BY EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
HARRISBURG A University of
Minnesota faculty member on
sabbatical leave to study pork
production records in lowa told a
group of Pennsylvania hog
producers here Wednesday
evening that whoever can raise
pigs more efficiently than the
average will continue to be in
business for the next 20 years. Dr.
A 1 Leman, DVM, told the Pennfield
Hog Round Table Meeting that if
you are in a system where you get
high productivity, you are going to
make a profit. “It is so easy to be
better than average, and I am
convinced that will be good enough
to survive,” Dr. Leman said.
“In the east, you have a market
advantage. You are close to a lot of
people. I would think this will
continue. You don’t have quite the
building and labor economy of the
midwest, and you pay a little more
for grain. So it comes down to who
can get the highest productivity.
But I’ve worked enough cash flows
on paper recently that I’m con
vinced that you don’t need to be
afraid to invest a lot of capital into
this industry. You can see I’m
optimistic about the future,”
Leman said.
Using research data from
records on 175 lowa farms that
includes from 75 to 1,000 sows,
Leman showed that in 1986 weaned
cost on a cash basis was $20.62. If
you figure in farm labor at $7.50
per hour and at least a $5 per pig
facility charge, the cost goes up to
$27.28. Pounds sold per breeding
unit per year (including entire
breeding herd; boars, gilts and
PENNSYLVANIA
on the success of the
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MASCO
lowa Expert Tells Local Producers He Is
Is Optimistic
bred animals) was 3,800 pounds or
about 4,000 pounds when based on
sow numbers only. Cost per ton of
feed in lowa was $l.OB per ton. And
that was 53 percent of the total cost
of production.
The study shows that gilt litter
size is highly related to the age of
the gilt when bred. A gilt bred less
than 190 days had an average of 8.8
piglets per littler. When the age
was increased to 191 to 210 days,
the average went up to 9.9. And
over 210 days the average litter
size was over 10 piglets per litter.
In addition, over a four litter
period, the gilt bred at less than 190
days had one fewer pigs per litter
than the animals bred 191 to 210
days and two fewer pigs per litter
than the animals bred over 210
days of age.
Another significant finding in the
study was that multiple mating
was easier when the sow came in
heat within the first six days after
weaning. Eighty-two percent of the
60,000 to 70,000 matings in the study
were in this category. Dr. Leman
found this wean to first service
period a very significant tool to
gauge how the breeding operation
was succeeding. In a grow/finish
operation, feed consumption and
mortality were listed as the most
important factors. However, a lot
of feed is wasted so Dr. Leman
made a difference between con
sumption and disappearance.
While the computer program uses
disappearance to factor operating
expenses and gains that could be
different if wasted feed was also
considered on each farm.
Dr. Leman listed repeat
breeders as very poor risks. “I try
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Masco Tag Co.
Dayton, Ky.
About The Hog
to watch the herd closely and not
get over 10 percent repeat
breeders. I prefer it to be in the
five percent range. Space is your
most expensive variable. And if
the sow is a repeat breeder, she is a
poor risk and it may be best to put
another sow in her place,” Leman
said.
Leman has found that seasonal
fluctuations in breeding cycles has
started to disappear in con
finement operations. Though the
fluctuations still show up very
pointedly in outdoor operations.
In the midwest they are being
encouraged to market larger
animals. In 1986, the average
weight was 230 pounds. In 1987 that
will likely be closer to 245 pounds
according to Dr. Leman. “And
we’ll continue to market heavier
animals,” Leman said.
“Loins are the only thing we
produce that aren’t reconstructed.
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The Folio win
Poly Dome
itchfield, Minn.
Dr. Al Leman
110th annual convention
Guernsey Association
sponsored by the
Pennsylvania Guernsey
Breeders Association.
Working for people who work the land
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ENTERPRISE I AO WAY!
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Business
Leman said. “Animal muscle
tissue has turned the comer and is
getting better press. Animal fat is
not good, and we need to work to
get excessive fat out of our
products. Lean meat is a good
product medically. And I expect to
raise pigs for the next 20 years.
And I expect that you will do that,
too,” he said.
Fruit Spray Booklet Available
Everything else, including the
carcass, can be bigger if it doesn’t
have fat on it. Right now in central
lowa, our best market is around
270 pounds. Many producers are
reluctant to go that high because it
has been historically wrong. But on
a straight out market value, it is
the best market. Pork is good,” Dr.
An 18-page booklet on
sprays for home fruit
plantings is now
available from the
Delaware Cooperative
Extension System./
Published jointly by
the University of
Maryland and the
University of Delaware
extension systems, the
bulletin lists spray
materials and spray
schedules for tree fruits
Chambersburg
Livestock
Chambersburg, Pa.
Thursday, May 28
Report supplied by PDA
Last Sale As Livestock Auction
CATTLE: 238. SI. cows unevenly
steady. .50 higher to .50 lower;
Good steers individual hoi. 55.75;
individual Standard 52.00; 2 Choice
holstein heifers 58.50 & 61.00; few
standard 52.00-54.00; Breaking
Utility & Commercial cows 46.50-
51.50, couple to 52.25; Cutter &
Boning Utility 44.50-48.75; Canner
& Low Cutter 40.0044.75; shells
down to 38.00; YG1,1220-1760 lb. si.
of the
American
Businesses:
fjggsfe
AMERICAN BREEDERS SERVICE
Division of WR Gmct i Co
and raspberries,
blackberries, blueberr
ies and grapes. It also
identifies specific fruit
diseases and fruit
attacking insects and
methods of their con
trol.
To obtain a copy,
contact extension of
fices in Newark (451-
2506) Dover (697-4000)
and Georgetown (856-
7303).
bulls 51.00-58.60; individual 62.75.
CALVES: 310. Few Choice 88.00-
97.00; few Good 75.00-85.00;
Standard & Good 75-95 lb. 65.00-
80.00; Utility 55-80 lb. 50.0062.00.
FARM CALVES: Hoi. bulls 85-90
lb. 82.00-90.00 ; 90-125 lb. 90.00-
129.00, mostly 105.00-120.00; hoi.
heifers 85-120 lb. 70.00-93.00.
HOGS; 15. Lot 2-3, 260 lb.
barrows & gilts 56.00; few 1-3, 370-
670 lb. sows 44.5046.50; few boars
35.00-38.50.
FEEDER PIGS; 4. Lot 1-3,60 lb.
50.50 per head.
SHEEP: No sales offered.
GOATS: No sales offered.
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