DMancaster Fanning Saturday, October 28,1989
THOMAS VILLE (York Co.)
The York County 4-H sheep &
swine club members held their
annual combined Roundup last
month at Weikert’s Livestock
Buying Station near Thomasville.
During the show, the members
and spectators saw the 130-pound
lamb of Tabitha Ebersole, York,
winning the grand champion hon
ors. She also won reserve grand
champion honors with another
130-pound lamb. This was her
first year showing as a 4-H lamb
club member.
In the swine judging division,
the 240-pound market pig of Jim
my Neutzel of Felton was selected
grand champion and the
235-pound market pig of Kim
Frantz of Seven Valleys was
named reserve grand champion.
During the sale the champion
market lamb was purchased by
Waltemyers Sales & Service of
Red Lion, and the Reserve Grand
Champion was purchased by
Hummels Sausage of Glen Rock.
The members sold a total of 27
lambs for an average price of
$94.59 per hundred weight with
the champions and $89.56 per
hundred weight without the
champions. The average weight of
*
, Penn State Extension Swine Specialist
ALTERING THE NURSING
PATTERN
People have spent a lot of time
looking at the mechanics of lacta
tion. All the effort is based on the
notion that pork producers would
like to wean healthier and heavier
pigs, while getting sows into heat
sooner. Of course the studies,
thoughts and observations take on
all shapes and sizes. But there is
one question that floats to the sur
face in most cases—what can we
change in the normal nursing pat
tern to improve productivity?
One of the proven procedures on
this list that nearly every pork pro
ducer uses is cross fostering.
And a similar practice utilized
by some of the larger units is that
of over-farrowing and litter equali
zation. In this case, more sows are
farrowed than there are crates
available. Some sows are weaned
just a few days after farrowing,
while litter size in the remaining
sows is equalized at 12 or so pigs.
But a few other techniques have
been beat around by researchers
for the last 10 years or so, and for
the most part are not commonly
practiced by producers:
1. Split nursing: Pigs are separ
ated from the sow at farrowing
time until all pigs are bom. Pigs are
then sorted and marked into two
equal groups—large and small
birth weight. The small pigs get
first crack at the udder for about a
half-hour after which the remain
ing pigs are put on the sow (along
with the small pigs).
2. Limited nursing: In the last
week of lactation, pigs are given
only limited access to the sow. For
example, the litter may be allowed
to nurse the sow four times a day
during the last seven days of
lactation.
3. Split weaning: About one
week before the normal weaning
York County 4-H’ers Hold Sheep, Swine Roundup
At the halter of the grand champion market lamb Is Tablt
ha Ebersole of York. James and Miriam Waltemyer of Walte
myer’s Sales & Service of Red Lion purchased the lamb.
the market lambs was 110.56
pounds with champions and
119.00 pounds without
champions.
The market swine sale followed
right after the lambs with the
champion being sold to Hatfield
Quality Meats, and the reserve
grand champion being sold again
Pork Prose
by
Kenneth B. Kephart
day, the largest pigs are weaned.
The smaller pigs, therefore, have
seven days of sow’s milk without
competition from their larger litter
mates.
Let’s take a look at each of these
techniques—why they’re done,
whether they’ll do any good.
Split nursing
By allowing the small pigs first
access to the udder, they iso have
a guaranteed shot at the colostrum.
This practice has not been
researched too heavily. But John
Gadd in a past column of the
“National Hog Farmer” reported
the results of one trial. Sows with
split-nursed litters weaned .3 more
pigs than those in the control
group. That translated into a five
pound increase in litter weight.
The problem with the split nurs
ing routine is that you must be
there at farrowing time. With pros
taglandins (Lutalyse) daylight far
rowing is possible, but it requires
accurate breeding dates.
Is this one worth the trouble? If
you’re going to be there anyway,
putting all the pigs in a warm area
until the end of farrowing is not
such a bad idea. And the reasons
for giving the smallest pigs first
access to the udder makes sense.
Limited nursing
The real incentive for this tech
nique is to get the sow into heat
sooner. By reducing the amount of
time pigs spend on the udder dur
ing the last week of lactation, her
reproductive system will be stimu
lated earlier than normal. There
isn’t much question that it works.
In a study at the University of
Illinois reported in 1981, pigs were
given access to the sow only three
or four times during the last week
of lactation. And researchers
demonstrated that limited nursing
could bring the sows into heat
(Turn to Page D 4)
to Hummels Sausage of Glen
Rock. The 4-H Swine members
offered a total of 56 head of mark
et pigs for an average of $77.68
per hundred weight with champ
ions and $70.85 per hundred
weight without champions. The
average weight was 229.02
pounds with champions and
Pennsylvania Girl Wins
American Angus Association Scholarship
ST. JOSEPH, MO Lori Cash
of Centre Hall received a $1,200
scholarship from the American
Angus Auxiliary for being the
nation’s top female Junior Angus
Association member. A scholar
ship was awarded the top five boys
and girls with a total of $7,200
being presented.
