Dr. Fredrick Hofsaess
Professor of Animal Science
Delaware Valley College
For those of us who had mares
foal last spring, it is about time to
consider weaning the foals, if it
has not been done already.
While no one weaning practice
is best for all situations, a few ne
cessities exist. Strong, sound and
safe fences are a must. Sufficient
space is needed to separate the
mares from foals, ideally out of
sight and sound range. Foals
should be well accustomed to eat
ing grain and drinking water
from a bucket or waterer.
Traditionally, weaning is ac
complished by abruptly and com
pletely separating mares and
foals. Moving mares to a new lo
cation while confining foals to a
stall is perhaps the most common
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non-glyphesatc herbicide with a different mode of action, such as Bicep E MAGNUM? To get the Myt
university research on giyphosate weed resistance, visit www.wccdrcsistanc&com.
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If it works on one thing. It
y a
method. Mares should be out of
the foals’ range of sight and
sound. On a small facility, this
may involve moving the mares to
another farm for a week or two.
It is preferable to keep foals in fa
miliar surroundings to limit
stress and limit exposure to new
pathogens to which they may not
be immune.
Gradual weaning by separat
ing mares from foals for a portion
of the day (or night) prolongs the
ordeal and increases labor. Masti
tis may be a problem in these
mares and digestive upsets from
gorging may occur in the foals.
Weaning pairs of foals and
placing in stalls may appear de
sirable initially as they have a
“friend.” Whinnying may be less
and if the pair is compatible and
the stress of initial weaning may
be lessened.
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However, these foals will un
dergo another “weaning” when
eventually separated from one
another.
Fenceline weaning, where foals
are physically separated from the
mares by a solid fence line that
prohibits nursing, may provide a
method of weaning with less
stress on the foal. Since visual
and auditory contact still exists,
foals are less likely to exhibit
stress behavior.
With large numbers of mares,
some farms find it desirable to re
move a few mares from the herd
periodically and leave all foals to
gether in the pasture to which
they have become accustomed.
Usually one older and very calm
mare is left with the foals when
the final group of mares is re
moved.
There is some risk with using
this procedure. “Weaned” foals
might attempt to nurse on for
eign mares because their mother
has been removed.
Regardless of the method se
lected, every attempt should be
made to provide foals with sur
roundings and feed during wean
ing to which they have been ac
customed and thereby limit
stress.
t work on another.
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 30, 2002-A23
Michigan Appeals Court Grants
Stay On Pork Checkoff Riding
WASHINGTON, D.C, On Nov. 15, the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the 6th Circuit granted a request for stay which allows the pork
checkoff program to continue without interruption while the appeal is
pending.
An Oct. 25 decision by Judge Richard Enslen of the 6th District
Court in Michigan ruled that the Pork Promotion, Research and Con
sumer Information Act is unconstitutional and directed that the col
lection of assessments and operation of the National Pork Board cease
by Nov. 24,2002.
The stay postpones implementation of the Michigan decision and
the pork checkoff program will continue to operate and conduct oper
ations as normal while the Court of Appeals considers Judge Enslen’s
ruling. This stay was requested by the Department of Justice on behalf
ofUSDA.
In accordance with this court order, the pork promotion and re
search program will remain in effect and pork producers and import
ers must continue to pay pork checkoff assessments. Producers and
importers who fail to pay the assessment may be subject to late pay
ment charges and civil penalties.
“Since producers began the Pork Checkoff in the mid-1980s, pork
consumption has increased by 21 percent, research has been con
ducted on key producer issues and pork has become the fastest grow
ing meat category in America’s restaurants,” said Craig Christensen,
a pork producer from Ogden, lowa, and vice president of the National
Pork Board. “You bet we are glad to see this program continue. The
Pork Checkoff provides the tools we all need on our farm, but don’t
have time or resources to do individually.”
Christensen said: “The Pork. The Other White Meat advertising
campaign is just one example of what the Pork Checkoff has done to
help increase American consumers’ demand for pork.”
The Pork Checkoff also has played a major role in transforming the
United States from a net importer of pork to a net exporter, according
to Christensen. He noted the University of Mis
souri studies have shown that the export pro
gram alone has added more than $2 to the sale
price of hogs.
U.S. pork producers and importers pay $0.40
per $lOO of value when pigs are sold and when
pigs or pork products are brought into the Unit
ed States.
For the month of September 2002, pork check
off receipts, which are listed on the Website,
www.porkboard.org, totaled $4,054,976. Receipts
from the 50 states totaled $3,673,705 and from
importers, $380,271.
The National Pork Board retained $3,228,621
of the state collections and $825,354 was re
turned to the states. The checkoff funds from im
ports is retained by the national board.
Short Course Offered
On Sow Management
FINDLAY, Ohio A three-session short
course on sow reproductive management is being
offered to Ohio producers in December.
The Sow Management Short Course, broad
cast from the University of Missouri, will be host
ed at the Ohio State University Extension North
west District Office in Findlay, Ohio, on Dec. 5,
12 and 19 from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The fee for
the three-night short course is $2O per farm and
registration is limited to the first 20 participants.
Registration deadline is Nov. 28.
Short course topics include reproductive anat
omy and physiology of the sow, sow nutrition,
boar management considerations, gilt isolation
and acclimation, gilt development and sow re
productive management. Livestock and swine
specialists from Ohio State University, University
of Missouri and University of Illinois will be on
hand to present the information.
For more information on the Sow Manage
ment Short Course or to register, contact Pat
Rigby, Ohio Pork Industry Center, at (800)
398-7675, rigby.B@osu.edu or log on to http://
porkinfo.osu.edu.
Lancaster Farming
Check out our Website!
www.lancasterfarmina.com
“I hm mlsssd mort than 9,000 shots in my
career. I have lost almost 300 games.
On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to lake
the game-winning shot...and I mlssad.
And I have failed over and over and over again in
my Ilfs. And that is precisely...why I succeed.”
- Michael Jordan