Swine

  1. Keep Biosecure This Summer

    Keep Biosecure This Summer
    County fair, and livestock show season is underway.  These are great events that celebrate agriculture and our rural communities.  We at Pipestone encourage everyone to attend and support these events. The presence of swine at these events poses a biosecurity risk for all of us that work on and visit hog farms.  Both PRRSV and PEDV are present in swine...
  2. Pig of the Week

    Pig of the Week
    The pig of the week this week is 5 weeks old.  He lives in a barn with 1200 pigs!  In his pen there are 120 other pigs that are all the same age as him.  His nose is full of feed because I pulled him away from his breakfast for a quick picture!
  3. Adoptive Mothers & the Piglets They Save

    Adoptive Mothers & the Piglets They Save
    In an earlier post (10,000ft View), I alluded to the fact that piglets are sometimes fostered from their birth mother, and adopted by another mom on the farm.  In this post, I will have the opportunity to share more about what that means, why it is necessary, and who these awesome sows are that adopt piglets in need.   Ideally...
  4. Time Savers in the Hog World

    Time Savers in the Hog World
    By: Dr. Cameron Schmitt Cutting corners in any aspect of life/work typically has implications at later points in time.  Similarly in pork production, we see “planting disease” in the spring and  “harvesting disease” in the fall.  As your schedule gets tight this planting season, here are some tips to help you be more time efficient in the barn, rather than...
  5. Market Review

    Market Review
    By: Brian Stevens, President of Big Stone Marketing We have concluded our first quarter of 2015 and I have to say there wasn’t much to write home about as it relates to our pork markets.  Experts predicted that we’d see pork supplies grow 1%, but the reality was our supplies soared and caught everyone off guard.  Federally Inspected Slaughter for the...
  6. Pig of the Week: I MUSTACHE you a question!

    Pig of the Week: I MUSTACHE you a question!
    This adorable pig has a spot on his nose that looks oddly similar to....well, a mustache! Don't let his mustache fool you!  He's only four weeks old.  By this age, he has transitioned from his mother's milk to eating a diet closer to that of an adult.
  7. The Hospital Pen

    The Hospital Pen
    On the day piglets are brought to the nursery facility they need to adapt to all sorts of changes.  Some piglets adapt very quickly.  Some piglets do not.  Those that struggle with the transition may have come to the nursery small or skinny.  They may be sick, or have an injury.  There are many reasons why a piglet may not...
  8. Pig of the Week: Spots

    Pig of the Week: Spots
    This pig of the week this week is spotted! He is about 6 days old and is still living with his mother and siblings. At this age he has already gotten his “piglet shots”.
  9. Time to Expand Your Operation?

    Time to Expand Your Operation?
    By: Hal Schmidt Farming is a business, and part of any business is analyzing when and if you should expand your operation.  This is a question that is constantly circling in the back of farmers minds – to buy that piece of land or not, to expand your herd or wait until markets are better.  I’m not writing this article...
  10. Optimizing Your Manure's Value

    Optimizing Your Manure's Value
    By: Marty Rost The average person won’t think twice about what lies beneath a hog barn, but anyone in agriculture see’s dollar signs.  As we all know, manure is a valuable fertilizer for crops.  In fact, many hog producers got into the business for that very reason – to save money on commercial fertilizers.  Although I don’t think manure should...

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