More on N1H1 (Swine Flu)

I had a few more thoughts this morning as I was reading this article on the swine flu outbreak and thinking about the comments from yesterdays post. As I said yesterday I thought it was only a matter of time before there was a connection made between confinement hog houses and the flu outbreak, regardless of whether or not the connection was real. And, I am not the least bit surprised to see that there are countries out there that have placed restrictions on American pork because of this outbreak.

High density corporate confinement agriculture is beginning to get a bit of a black eye around the world. All you have to do to realize this is take a look at all of the laws that are being put in place to change the way confinement farming is done. And, all of this is happening despite efforts of conventional agriculture groups to let the public know that their way is the best way for the livestock, the farmers, and the consumers.

But, there is one thing that is missing I believe. Sure the average consumer doesn't appreciate the smell and look of large confinement buildings. They don't like the thought of pigs being raised tightly packed together in pens. And, they are even willing to pass laws by a significant majority (sometimes) to restrict the use of crates and other things in farming.

What is missing though (I think) is the majority of people willing to pay a higher price for humanely or naturally raised pork. Until that happens they can pass all the laws they want and restrict confinement buildings in their areas, but confinement agriculture will not go away. And, each time there is an outbreak like this one (regardless if it is related to confinement buildings) the large confinement corporations will take the blame and pork prices will fall impacting farmers big and small.

At least those are my rambling thoughts this morning...

The Swine Flu

I figured it would just be a matter of time before I found an article looking into the link between the Swine Flu and confinement agriculture on the front page of one of the news websites. And, that time came this morning for FoxNews.com. In an article titled, "Swine Flu's Ground Zero? Residents Point to Farm," from the Associated Press we see the connection being made by a community of people somewhat close to Mexico City. Their contention is that they have been experiencing problems for a few months now because of hog confinement farm located about 5 miles north of their town.

The article is full of the townspeople blaming the farm, the farm saying that they were doing everything up to snuff, health experts saying that it could be the cause, and agricultural people saying that there are no signs of sick pigs in Mexico. Really the article gives no conclusion either way and just throws out the possibility that this is the case.

What really hit me though was this quote from the farm manager, "All of our pigs have been adequately vaccinated and they are all taken care of according to current sanitation rules." I do not know if the swine flu outbreak in Mexico was caused by confinement farms (I wouldn't be surprised if it was and I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't), but to me this statement says a lot about our culture.

We have become a culture that wants to do enough to get by and then no more. We no longer love to follow the spirit of the law, but are content to just stick to the letter of the law. Our business models very often factor in quality of life and benefits for the community, they only look at the bottom line.

And, when those ideas are applied to a farm with 15,000 pigs spread out between 18 confinement buildings I think we can have some problems. What happened to the idea that we wanted to do things as best as we could ... provide the best jobs ... the best work environment ... the best pigs ... and the best pork?

What is your take on the Swine Flu outbreak?

Picking Up Piggies...

This is a day that I have been waiting for, and today it is finally happening. Today I'm going to pick up a bred Hereford sow and 5 pigs from her first liter that are Berkshire crosses. I would call them feeder pigs (and I could have called them that earlier), but I believe the better word for them right now is shoats. I am excited to see what these pigs are like and how the finish, but I am most excited about the bred Hereford sow. She is bred to a Hereford boar so we will be getting some thoroughbred (I've been reading a lot of "Harris on the Pig" lately) pigs from her first liter. Who knows ... maybe some of the gilts could be the foundation of a pig herd on our farm.

But, picking up the pigs is the easy part. The real work was getting a new spot ready for the pigs and getting it all fenced in. Our garden was going to go where last falls pigs were raised (we will see if that actually works out) so we needed to find a new spot until our perimeter fence is put in place. I had to tear down the old pen, which was much easier because the ground is rather soft (pulling posts out was easy), and then set up the new fence. I'm all about working smarter, so I am using one side of the cattle lot as the new pig pen and then I only had to set up three sides.

Everything is ready now and before soccer practice this afternoon I will have some new pigs on the farm. Hopefully all will go well and I will have pictures tomorrow!

Are Pigs That Smart?

Here is a lighthearted post after yesterdays "thinker". I ran across this neat little video blog over at the Sustainable Farm website. It doesn't really have a ton of practical application other than proving the point that pigs are pretty smart and can take care of themselves when give the opportunity. Although I'm not quite ready to place the intelligence of a pig over myself...

For those of you with slow internet (like myself). This is a two-minute video that took about 4 or 5 minutes to load on my computer. I just paused it and then let it load.

Dirt Hog :: Chapter 1 Book Report

I know that I haven't finished "Grass-Fed Cattle" yet, but as I left for my soccer game yesterday afternoon I couldn't find that book (there was a LONG bus ride) so I grabbed "Dirt Hog" by Kelly Klober. I had heard good and not-as-good reviews of this book, but if the rest of it is anything like the first chapter (which basically serves as an introduction of the idea) I think it will be a good read. There was a lot of stuff to think about in this chapter, but a couple of quotes really made me think about life, farming, and of course pigs. Here are just a few of my thoughts...

