Transcript Overview of the Swine Enterprise

Monogastric Production
A.S. 2175
Swine Section
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
• What do you think when you hear or see the word
•
•
•
•
•
“pig?”
Perhaps on occasion your mother indicated you
were as ‘dirty as a pig.’
Actually pigs are good housekeepers.
Maybe you have been accused of ‘eating like a
pig’ or ‘messy as a pig.’ What is the implication?
Pigs are nibblers
Pigs generally do a good job of eating a balanced
meal.
Other Thoughts About Pigs
• Stinks like a pig
• Nearly everyone agrees that pig poop does stink.
• Years ago the most common response to “pigs
stink” was they actually “smell like money.”
• Today due to environmental concerns “smells like
money” is not a satisfactory response to public
complaints regarding hog odor.
Fat as a pig
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dietary implications:
Pork is too fat
Pork is detrimental to good health
Pork is high in saturated fat
Pork is high in cholestrol
Pork causes trichinosis
Pork is nutritious
• Excellent source of protein, B-vitamins and
trace minerals
• “America is Leaning on Pork”
• “Pork the Other White Meat”
• Some feel today’s pork is actually too lean.
Pork is nutritious (continued)
• Percent saturated fat is similar to beef (34
vs 36%, respectively) and only slightly
higher than chicken (34 vs 28%,
respectively).
• Cholesterol content is similar to beef and
chicken: 72 vs. 73 and 76 mg, respectively.
• Trichinosis is only a problem with
uncooked pork or garbage-fed pigs.
Other thoughts about pigs
• Pigs are intelligent
• Pigs are curious
• Pigs and people have similarities
Zoological Scheme
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata (backbone)
• Class: Mammalia (warm blooded, hairy,
suckle their young)
• Order: Artiodactyla (even toed, hoofed)
• Family: Suidae (non-ruminant,
artiodactyla)
Zoological Scheme Continued
• Genus: Sus (swine)
• Species: Sus scrofa (wild hog of
continental Europe)
• Species: Sus vittatus (East India Pig)
Overview of the Swine
Enterprise
• Swine eat large amounts of grain (concentrates).
• Swine are efficient converters of feed to food (3.03.5:1.0)
• Swine provide quick returns on investment. The
swine enterprise can easily be expanded or
reduced in size because of the short generation
interval.
• Swine have the biological ability to average 2.5
litters per year.
Swine Enterprise Continued
• Swine have multiple births per farrowing
(prolific).
• Historically hogs have been a profitable farm
enterprise and have often been referred to as the
“mortgage lifter.”
• In addition to supplying a market for grain, swine
also provide a market for labor and capital.
• The average salvage value of breeding stock is
high compared to other farm livestock.
Swine Enterprise Continued
• Swine can utilize waste products, such as: bread,
•
•
•
•
cull potatoes, and poor quality grains.
Swine aid in maintaining soil fertility; however,
waste handling requires environmental
considerations.
Swine utilize little roughage.
Swine can damage the land.
Swine require good management (shelter,
protection from diseases and parasites, etc.).
Major Types of Swine Operations
• Commercial producer
– Farrow-to-finish (FTF)
– Feeder pig producer
(FPP)
– Feeder pig finisher
(FPF)
• Seedstock producer
– Purebred breeder
– Hybrid breeder
PIC, Genetipork,
Monsanto, etc.
What portion of swine producers
raise breeding animals?
• Seedstock producers constitute about 2-3%
of all swine operations.
How many pigs can one person
raise?
• Estimated labor per pig marketed and
average size of the swine operation per
FTE:
– FTF 2.0-2.5 hrs/pig; 75-125 sows
– FPP 1.0-1.5 hrs/pig; 125-150 sows
– FPF .75-1.0 hr/pig; 3,000-4,000
Systems of production
• Confinement
– Total
– Partial
• Pasture &/or Drylot