WHAT'S HAPPENING
TO PENNSYLVANIA’S
PUREBRED INDUSTRY?
The most recent Pennsylvania
Performance Boar Test sale
occurred February 17. To say that
demand was soft at that event is an
understatement. But the sobering
fact is that the two sales previous to
this one weren’t much better.
Now our state’s purebred indus
try is in a soul-searching mode.
What has happened to a once
vigorous demand? And more
importantly, what does the future
hold?
Retrospection
Pennsylvania, like most of the
nation, began its transition to con
finement production in the early
19705. It was estimated in 1975
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Pork Prose
by
Kenneth B. Kephart
Penn State Extension Swine Specialist
that the largest operation in the
commonwealth was about 500
sows. Contract production formal
ly commenced in 1977 when the
Pennfield Corporation started pro
duction in a new 440-sow farrow -
to-finish unit in Berks County.
During the 1980 s, operations of
400 or more sows sprang up tjke
mushrooms, mostly with contracts
attached. These units were filled
with crossbred gilts from breeding
companies such as Dekalb, PIC,
Babcock, and Pro-Genetics. At
this time, independent 100-300
sow operations fell by the wayside,
leaving many purebred producers
hungry for customers.
In 1988. two dynamic decades
for Pennsylvania’s hog producers
were capped off by yet another
change when Hatfield Quality
Meats instituted its grading
program.
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Why the Rush
To Company Genetics?
The question is, why the msh to
company genetics? The answer is,
because there has been a rush to
contract production. This has led
to a demand for large numbers of
gilts in short periods of time. With
few exceptions, the breeding com
panies were the only parties in a
position to meet the demand.
There are other, less significant
reasons. First, with Hatfield’s
demand for lean hogs and distaste
for fat ones, producers were quick
ly screaming for lean genetics.
PIC, because of its reputation for
high-value carcasses, saw interest
for its product skyrocket (at least in
Pennsylvania).
Secondly, following the rules
written by the breeding company,
producers could buy into a struc
tured breeding program. This
enabled the commercial producer
to maximize heterosis, and, hope
fully, productivity.
Was the product worth the
purchase price? That’s the $20,000
question, and one to which I have
no answer. There is little doubt that
productivity of breeding company
seedstock, by any measure, can be
met or exceeded with a sound inde
pendent breeding program begin
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ning with purebred gilts and boors.
But comparing the success of
breeding programs from one farm
or one company to another is spe
culation, especially when one con
siders differences in management
and overhead costs.
Third, some have suggested that
breeding companies produce a
healthier animal. Hardly. They
have their health problems just like
everyone else.
Concentrate On
What You
Can Control
Those in the purebred business
have little impact on trends in con
tract production. But there are still
important issues that the seeds tock
producer can control:
• Quality. As a seedstock pro
ducer, you and only you are
responsible for the quality of pro
duct you produce.
* Service. Personally knowing
your customers and responding to
their concerns are just two impor
tant components of providing ser
vice. This is an area that, honestly,
a seedstock company should not
even be able to compete.
■ Records. Easier said than
done. But every animal on the
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place has associated with it
hackfat at 230 pounds, days to 230
pounds, number bom Uve in its
contemporary litter, and 21-day
litter weight of its contemporary
litter. These measures, when writ
ten down and summarized, form
the basis for genetic improvement
The STAGES program uses
records like these to not only docu
ment performance in an individu
al, but more importantly, predict
performance in the next genera
tion. Remember that most records
on company breeding stock, if
known, are kept secret So here is
another opportunity to give you an
edge on the competition.
■ Selling the best of a contem
porary group. Every customer
should, at the very least have the
satisfaction of knowing that his or
her purchase represents the best of
a contemporary group.
•Progress. Can you demons
trate to anyone that asks that
you’ve made progress? Let’s look
at how, as a group, we’ve faired in
Pennsylvania.
First the trend in fat depth and
loin eye area in barrows shown at
the Keystone International Lives
tock Exposition (KILE).
(Turn to Pag* Cl 2)