Swine Production

Swine Production in the USTHE UNITED STATES is the world's third- largest pork producer after China and the EU. It is a major player in the world pork market, ranking seventh as an importer and second as an exporting country. U.S. hog farms have become larger. The US has 50,000 farms that fall in the categories up to 200 pigs but their share in the total number of pigs is below 1%. Places with 2,000 or more head accounted for 87 percent of the inventory. The number of farms with hogs has declined by over 70%, as hog enterprises have grown larger. Large operations that specialize in a single phase of production have replaced farrow-to-finish operations that performed all phases of production.

Factors that affect probability

• Number of pigs weaned per sow

– Minimum goal for producers should be 21-22 pigs per year for each breeding female

– Females should be bred and managed to produce a minimums of 2.3 litters during each 12 month period

• Feed efficiency– feed wastage should be considered and controlled

Types of Production

● Purebred ● Commercial– Feeder pig production– Buying and finishing feeder pigs – Complete sow and litter systems

• Swine production can also be classified according to the type of housing used– Pasture, combination pasture and low-investment housing, high-investment total confinement

Pasture Management

• Farrowing a smaller number of sows per year• Requires enough pasture to be able to rotate pasture to reduce disease and parasite problems• Farrowing only once or twice a year • Low investment in building

Confinement Management

● High level of mechanization to reduce labor requirements

● High investment in buildings and equipment

● Multiple farrowings per year with a large number of hogs raised

● High level of management ability needed

● High degree of control over feeding operation

● Better year-round working conditions

● Stringent disease and parasite control program

● Use of very little priced land

Purebred Production• Make up less than 1% of the total hogs raised• Produce foundation stock used in commercial production• Must be excellent managers• Higher investment in labor and record keeping • Must keep accurate records• Must spend a great deal of time advertising, showing and promoting swine breeds

Commercial Production

● Means used to produce most of the pork produced in the United States

● Use crossbreeding

– Often cross purebred boars onto crossbred sows

● Good management is necessary

Feeder Pig Production• Producespigsthataresoldtofeederswhofeedthemto market weights• Producer has a herd of breeding sows• Baby pigs are taken care of until they reach weaning weight• A high producing herd is required– An average of 14-16 pigs marketed per sow is required to break even

• Goal is to raise uniform groups of feeder pigs for sale• Health problems MUST be prevented or carefully treated• Generally requires only small investments• Farrowingneedstobescheduledtohaveasteady supply of feeder pigs for sale• Requires less total feed

Buying and Finishing Feeder Pigs• Operator buys feeder pigs and raises them to market weight• Lest investment and managerial ability• Possible to feed pigs on pasture or with limited facilities• Trend is towards investing in more confinement systems– Cost are higher with this operation

Buying and Finishing Feeder Pigs

● Requires higher investment to purchase pigs● Well adapted to producers who have large amounts of

grain for feeds

● Requires less labor

● Disadvantages– Health problems– Variation in market prices● It is a fairly high risk that there will be no profit made

Mating System

• Double mating – 12 and 24 hr intervals – Increased CR, Litter Size• Pen Mating/Pasture Breeding– 1 boar per 10 sows q 23-45 days (cont farrow) – Adv/Disdvantages• Hand Mating– Estrus sows taken to breeding pen (boar)

• AI (Artificial Insemination)

• 150 – 250 days (mean = 200 days) – Cross Breeds< Land< Yorks < Durocs

• Can be Delayed/Hastened by # of Factors

– Inbreeding, nutrition, confinement, lighting, boar exposure

• Earlier in Boar

Puberty

Where do they live?

There are multiple ways to keep us informed on where the wild hogs areThe conclusion that I had concluded with is that there are two main infrastructures, Hoop barns and regular barns (square barn)