This Boar Sires Champions, According To Strauss Brothers (Contfniwd (ram Pag* A 1) said Rick. "It just doesn’t work. _ You have to have a boar that’s The brothers brought the boar heavily muscled and lean." home, and immediatetybegan to improvements have been quick see the impact on the herd. The and sure, resulting in pigs that are brothers, who finish and sell about more consistent in leanness and 150 pigs a year using 10-12 sows, muscling than what the brothers began to mate him with their best had before. They pick selected gilts, usually Hampshire/Yorks or gilts from the better litters and use Duroc/York crosses. They use the them in the herd. According to the Duroc crosses because they grow brothers, the pigs they sell at the the fastest and are most efficient, market, mostly New Holland, have according to Rick. Yorks are used been fetching a good price, for their maternal and strong wean- gome bf the gilts have been ing ability, and provide a lot of saved, and the brothers have used heterosis, or hybrid vigor. After AI to breed them, but haven’t been obtaining the boar, pigs born alive pleased with the results. They increased to about 12, and litter intend to continue to use the boar size stabilized at about 10. for at least another two years. Rick said that consumers are As to why the brothers don’t demanding leanness from boar breeding as a separate hogs, and getting it At this year’s business, Rick said that because of KILE, the barrow champion car- nature of ,h e hog market cms weighted in at 219 pounds around here (too many contract with .6 backfat, a 7.7 square inches operations), breeders couldn’t of lomeye, and 58.81 percent lean survive, on rail. The third overall barrow, ••That’s what’s hurting the also sued by their boar, weighed purebred industry in Pennsylvani -241 pounds and had .7 backfat. a." he said with a 7.4 loineye and measured As for their champion boar, 56.72 percent lean on tail. they’ve obtained about 50 litters In 1992. according to Rick, the f rom him so far, and expect reserve crossbred on tail weighed another SO. 246 pounds with .7 backfat, a 7.4 “When you spend that kind of lomeye, and 60.54 percent lean, money, you hope maybe you can The goal of the Strauss farm is to w fo (KILE) one time to pay for the raise hogs for showing and selling boar," said Rick. “There’s a lot of some of their top animals to 4-H competition up there, there’s a lot members. They raise the rest for 0 f other good hogs.” their finish operation, and also sell Ri C k said that beginning this individual hogs for butchering, year, they’re going to twice a year (Recently, they butchered a bar- farrowing, once in April and then row from their first inbred litter, in September-October. The April which measured over a 9-inch pigs will be used for local fairs and loineye.) . the better barrows for KILE. The To do this, selecting the right ones in the fall will be finished, crossbred sow and mating it to the Ri c k said he learns a lot about prize boar is key. breeding stock by reading a lot of “You can’t take an average- r magazines, but mostly by attend muscled boar and use him on an fog KILE, average-muscled sow and get a pig “If you see what the pigs look that’s really heavy muscled and like on foot, and then you see them lean for what the packer wants," on rail, and you see a lot of pigs HFSREPUCMGSOYBEUHEUUDCOfiN TO imOVE HIS PROfTT... SHOULD YOU? This dairyman just took a delivery of brewers wet grain from the Miracle Feeds divi sion of Furst-McNess. When he put a sharp pencil to it, he found that each ton of Miracle brewers wet grains could replace 230 pounds of 48 percent soybean meal (0 $250/ton) and 195 pounds of shelled com (0 $9O/ton) making brewers wet grain worth over $35.00/ton in his ration. With the average price of brewers wet grains running at approximately $25.00-$27.00/ton (depending on distance from foe brew ery) this dairyman has realized that brewers wet grains is an excellent buy versus soybean meal and shelled com. And, foe dairyman found Miracle brewers wet grain also enhanced his cows' pro duction since it is an excellent source of bypass protein and helps make up for some poor quality forage he is forced to feed this year. It also improved foe palatability of his total ration. Brewers wet grains also contains 9% fat making it an excellent source for this important nutrient. Say you're already feeding brewers grains? Maybe you should consider switching to Miracle, where you can get free computerized ration balancing plus forage testing to get foe most out of your feeding program. Just call toll-free 800-888-0230. MIRACLE FEEDS, INC W Batavia, NY 14020 Stive, left, and Rick Strauat finish about ISO hogs a ysar, but also rails many show hogs on thsir farm. Photo by Andy Andrmn like that over a period of time, you have a lot better idea of what you have," be said. Rick said by raising your own hogs, you learn a lot more. The ASA Pleased With Approval Of Ink Act ST. LOUIS, Mb. —The Ameri can Soybean Association (ASA) is pleased die Senate passed the Vegetable Ink Printing Act of 1993 by unanimous consent, and is hopeful the House of Represen tatives will act on the legislation next year. “U.S. soybean farmers have worked many months for this vic tory in the Senate,” said ASA president and South Dakota soy bean farmer Larry Diedrich. “We appreciate the leadership of Sena- brothers have been showing pigs since 1974. "Anybody that’s been around pigs for 20 years, raising your own pigs, you should have learned something," he said. tots Christopher Bond (R-MO) and Paul Wellstonc (D-MN) who served as original co-sponsors of this legislation and helped to get it passed so swiftly in die Senate.” The bill requires federal gov ernment agencies and their con tractors to use the maximum amount of vegetable oil ink that is technologically feasible, provided printing costs are cost-competitive with printing using petroleum based inks. Lawmakers consulted with ASA to determine minimum percentages of vegetable oil Mayer Snow Plows Plow Like They’re HOT! Operate Like They’re COOL! And Get The Job Done FAST! Get One Now. You’ll Be On EASY STREET! We Can Fit Any Truck Designed For Plowing! ANNVILLE BODY CO. _ _ 470 Palmyra Ballgrove Road Annvllto, Labanon County, PA 17003 liRFfUr 717-867-4631 WsßsasfmSNOW PLOWS 1-800-233-0520 Lie—Hr ftmUnfl, Smutty, Dtewnbir 4, IIW-A25 "That’s the show where you learn something." said Mrs. Strauss. “Anybody who wants to learn about hogs, that’s the place to __ it go- required for use in various print ing applications. "We are pleased Senators have recognized the value of soy ink, and look forward to similar action by the House of Representatives after Congress returns in Janu ary,” Diedrich said. “Soy ink is easier on the environment and has several advantages over petroleum-based inks in the print ing process. And expanding soyoil use helps improve soybean pro ducer profits.”
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers