A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 20, 1993 For the third time In a row, Lebanon County won the Keystone Pork Bowl, 160-80, over Berks County. From left, Tom Moyer, Hatfield representative; Jason Krall; Katie Lefever; Jon Harnlsh; and Brian Krelder; John Risser, coach; and Dwight Woelkers, Hatfield representative. (Continued from Page A 1) breeding program, producers can concentrate on the factors impor tant to improving the marketability of hogs, including EPDs for back fat, growth, litter size, 21-day litter weights, and days to 230 pounds. By selecting the proper sows and boars, he said the “opportunity for success is tremendous.’’ Christian outlined the makeup of a program that assesses the genetic worth of sows and their productivity, called the Swine Testing and Genetic Evaluation System (STAGES) in use by sev eral breed companies and organi zations. STAGES helps producers select what gilt and boar to use that determines, from their EPDs and other measurements, what may directly influence the productivity and profit of a herd. The productiv ity index listed in STAGES pro vides all of the sow’s records, including “aunts and sisters and realtives” with traits that are heritable. Christian said much of the tech nology has existed since at least 1965, when lowa State University was able to produce lean pigs with loin eye measurement “near seven inches,’’ he said. But the econom ics “were never there,” and there were problems with lean bigs, including porcine stress syndrome Pork producers should be aware of the strides made by the Pork Quality Assurance Program, according tp Beth Lautner, director of swine health and pork safety for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) In Des Moines, lowa. Genetic Technology To Improve Pork Exists and death on the way to market. “We need to have the economics to change,” said Christian. According to the researcher, the technology is accurate it’s the marketing system that has to pro vide these incentives. He said that, for instance, in Canada, producers are paid a pre mium of 14 percent for lean hogs, and receive an 18 poercent deduc tion for the fatest measuring hogs. The U.S. offers incentives ranging only about 6 percent In Denmark and other European countries, technology is used to determine quantity of lean and assess the quality of it before slaughter before hogs are brought to market. In Denmark, a hog put on the production line has a part of its shoulder sliced off and mea surements are taken on specific marketability items such as intra muscular fat (which determines flavor and juiciness of the pork). “Hopefully we will develop better and better ways of assessing capabilities of live pigs so produc ers can get paid accordingly,” he said. “We need a system to do a better jot to pay for differences that already exist” One way to affect leanness is to “bioengineer” hogs to remove the gene that bring about pale, soft and exudative (PSE) syndrome meat. Using microminiature knives, geneticists can litteraly “cut away” the fault spot on the DNA on this heritable disease. Christian said that using current technology, scientists have the “potential to eliminate the gene from the pig population. Do we want to do that?” The Danes, he said, have removed it, and can provide 4 per cent more lean meat This “quick fix” for increasing leans may have some benefit. Also, packers can check the pH of slaughtered pigs to identify PSE meat while on the production line, as they do in Canada. Christian went over several fac tors to-help improve the structural soundness of a herd, but empha sized that “we can’t breed hogs from the office. We have to look at them.” He also told producers to select for other factors, such as' ‘ ‘big feet, big toes, even toes, and correct shoulder.” To make strides in obtaining a leaner seedstock, he said produc ers should work with nutritionists or AI suppliers to look more close ly at the genetic potential of pigs. The genetic improvement of seed stock will affect future marketabil ity of a herd. Christian said that even smaller producers can benefit, and produc ers don’t have to be a big corpora tions to make genetic selections. Market Outlook To win the war against poultry, swine packers should understand that pork is reasonably priced com pared to broilers and turkey pro ducts, according to H. Louis Moore, Penn State economist, who provided his market outlook at the Congress. Moore said producers and packers should “meet poultry head on to fight it out with diem on a price standpoint, because they are very competitive from a price standpoint” In 1993, poultry consumption in the U.S. may again hit a record, and will continue to take up a grea ter portion of total meat consump tion. Poultry consumption and pro duction ‘‘shows no abatement at all,” said Moore. The economist oudined some of the positive and negative aspects of the economy and the new admi nistration. While Europe continues to slide into deeper recession, and the federal budget deficit grows, Moore, said that it “pays to be an optimist if you’re in ag.” The number of people employed in agricultural industries continues to decrease. Only 1 percent of the entire U.S. population farms. We continue to lose 2 percent of our farms every year, and there are fewer new entries into agriculture, which is “a major concern,” said Moore. While many farmers are faced with taking off-farm work, and 56 percent of the hog farms were lost between 1981-1991, producers have reason to be optimistic because of the record U.S. com harvest (projected at 9.48 billion bushels, but some remains in the field) in 1992. Pennsylvania did not have a record harvest, but a record per-acrc yield (117 bushels per acre). There were 930,000 acres of com in the state in 1992, and the amount of com available will mean a great deal of carryover and cheap feed prices for produc ers which will help in cost of producing pork. Other companies, such as Tyson and Smithfield, are making a “big ger splash” in the hog industry, according to the economist. In all, 4.7 percent of the producers pro duce 47 perceont of the total hogs in the country, with more than 1,000 head of hogs each. There has been a tremendous increase in the hog inventory for producers with more than 500 head. Producers should know that 2.5 percent of the hog producers in Pennsylvania account for 45 per cent of the total inventory. (In North Carolina, 90 percent of the total inventory is made by producers with more than 1,000 head. Moore said that Pennsylva nia may face the same situation someday not as quickly, but fewer producers will produce more numberofhogs. “I don’4 think you could say anything else,” he said.) Contract farming continues to grow in the state. The state ranks ninth in the country in total hog slaughter. Using various sources (includ ing the Pig Crop Report), Moore said that 1992 projections show that hog production should increase about 4 percent for 1993. But poultry could increase 6 per cent because producers have no incentive to cut back to cover cash costs. There will be 3-4 percent more total meat consumed this year than the record jmount con sumed last year, according to the economist Hog futures show no big In his talk, “Genetic Programs That Producers Need and Consumers Demand," Dr.~Lauren Christian, professor of animal science at lowa Stats University, told those attend ing that traits can be selected to bring about better profit and loss sheets for producers, if they make use pf existing technology and techniques. Intermediate winner was Adrienne Elkin, Marlon Cen ter, 15, daughter of Sam and Paula Elkin, who spoke about “Animal Rights, Animal Welfare.” increase in price. Feb. 11 projec tions for April show the price at 44.80. The June price stood at 50.25. For 1993, the hog situation “will be better than 1992,” said Moore, with feed prices lower. Better management and cheaper feed will contribute to profits for producers. NPPC Program Pork producers should be aware of the strides made by the Pork Quality Assurance Program, according to Beth Lautner, direc tor of swine health and pork safety for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) in Des Moines, lowa. Checkoff dollars are contri buting more to ensure the quality, safety, and wholesomeness of pro-1 duct to "consumers the goal of* making pork the meat of choice in the 21st Century. Lautner said that the public is(! receiving more “misinfbftpation * by the press” these days. “People get news now by headlines and sound bytes,” and consumers often believe what they perceive is real, regardless of the facts. She emphasized the importance of making sure herds are following the guides outlined by the assur ance program using drug pro ducts responsibly on the herd, good manufacturing practices, avoiding sulfa residues, good biosecurity, and other measures. Nationwide, 4,000 are enrolled (Turn to Page A2B)
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