A record number of youth, 33
from 20 states, applied for the
scholarship money, reported Mrs.
Ardyce O’Neill of Logan, lowa,
the scholarship chairperson. The
first-place boy and girl received
$1,200; $9OO was presented to the
second-place girl and boy; the
third-place finishers received
$700; the fourth-place finalists
were awarded $500; and $3OO
went to the fifth-place boy and girl.
In addition to scholarships, the
five female finalists are eligible to
compete for the Miss American
Angus title for 1990 at the Ameri
can Angus Association annual
meeting held in November at the
North American International
Livestock Exposition in Louisvil
le, Ky.
The other female recipients
were Jean Macauley, Oregon, 111.,
second place; Suzannah Rowland,
Gamaliel, Ky., third place; Lori
READING (Berks Co.) — Penn
State Cooperative Extension
announces its first conference for
those interested in raising fish
commercially, either indoors in
tanks or outside in ponds and race
ways. The conference is set for
Wednesday, November 15, from 9
a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Berks Ag
Center.
The conference includes speak
ers from USDA, area fish farms,
the University of Maryland, state
agencies, the new state aquacul
ture association, and a major
supermarket chain. The confer
ence cost is $l5, which includes a
lunch buffet of fish from area
farms, the trade shows of sup
pliers, handouts, and an optional
tour of a fish operation at the end
of the conference.
“We’ve found the experts and
producers who know the area and
Showing the grand champion market pig at the York
County 4-H Roundup was Jimmy Neutzel of Felton. His
champion was purchased by Hatfield Quality Meats, repre
sented by Ezra Good.
228.70 pounds without
champions.
Volume buyers for the evening
sale were Hatfield Quality Meats;
Weikert’s Livestock Buying Sta
tion, York; Leidy’s Inc., New
Freedom; Agway Inc., York;
Franklin, Snohomish, Wash,
fourth place; and Dee Dee Law
son, Cushing, Okla., fifth place.
The young men receiving scholar
ships are Jason Carrico, Redfield,
lowa, first place; Wade Baxter,
Osawatomie, Kans., second place;
Matthew Titus, Oronoco, Minn.,
third place; Mark Brandenberger,
Fish Producing Conference
climate, and who can give inter
ested growers the basics of how to
make a profit raising freshwater
fish,” said Jeff Patton, Extension
agent-marketing and a conference
organizer. “Our goal is to help
producers make sound, informed
decisions on whether to and how
to start up in this farm enterprise.”
Although Pennsylvania doesn’t
enjoy the climate that has fostered
the catfish industry of southern
states, there are other species and
Lehigh County’s Penn State
Cooperative Extension office has
moved to a new location. The
office is in the newly built Lehigh
County Agricultural Center at
4184 Domey Park Rd. in South
Whitehall Township.
Also housed in the Ag Center
will be the Lehigh County Soil
Lori Cash
Lehigh County Extension Office Moved
Susan Dutrey, Dallastown; Kevin
& D.C. Sunday, York; DJI. Kem
Plumbing & Heating, York; God
frey Bros., York; James Parlett,
Airville; Barry Eberly, Dallas
town and Farmers Bank of Hanov
er, Hanover.
Clifton, Texas, fourth place; Tracy
Piepho, Howell, Mich., fifth place.
A member of the American
Angus Association and the Pen
nsylvania Junior Angus Associa
tion, Cash is the 18-year-old
daughter of Erskine and Willie
Cash. She has been involved with
her state junior Angus group for
nine years and has held several
offices. Cash served as show man
ager for the 1989 Eastern Regional
Junior Angus Show, which was
hosted by the Pennsylvania Junior
Angus Association.
At the 1989 National Junior
Angus shomanship contest. Cash
won the coveted top showman
title. In addition, she has received
several achievement awards
including outstanding Pennsylva
nia Junior Angus girl. Her family
was named the Pennsylvania
Angus family of the year. Recen
tly, Cash was elected to the
National Junior Angus Associa
tion Board of Directors.
Cash is pursuing a career in
communications at Penn State.
She plans on staying involved with
Angus and promoting youth prog
rams , as they have been an impor
tant part of her life.
Scheduled
methods that show promise in the
mid-Atlantic region. This is sig
nificant because area consumers
have increased fish consumption
at a steady pace, and fish imports
represent the U.S.’s third largest
trade deficit category.
Contact the Cambria County
Extension, 814/472-7986 exten
sion 392, office for the registration
brochure or call Jeff Patton,
Extension agent in Lehigh County
for more information. His number
is 215/820-3085.
Conservation Service, Lehigh
County Agricultural Stabilization
and Conservation Service, Far
mers Home Administration, and
Lehigh County Conservatiof
District. >
The Extension office phone
number is 215/391-9840.
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