Iowa Farmer Today
06-02-06
Hogs win heart of former vet
By Jeff DeYoung, Iowa Farmer Today
INWOOD -- Gene Ver Steeg found out years ago his heart is in the hog
business.
The Lyon County producer is also a veterinarian and was juggling his practice
with a burgeoning hog business. Eventually, Ver Steeg says he had to make
choice.
“I guess the hogs won out.”
Veterinary medicine’s loss is the hog industry’s gain. Besides continuing to raise
hogs in Northwest Iowa, he also is president of the Iowa Pork Producers
Association (IPPA) and is active at the national level.
Ver Steeg and his son, Mike, are involved in a farrow-to-finish operation.
His son owns the sows and sells him weaned pigs, which he finishes as part of
their multi-site production system. They also grow corn and soybeans.
The Ver Steegs also make use of the growing ethanol industry in their area,
feeding dry distillers grains solubles (DDGS) to their hogs. Finishing rations are
about 10 percent DDGS.
Keeping an eye on production costs is just one issue facing hog producers, Ver
Steeg says, as the market moves toward a downturn in the price cycle.
“It’s inevitable that as prices go up, they are going to go down as well,” he notes.
“We just have to be ready for it.”
Other issues sit on the horizon that may not be so easy for producers to control.
One is the animal welfare issue, Ver Steeg says.
“It’s illegal to keep sows in gestation crates in Florida, and you just never know if
that could work its way to the Midwest,” he says.
“I believe producers take good care of their animals, because they know if you
don’t take care of them, you aren’t going to make any money.”
Ver Steeg says the pork industry has been working with packers, retailers and
the restaurant industry to develop a program ensuring animal welfare remains a
priority in the industry.
Any program, he says, would use many of the requirements included in the
Swine Welfare Assistance Program (SWAP) and the Pork Quality Assurance
(PQA) program.
Ver Steeg serves on a farm bill task force for the National Pork Producers
Council (NPPC) as the industry seeks to have input in the upcoming legislation.
He says animal welfare could be addressed in the next farm bill, as well as
environmental regulations.
“We aren’t so much worried about what’s in it as what might not be in it,” Ver
Steeg says. “We want to make sure there is nothing in there that might prove
detrimental to raising hogs.”
Ver Steeg also serves on the IPPA research committee, which has helped fund a
study at Iowa State University to develop a vaccine for porcine
reproductive and respiratory syndrome.
Another issue facing pork producers, he says, is environmental regulations. Ver
Steeg believes some regulations are harmful to the state’s livestock industry.
“It’s a constant struggle to educate some people about the job we do in
protecting the environment and taking care of our operations,” he says. “We’re
kind of outnumbered, it seems, when it comes to environmental issues.
“Thirty years ago, I raised hogs outside and when it rained, the manure would run
out of the feedlot. Today, all of it stays under the buildings until we take it and
inject it into the soil.
“It just seems that it’s difficult for some people to understand that this may be
better.”
Ver Steeg says it’s also important for Iowa and U.S. producers to look outside the
box when it comes to pork production. He recently returned from a trip to
Australia and says U.S. pork enjoys a good reputation worldwide.
“Australia only raises enough pork to supply two-thirds of their needs, so they
need to import pork. Right now, they only export boneless pork, and that has to
be cooked before it can cross state lines,” he says.
“The importers would love to have more U.S. pork. We’ve been very fortunate to
have an excellent export market for several years, and we need to work to make
sure that continues.”
Ver Steeg says most of the promotion centers around U.S. pork, rather than Iowa
pork specifically.
“Developing a brand costs a lot of money, but I would like to see us promote
Iowa pork a little more,” he says. “We have an outstanding product.”
Ver Steeg says the pork industry also needs to work with young people to
develop an interest in pork production.
“We have the Youth Ambassador Program in Iowa, and it has been very widely
accepted and shows us there are young people who want to be involved in the
pork industry,” he says.
Getting started, Ver Steeg adds, is often easier said than done.
“It used to be you could go out and buy 20 sows, farrow them, and have 200 pigs
to sell. You could get started on that,” he says.
“Today, what are you going to do with those 200 finished pigs? Unless you can
include them as part of a larger load, you are going to have a hard time finding a
buyer for them.
“Anything we can do to encourage our young producers is going to help our
industry.”