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Profits
are not a Pipe Dream
You can make $30/head. Sounds like a pipe dream with cash
corn over $6.55/bu. in Omaha and corn futures bumping $7/bu. on the July
contract. Add in cash soybean meal over $370, basis Illinois and meal
futures near $390 and the mountain just gets higher. But Friday’s
futures markets would allow producers whose production parameters match
those of average Iowa farrow-to-finish operations (Figure 1;according to
Shane Ellis and colleagues at Iowa State University’s [ISU] Department
of Economics) to lock in profits of $29.82/head for pigs to be sold in
May.
Granted, it’s not exactly $30 and it’s only for one month, but my
point is that things are certainly not all gloom and doom. Friday’s
corn, soybean and Lean Hogs (LH) futures prices would give ISU’s
average farrow-to-finish operation an average profit of $7.20/head for
2011. Again, it’s not the $22 and $25/head received in 2004 and 2005,
but it is a far cry from the losses of $22 and $26/head in 2008 and
2009. And, it is much closer to last year’s $10.29/head than we have
been since last summer!
I don’t like the cost situation we are in any better than any of you
do. I still think it is contrived and unfair. But as I have written in
the past, it is what it is and professionals must deal with the world as
it is instead of as they would like it to be.
FULL ARTICLE
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Track AI
Technician Performance for Clues to Improve Farrowing Rate
We selected 22 farms from Swine Management Services (SMS)
database that recorded the technician responsible for inseminating each
breeding female, the weekday and time of day the insemination occurred
(military time, hour 01:00 to 24:00).
We understand that some farms record time of mating simply by AM or PM,
and that some sow record programs are limited in the amount of detail
they will accept. However, if we are to drill down to identify the
problems that plague some breeding herds, this type of detailed,
individual information is required.
At SMS, we have developed the In-Depth Analysis Report and the Breeding
Technician Report, which takes detailed data and turns it into charts
and graphs that track farrowing rate by AI technician, by hour of the
day inseminated, by day of the week inseminated, by parity, by
wean-to-first-service interval, by number of matings, by boar semen lot,
etc.
FULL ARTICLE
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Wholesale
Pork Reporting Committee Formed
USDA announced the establishment of the Wholesale Pork
Reporting Negotiated Rulemaking Committee. The committee is to develop
proposed language to amend the Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR)
regulations to implement mandatory pork price reporting. In negotiated
rulemaking, a proposed rule is developed by a committee composed of
representatives of government and representatives of affected parties.
Members on the committee will be represented by the American Meat
Institute; Chicago Mercantile Exchange; Food Marketing Institute;
Grocery Manufacturers Association; Livestock Marketing Information
Center; National Farmers Union; National Livestock Producers
association; National Meat Association; National Pork Producers Council;
North American Meat Processors Association, American Association of Meat
Processors and Southeastern Meat Association (one combined
representative for all three meat processor organizations); United Food
and Commercial Workers International Union and, USDA Agricultural
Marketing Service. The first meeting will be held Feb. 8-10, 2011, at
the Sheraton Clayton Plaza Hotel, St. Louis, MO. For more information,
contact Michael Lynch, USDA, at Michael.Lynch@ams.usda.gov.
FULL ARTICLE
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NPPC
Urges Early Release of CRP Acres
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is urging
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to release early and without
penalty non-environmentally sensitive farm acres currently enrolled in
the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), so those acres can be placed
into crop production to combat the growing possibility of feed-grain
shortages that could jeopardize animal care.
NPPC’s letter sent last week also asked the agency to take “all
other possible steps to open tight grain markets and provide access to
USDA emergency programs to ensure that U.S. pork producers can feed the
animals in their care.”
NPPC pointed out that while last year’s corn crop was among the four
largest ever recorded, USDA projects corn carryover supplies for
approximately 20 days and for soybeans of only 13 days. “Both are
historic lows and will cause unprecedented levels of risk, prompt
speculation in the marketplace and increase the likelihood of localized
corn shortages,” the organization said. “The result will be, in
addition to extreme price volatility, an economic environment in which
U.S. pork producers may simply be unable to procure the grain necessary
to feed the animals in their care.”
FULL ARTICLE
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Feb. 8-9, 2011: Ohio Pork Congress, Crown
Plaza North, Columbus, OH; for more information contact: www.ohiopork.org.
Feb. 8 and 15, 2011: Employee Management Workshop
for Agricultural Operations (three-part workshop), Amana Colonies
Clarion Inn, Williamsburg, IA; for more information contact: Russ
Euken, extension livestock specialist; by phone (641) 923-2856 or
e-mail: reuken@iastate.edu or
Mark Storlie, swine field specialist by phone (563) 425-3331 or e-mail:
mstorlie@iastate.edu.
Feb. 9-10, 2011: Missouri Pork Expo, “Beyond the
Barn,” Holiday Inn Select Columbia, MO for more information contact:
Diane Slater, director of communications, Missouri Pork Association by
phone (573) 445-8375, e-mail diane@mopork.com or go online http://www.mopork.com/Events_MissouriPorkExpo.asp.
Feb. 15-16, 2011: Illinois Pork Expo, Peoria Civic
Center Peoria, IL; for more information contact: Illinois Pork
Producers Association by phone (217) 529-3100 or www.ilpork.com.
FULL ARTICLE
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BLUEPRINT
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MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS
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U.S. pork producers must be able to compete in foreign
markets without restrictive tariffs or sanitary barriers to trade.
NPPC’s mission of gaining and expanding access to markets through free
trade agreements is paramount to the continued success of the U.S. pork
industry — Click here
to learn more.
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POSTERS
SUBSCRIBER TOOLS
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How can Compost-A-Mats clear up scouring litters?
- Upon identifying scouring piglets, place a Compost-A-Mat
directly under a heat lamp in the farrowing crate.
- This will create a clean and warm area for piglets to dry up and
help overall farrowing house performance.
- The Compost-A-Mat should remain in the crate for seven days or
until piglets have stopped scouring.
- At this point, the Compost-A-Mat will contain fecal material and
can be broken down for feedback.
For more info click here
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