Farm News
03-24-06
Boosting the bottom line
By DARCY MAULSBY- Farm News staff
PAULLINA — When niche pork producer Dan Wilson of Paullina experienced
excessive death losses in his finishing hoops and sows weren’t always bred back
successfully, he knew he needed to take action. After implementing a system of
intensive herd health diagnostics and recordkeeping, he and his veterinarian
discovered that salmonella and mycoplasma pneumonia were triggering
problems in the finishers, while the timing of vaccinations wasn’t quite right for
the sows.
“We were in a treatment mode, but now we’re in a prevention mode,”î said
Wilson, who runs a 160-sow farrow-to-finish swine operation and markets about
2,000 antibiotic-free pigs per year to Niman Ranch. “We’ve saved a lot of money
by cutting death losses in our hoops down to around 3 percent.Ӕ
Wilson is now participating in the production cost management portion of the
Niche Pork Herd Health and Production Cost Management Project coordinated
by Practical Farmers of Iowa. More niche producers are encouraged to
participate in the three-part project, which is designed to help farmers improve
their swine management to lower costs and boost profits. Current participants’
operations range from 20 to 300 sows.
“The marketplace is looking for antibiotic free and certified organic hogs in
quantities that aren’t currently available,î” said PFI’s Gary Huber. “It can be
challenging, however, to raise pigs without antibiotics. This project was created
to help farmers produce more healthy pigs in a cost-effective way.î”
Starting with the basics
The three parts of Niche Pork Herd Health and Production Cost Management
Project include:
Production cost management. This helps niche pork farmers use records to lower
their costs and increase profits. Participating farms in Iowa, Nebraska or other
states adjacent to Iowa need to be certified organic, antibiotic-free or Berkshire.
Each farm’s data will be confidential. Farmer-to-farmer meetings will be held to
review results and discuss solutions.
’’About 60 participating producers are currently using records as a diagnostic tool
to understand productivity issues and learn how they stack up to their peers on
feed costs, labor costs, pigs per sow per year, weaning averages and more,î said
Huber, who notes that project leaders would like to have 80 participants in this
phase of the project.
Spreadsheets have been adjusted for niche producers, and project leaders will
help participating producers set up their record system, said Dave Stender, an
Iowa State University (ISU) Extension swine specialist. So far, project leaders
are finding significant variations in the cost of production. ’’When you’re a small
operation, it’s pretty easy to get expenses out of line with the number of pigs
you’re raising,î Stender said. ’’We want to help producers find ways to cut feed
usage and other production costs without sacrificing the end result.î
Routine herd health diagnostics. The second part of the project will use ISU’s
Veterinary Diagnostic Lab to learn what causes pigs to get sick. Participating
farms need to be certified organic or antibiotic-free. Farmers will cover the costs
of tests, but submission fees will be waived. Farms can be located anywhere in
the United States.
’’First you have to know the diseases you’ve got, and then you need to know
when exposure is happening so you can intervene at the right time,î said Dr. Kurt
Van Hulzen with the Algona-based Suidae Health and Production Veterinary
Clinic. ’’We’re trying to tie in with niche producers’ local vets as much as possible
so they are part of the intervention strategy. We’re also trying to reeducate our
profession in this type of swine production.î
Early results have revealed that a majority of participating niche operations are
PRRS negative. Ileitis is common, however, and some cases of salmonella have
been detected. E. coli, scours and coccidia have also shown up in piglets.
’’Solving many of these herd health challenges revolves around using the right
vaccination at the right time,î Van Hulzen said.
Intensive herd health diagnostics. The third part of the project will work with a
subset of certified organic or antibiotic-free farms (project leaders have set a goal
of 30 farms) to conduct intensive diagnostic tests. Private vets will collect
samples for testing at ISU. Then ISU will develop strategies to solve problems.
Private vets will share results and strategies with farmers, plus help implement
strategies and monitor outcomes. The project will pay more than 80 percent of
costs related to intensive herd health diagnostics. Farms can be in Iowa,
Nebraska or other states adjacent to Iowa.
Niche producers often wean at six week or older, Van Hulzen noted, and
veterinarians don’t know a lot about how diseases are manifesting themselves
while pigs are still on the sow. ’’Should we manage the diseases through the
sow, or should we use other interventions? We also need to consider maternal
antibody interference issues. Do maternal antibodies last longer because pigs
are nursing six weeks instead of three?î
Even if you’re not interested in participating in the intensive diagnostic work,
consider the routine testing component, Huber said. If you have a disease
outbreak, ask your vet to send a sample to the ISU lab and flag it with a special
sticker from PFI so your lab submission fee will be waived. ’’Routine testing will
help us build a database of disease pressures on niche farms,î Huber noted.
Learn more
You can participate in one, two or all three parts of the project. If you’re involved
in the intensive diagnostic component, you must also participate in the records
portion so your farm’s performance changes can be tracked. ’’There are a lot of
resources available to help take your operation to the next level, and we
encourage you to get involved,î Van Hulzen said.
For materials and applications forms, or more information, contact Gary Huber,
Practical Farmers of Iowa, Box 349, Ames, IA, 50010, 515-232-5661 (x103), or
gary@practicalfarmers.org.