UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Pennsylvania swine pro
ducers should carefully watch their
animals for signs of mange during
cold winter months, said a special
ist in Penn State’s College of Agri
cultural Sciences.
“Mange usually becomes more
prevalent this time of year, perhaps
because pigs huddle together to
keep warm, enhancing transmis
sion of the mange mite,” said Dr.
Kenneth Kephart, associate pro
fessor of animal science.
Swine mange mites infest only
pigs, burrowing and reproducing
under their skin, causing itching
and restlessness. “There aren’t
many things that make pigs as mis
erable as mange, and believe me, it
costs money,” Kephart said.
Studies show that pigs from
mange-infested herds weigh about
a pound less at weaning and take
five to seven days longer to reach
market weight Feed efficiency of
a whole herd can drop as much as
10 percent.
“Under field conditions, this can
add up to an annual cost of nearly
$BO per sow,” Kephart said.
How can you tell if your herd is
infested?
“If you see pigs rubbing against
a fence or wall, they probably have
mange,” Kephart said. “If you look
more closely, infested pigs will
have small, pimple-like regions on
KUBOTA GIVES YOU ROOM
TO GROW.
Mange Mites Bite Pigs
the underside of the legs and belly.
These areas look a lot like poison
ivy.
“In more advanced stages, the
inside of the pigs’ ears become
brown and crusty, and the pigs’
flanks may be bald from rubbing,”
Kephart said. “The pigs* skin takes
on a rough, leathery appearance.”
Until recently, mange has been
tough to control and nearly impos
sible to eliminate. But new pro
ducts have improved mange con
trol dramatically.
“Many safe and effective mange
control sprays are available on the
Ethanol South Of The Border?
WASHINGTON, D.C.—From
the air, Mexico City looks like it is
perpetually fogged in. Although
the city sits at more than 7,000 feet
in elevation, the air is anything but
crisp and clean.
“The air pollution is significant
ly worse than what I expected,”
said Darrel Rammeyer, com pro
ducer from the Illinois Com Board
and member of a recent U.S. Feed
Grains Council Fact-Finding Mis
sion to Latin America.
“There is certainly a need for
some clean burning ethanol to run
in the gas tanks down here,” said
Rammeyer.
Mexico is doing a number of
things to address the air pollution
market, including Permectrin.
Ectiban, Prolate, and Taktic,”
Kephart said. “However, some
spray products have age restric
tions and all require two applica
tions 7 to 10 days apart—the first
to kill live mites, the second to kill
newly hatched baby mites. With
drawal times for these sprays range
from a day to a week.”
Spray treatments may be mote
difficult during winter than sum
mer, however.
“Wien you spray pigs during
the winter, the weather might be
too cold to risk getting them wet,”
problem that plagues Mexico City.
Among these are severe emissions
restriction requirements placed on
taxis, trucks and buses, a require
ment that passengers cars must
have an engine tune up at least
once every six months, and a
requirement that passenger vehi
cles cannot be on the road more
than six days a week. Each vehicle
has a code on the license plate that
indicates the day of the week that it
may not be driven.
‘The most severe deterrent was
a hike in the price of gas
announced by the government
while we were there,” said John
Whipple, mission member from
the lowa Com Promotion Board.
Row crops need their space. Which
is why there's a Kubota to fit right
into your scheme of things. Like the
82150 HST you see just above. Its
compact size keeps you out of tight
spots by getting you easily into them.
Rmr wheel drive, three cylinders,
power steering, and hydrostatic trans
mission will make light work of
loading, tilling, and spraying.
Or you could be working on the
L26SODTW with Kubota's Ever
Clutch, a wet clutch disc system that
operates immersed in oil. Mechanical
BF/8R shuttle shift and hydrhstatic
power steering are standard and give
smooth, dependable operation.
The utility tractor M4O3OSU
specializes in doing just about every
thing. With a smooth powerful six
cylinder diesel engine and 42 PTO
HP, it can help with planting,
cultivating, or bringing in the hay.
