A24-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 15,2001
Reproduction Focus Of LanChester
Pork Council’s Annual Meeting
(Continued from Page A 1)
certified 29 participants and cer
tified two participants for the
first time.
Certification, which Pennsyl
vania packers and processors re
quire, must be renewed every
other year.
The organization represents
the pork industry in Lancaster
and Chester counties.
Three directors serving on the
board have agreed to serve an
other term. Scott Bailey, Eph
rata, Nelson Beam, Elverson,
and Kurt Good, Denver, will
serve another 2-year term on the
board of directors. Bailey will
also serve as a state delegate on
the Pennsylvania Pork Produc
ers Council along with Scott
Augsburger, Lancaster, and
Brent Hershey, Marietta.
Each year the organization
elects three representatives to
the nine-member board.
Sow Reproduction
The forum featured Roy
Kirkwood, from the department
of large animal clinical sciences
at Michigan State University.
Kirkwood, a former resident of
the United Kingdom and west
ern Canada, educated the audi
ence about the reproductive
Southern & Eastern
Direct Feeder Pigs
Columbia, S.C.
Decmber 7,2001
Report Supplied by USDA
Southern And Eastern US Direct FOB
Feeder Pig Report: Weekly summary of
prices on a FOB farm to farm basis.
Week ended Dec. 7; Receipts: 36,436;
last week 41,840. Compared to last
week: early weaned pigs and 40 and 50
pound feeder pigs steady to 1.00 per
head higher, 45 pounders up 4.00.
Demand good for light offerings. Re
ceipts include 28,611 pigs shipped to
lowa and Central US. Estimated 50-54%
Lean Value.
EARLY WEANED PIGS: 10 Lbs
Basis; Lot size 250 or less: 91l head,
28.00-34.00, wtd. avg. 30.83; lot size 250-
750: 3,970 head, 27.57-41.00, wtd. avg.
33.31; lot size 750 or more: 7,140 head,
31.38-37.00, wtd. 33.76. Total Compos
ite: 12,021 head, 27.57-41.00, wtd. avg.
33.39.
FEEDER PIGS, 40 Pounds Basis: Lot
size 750 or more; 1,315 head, 44.88.
FEEDER PIGS, 45 Pounds Basis: Lot
National Weekly
Lamb Report
Des Moines, lowa
December 11,2001
Report Supplied By USDA
NATIONAL WEEKLY
LAMB REPORT: Prior
week slaughtered lamb
count for week ending
Monday, Dec. 10 FOR
WARD CONTRACTS; Do
mestic 668; Imported 0.
FORMULA ARRANGE
MENTS: Domestic 44,428.
Imported 0.
PACKER OWNED
SHEEP SLAUGHTERED:
Week ending Monday, Dec.
10 - DOMESTIC: 1,771
head; carcass weight range
62-88 lbs, avg. 69 lbs; dress
ing percentage range 49.2-
49.2%, avg. 49.2%; Choice
or better grade 99.3%.
FORMULA PUR
CHASES; DOMESTIC:
(Price per cwt.) 1,763 head -
24-65 lbs, avg. 60.8 lbs,
108.43-127.13, wtd. avg.
management of sows and gilts.
Artificial insemination, said
Kirkwood, is not a cut-and
dried practice. “You can work
with a recipe but you will im
prove performance if you make
the breeding program specific
for your herd,” he said.
Seventy percent of the volume
that is injected during AI, along
with 25 percent of the sperm, is
lost in backflow within two and
a half hours of insemination.
Practices to minimize backflow
would be to stimulate the sow by
having a boar present during the
process.
“Her uterine contractions will
move the fluid to her uterus and
fallopian tubes, said Kirkwood,
who also mentioned that pro
ducers should properly place the
catheter and not force the semen
up the tube, which may cause re
sistance and push the fluid out
as backflow.
After insemination, use mask
ing tape to secure the catheter.
Leaving the catheter in for ap
proximately 10 minutes will
minimize backflow since there is
a reservoir of the semen dose in
front of the catheter. The sows
should not be moved too soon
and should not be upset, which
may stimulate a hormone which
blocks successful fertilization.
lot size 250-750; 600 head, 51.00; lot size
750 or more; 14,690 head, 52.11-55.16,
wtd. avg. 53.51. Total Composite: 15,290
head, 51.00-55.16, wtd. avg. 53.41.
FEEDER PIGS, 50 Pounds Basis: Lot
size 250-750: 1,110 head, 45.20-48.00,
wtd. avg. 46.59; lot size 750 or more:
6,700 head, 41.00-47.00, wtd. avg. 42.82.
Total Composite; 7,810 head, 41.00-
48.00, wtd. avg. 43.35.