The first thing that really had me thinking was this quote:

"He stepped out of his pickup to bring them closer and bid me to follow him. I started to decline and give the stand answer, which is that some harmful organisms might be carried in my clothes and/or shoes. His answer to my protests will surprise many; it was to get out there."

Here is what I thought. That doesn't surprise me at all, and yet it does surprise me. On one hand it doesn't surprise me because that seems just about right for a confinement farm based on quick growth and nothing else. It does surprise me because I would have never thought that would ever be a thing to worry about, I mean we are talking about pigs ... of which unfortunely, I know too much about being around. They should be able to handle people around them I would think. Mr. Klober often writes in this first chapter that the current confinement system is more about looking good and being easier for the farmer not about what is best for the pigs.

Another big thing that I got out of this chapter was encouragement. This book came out in 2007 and even though the hog market is in the dumps right now I see reason to be encouraged by hog raising, if you do it on the range. If you are rotating your pigs and not spending tons of money on buildings and infrastructure there is still a way for pigs to be the age old "mortgage lifter".

I think this was a great chapter and hopefully just a sign of things to come from the book. If I were to make a recommendation on the first chapter alone I would say it is a must read. But, we will wait and see what the rest of the book holds.

Hog Farmers Feeling the Pinch

It is beginning to feel like wherever I turn I am reminded of the importance of diversified farming and the problems associated with the current specialization the industrial farm model. My latest affirmation came from an article titled, "Hog price pain is different this time around," from the "Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman." My father-in-law dropped off quite a few issues when he stopped by this week and I found a lot of interesting articles. But, this one caught my eye right away.

As you may know, if you read this blog regularly or semi-regularly, we are planning on getting some hogs this summer. Maybe not the breeding stock that I would like to eventually get, but at least some feeder pigs that we can finish for ourselves and a customer or two. We just want to get a feel for pastured pigs and finishing them. But, whenever I talk to local farmers about getting pigs (or farming in general) I get the same response ... "There is no money in pigs (or farming for that matter)."

According to the article the pain that hog producers are feeling in this most recent price down swing is worse than they have felt in other down times (early 90's and late 90's). This is because there has been a huge shift in the hog farm structure even in just the last 10 years. In 1998 when prices dropped to the bottom it was tough on farmers, but they liquidated herds, tightened their belts, and made it through the short-lived down turn. The difference is that 10 years ago many of the hog farmers were at least slightly diversified and were growing their own corn for feed.

Now hog farmers are facing a double whammy even though they are again liquidating their herds. Most hog farmers have specialized to the point that they no longer grow their own feed and must buy in everything. This puts them in the position that they feel the pinch from low prices and from the high input costs (feed, fuel, and equipment).

I think the most interesting thing about this article article is the conclusion that it comes to. John Lawrence, who is a livestock economist at Iowa State University, concludes that there will be better times for hog farmers by the summer of 2009. Basically he notes that herds have been reduced and demand is seeing a slight up-tick, so things should get better eventually.

To me that shows a MAJOR flaw in the current agricultural mindset from the farm economists all the way to the farmers. If we look back throughout history and see that these price down-swings were not as tough on farmers when they were diversified as opposed to when they are specialized shouldn't we learn something? Maybe we should learn that farm diversification is the key?

Well, we should probably learn that, but then it wouldn't fit the "great" industrialized model we have now in agriculture! (That is my very sarcastic statement for the day)

Tamworth Hogs

Even though Dexter Cattle are on the front of my mind I have also been thinking about hogs quite a bit lately because they have a much quicker turnaround than cattle. Oh ... and I really like pork! While we won't be adding hogs to the farm until we actually make it to a farm I would like to do some research so I had an idea of what I would like. Because of my love of history I like the idea of using heritage breeds, but the reality of it is that heritage breeds are actually usually more hardy than our modern breeds. And, hardiness is a great trait when you want your animals to forage and live on the pasture. I will do that with my cattle and I would do that with my hogs.

So, today I was doing a little research on Tamworths. Tamworths are medium sized hogs that originated in Ireland (same as Dexters oddly enough). They provide lean meat which is a plus for health conscience people like me (gotta love high cholesterol) and are know for their good nature and excellent mothering abilities. Another thing that I found in my research is that the don't root up the ground as much as other breeds which makes them great pasture animals. I also came across some great information about their ease of farrowing on the pasture.

My family has raised their fair share of hogs, but it was always in a conventional set up and it was never very fun. I am really interested to learn about raising hogs on pasture ... who knows it might actually make it enjoyable!

Here are few links on Tamworths that in checked out today.

#1: Kingbird Farm is located in New York state and the have a bunch of different organic operations going on. The neat picture of the Tamworths going out to pasture is from their farm.

#2: Foot Steps Farm is located in Connecticut and they raise and sell grass fed pork, chickens, and turkey. They have some great information on some "Heritage Breeds".

#3: This Site is an overview of the Tamworth breed from Oklahoma State University. Just some good basic information.