And every Kubota lets you 3-point
hitch up to a whole world of imple
ments. Kubota-made or otherwise.
Kubota Tractor Corporation markets a full line of tractors
through a nationwide network of over 1,000 dealers.
K'jbofo.
Lancaster Farming. Saturday, January 4,1W2-F27
Kephart said.
An alternative mange-control
product is Ivermectin, an injection
treatment that generally eliminates
the mange mite as well as lice with
one application and offers tempor
ary control of most internal
parasites.
“Ivermectin is clearly the most
effective mange-control product
on the market, but it requires injec
tion, has a withdrawal period of 18
days, and is more expensive than
sprays.” Kephart said. “Many pro
ducers use it to treat sows prior to
farrowing, and it’s a good treat
“Unleaded gas went up 25 per
cent and leaded gas went up 55
percent,” said Whipple. The price
of gas in Mexico now exceeds that
in the United States.
“We see a natural market here
for ethanol,” said Rammeyer.
“Yes, Mexico is an oil producer,
but they are also a gasoline impor
ter.” Mexico is importing as much
as 10 percent of their gasoline
because of a shortage of refining
capacity, and that might as well be
ethanol from the United States,
according to Whipple. Ethanol
would help solve their pollution
problem and open up another
market fd U.S. com growers, he
said.
PENNSYLVANIA
Albums
CANNS-BILCO
215-820-0222
Allenwood
ALLENWOOD
RENTAL
& SUPPLY
717-538-2595
* Avondale
THOMAS POWER
EQUIP., INC.
215-268-2181
Chester Co
HEITZMAN
EQUIP., INC.
Rte 100 - Glenmoore
215-458-8525
Cochranville
STOLTZFUS FARM
SERVICE, INC.
21S-593-2407
Remington t Clinton
u ~ PONIATOWSKI
Honesdale RRn .
MARSHALL ....
MACHINERY, INC. E go&ssS'tS 0 '
717-729-7117
Lebanon
KELLER BROS.
TRACTOR CO.
717-949-2000
Lancaster
KELLER BROS.
TRACTOR CO.
717-569-2500
ment at that time. But if a mange
outbreak is getting ahead of you,
the labor and expense involved in
treating a large group of pigs with
Ivermectin can become a problem.
“Producers whose herds have
serious mange outbreaks need to
weigh the cost of the disease
against the cost of the treatment,
and make the best decision for
their operation,” Kephart said.
Where trade names appear, no
discrimination is intended, and no
endorsement by Penn State
Cooperative Extension is implied.
Rammeyer and Whipple were
part of a 14 member fact-finding
mission to Latin America spon
sored by the U.S. Feed Grains
Council. The objective of the mis
sion was to identify new market
opportunities for feed grains and
feed grains-based products such as
ethanol. A full report of the mis
sions findings and recommenda
tions will be presented to the board
of directors of the council in
February.
MHK.
IT DOES A
BODY GOOD.
See Your
Local Kubota
Dealer
Bloomsburo
TRACTOR
PARTS CO.
717-784-0250
a
'hambersbura
STOUFFER
BROS., INC.
717-263-8424
Jersey Shore
THOMAS
L DUNLAP
717-398-1391
Milllinbufa
MIFFLINBURG
FARM
SUPPLY, INC.
717-966-3114
Reading
NICARRY
EQUIPMENT CO.
215-926-2441
Slioudsburg
SEBRING’S
POWER HOUSE
717-421-8980
York
YORK TRACTOR,
INC.
717-764-1094
MARYLAND
Haoerslown
ARNETT’S
GARAGE
301-733-0515
Cheslerlown
W.N. COOPER
& SON, INC.
410-778-3464
Rising Sun
AG IND. EQUIP.
CO. INC.
301-658-5568
NEW JERSEY
Hainesoort
MATERIAL
HANDLING
SYSTEMS
609-267-6100
Shiloh
ROBERT G.
HAMPTON
609-451-9520