Prices are quoted on a per head basis
‘picked up‘ at the sellers farm in NC, SC,
GA, TN, KY, AL, MS, AR, MO, TX, OK,
KS, IN, OH, MI, CO, UT, and WY.
Prices do not include freight or broker
fees. Many lots of 40-60 weight pigs sold
with a .25-.40 per pound slide. Also,
some lots of early weaned pigs have a
1.00 per pound sliding value adjusted
from a 10 pound basis. Early wean pigs
under 19 days old. Estimated lean value
is projected to base slaughter weights
with normal confinement feeding condi
tions. This report does not cover any
trades which include profit/loss share
agreements or any other form of shared
or retained ownership agreements.
TUESDAY, DEC. 18, 2001
and Pesticide Meetings
Morning - 9:30 AM
Gilson Martin - Farm For Profit
Todd Reece - Insta-Gro Plant Food
Free Lunch For Those Who Attend
Morning Session
Afternoon - 12:30 PM
Jeff Stoltzfus - Extension Service
John Flanagan - Syngenta
Brian Loucks - Timac
Evening - 7:00-9:00 PM
Jeff Stoltzfus - Extension Service
John Flanagan - Syngenta
Brian Loucks - Timac
2 Core & 2 Category Points Will Be Given
For Afternoon & Evening Sessions
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Estrus Detection
Fertility depends op the accu
racy of estrus detection and
timing of insemination during
estrus, according to Kirkwood.
The presence of a boar will make
it easier to detect estrus and
even prolong the duration of
estrus.
If a boar is present all the
time, however, such as hogs al
lowed fenceline contact, the abil
ity to detect estrus is reduced.
Kirkwood recommends a one
meter separation.
For optimal fertilization rate,
and sometimes even a larger
litter size, insemination should
occur in the 24-hour window
before ovulation, recommended
Kirkwood.
“If thatis true, multiple in*
seminations can take place at in
tervals of 24 hours during estrus
and do not need to take place at
8-16-hour intervals,” he said.
“If you’ve got good semen, once
every 24 hours is enough.”
Another benefit to inseminat
ing before ovulation is that the
uterus is better able to dispose of
contamination from the Al pro
cess before, rather than after,
ovulation.
In a herd, 10-15 percent of the
hogs may be early ovulators, or
“single service sows” that have
a shorter estrus period and ovu
late soon after the onset of
estrus. On the other hand, 20-25
percent will be late ovulators
with a longer time of estrus.
Ovulation normally occurs
two thirds of the way through
estrus, independent of the dura
tion of estrus.
“If you’ve got a good idea that
the sow is going to be a late ovu
lator, you can breed that after
noon and even the next
morning. If she’s an early ovula
tor, do it right away, not even in
two hours while you have your
coffee,” he said.
Gilt Management
“The greatest economic bene
fit is gained by breeding gilts
Speakers at this week’s LanChester Pork Council meet
ing included Dr. Roy Kirkwood, Michigan State University,
and Charles Francisco, Intervet USA representative.
sooner rather than later, but
only if lifetime production is not
compromised,” said Kirkwood.
Producers have two options to
stimulate earlier puberty in gilts:
boar contact and exogenous hor
mones.
To maximize the “boar
effect” the gilt must be old
enough to respond, approxi
mately 155-165 days. In addi
tion, the boar must be old
enough, 10 or more months, to
be effective. However “you don’t
need your oldest, smelliest boar
to do the job,” Kirkwood said.
Full physical contact is more
effective than fenceline contact,
said Kirkwood, who recom
mended 15 minutes one to two
times a day. “Greater frequency
brings shorter days to puberty.”
However gilts should be
housed at least one meter away
from the boars for more accu
rate estrus detection.
Ideally, move the gilts to the
boar, he said, but if that is not an
option moving the boar to the
gilts is better than having no
contact, he said.
The stimulus boar should be
rotated, in case the boar is a low
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444444 4 44 4 4
libido boar, so the boar effect is
realized.
Additionally, “If the boar
effect does not work, consider
using hormones, a tool in the
control of reproduction. They
are not a substitute for good
management,” he said.
“It’s commonly believed that
maximum production is gained
by delaying gilt breeding until
the second or third estrus be
cause it’s supposed to increase
litter size and longevity,” said
Kirkwood.
“My problem is that when.
you look at any science, there’s
absolutely no justification for*
this. There is not a lot of differ
ence of the effect of age at the
first service on subsequent per
formance,” he said.
“Delaying breeding from the
first to second estrus may get .7
of a pig but at the cost of 21 non
productive days, and it’s the op
portunity cost that’s going to get
you.”
The cost of delayed breeding
depends on the method of calcu
lation but will be about 1.5 pigs
per skipped cycle.
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