and full
time employment. “This is where I
wanted to be,” he says. “I felt my
life is right here, on the farm’ ’.
Splitting their lives between
fanning and outside employment
also frustrated Ame, whose family
has farmed for seven generations.
“We didn’t want to work for
anyone else,” she says. “This was
a particularly stressful way of life.
Now our future depends on how
successfully we make this
operation work.”
So in 1979, Dan and Ame started
raising crossbred gilts for Kleen
Leen, Inc., a Ralston Purina
File in the round, the Buttorif's hog breeding wheel enables
Amy and Dan to maintain accurate, fingertip-ready records
on the reproductive status of each breeding animal.
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Company subsidiary. At first they
produced a York x Duroc
crossbred gilt. More recently they
switched to a York x Landrace x
Duroc cross (V-line) by rotating
York-Landrace and York-Duroc
boars.
Kleen Leen, a breeding stock
firm, contracts with independent
breeders such as Dan and Ame
Buttorff to produce high-quality
gilts and boars for sale as breeding
stock. The independent breeding
operations are carefully monitored
for any health problems, and must
adhere to strict disease prevention
guidelines developed by Kleen
Leen. These include slaughter
mspections, vaccination programs
and isolation of new boars.
The total confinement, shower-in
breeding operation was a new
experience for the Buttorffs. “For
10 years before that we raised hogs
out-of-doors,” Dan says.
Management Course
Raising pigs in confinement
called for a complete change in
production methods. The Buttorffs
needed advice on constructing a
clean, solidly-built confinement
unit. They also took management
courses to familiarize themselves
with their new vocation. “Kleen
Swine breeding operation
Hk 1
Dan and Amy Buttorff confer at barn office desk on recordkeeping for their farrow-to
finish hog confinement operation.
Leen was on call during con
struction of the unit, even though it
was unrelated to the breeding
operation,” Dan says. “They also
suggested I take a seven-day
course through Kleen Leen’s
Professional Management
Seminar (PMS). There were two
days of classes, and five days
hands-on training in a swine
confinement unit in Missouri,”
Dan says.
The breeding operation has
contributed in large part to the
financial stability of the Buttorff
family farm, Dan says.
Changes in overall production
methods, due to Kleen Leen
suggestions, and a lot of hard work
and dedication by the Buttorffs,
have made the operation efficient.
This year, the Buttorffs produced
4,000 pigs, 50 percent of which were
finished for market, or sales as
breeding stock, the remainder sold
as feeder pigs at 50 lbs. “Having
the diversity of three different
markets has helped when prices
are low,” Ame says.
The operation’s efficiency is
evident in other areas as well.
Using a hand-mating program, the
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Buttorffs achieved a 92-93 percent
conception rate well over the 83-
85 percent average for this
method. In 1982, they marketed 9.6
pigs per litter, also considerably
higher than the national average of
7.2
Replacement gilts are selected
from finishing to be brought into
the existing herd. This has proven
to be especially advantageous to
the operation. “We select only high
quality animals,” Dan says.
Splits Chores
A successful farm has meant
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