The Rural Voice, 1999-03, Page 35These people, and hundreds
cel of their friends, replaced
' their old spreader with a
HYDRA -SPREAD
4 r
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industry's best manure spreader.
See Your Local Hydra -Spread Dealer
OR Call N.E. Hagedorn & Sons Ltd.
1-800-707-7271
See us at the London Farm Show
March 10-12
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GREY -BRUCE CONSTRUCTION LTD.
R.R. 5 MILDMAY, ONTARIO
Phone (519) 367-2372
Fax (519) 367-2172
• Sandwich Walls •
• Concrete Foundations
• Bunker Silos •
• Crane Rental •
• Excavation •
Circular Tanks
LARRY HOFFARTH
(519) 364-4523
JIM POECHMAN
(519) 367-2910
Analysis Project which studied 14
farrow -to -finish hog operations.
The average farm size of the
farms was 150 sows and the farmers
worked 254 acres, 78 per cent of it
owned, 22 per cent of it rented or
sharecropped. The average crop mix
was made up of high moisture corn
(36 per cent), soybeans (35 per cent),
grain corn (18 per cent), and winter
wheat, (10 per cent).
Of the farmers surveyed, 17 per
cent operated as sole proprietorships,
42 per cent as spousal partnerships
and 25 per cent as family
corporations.
The average operator was 43 years
old and had nearly 22 years
experience raising hogs. Two thirds
had a high school education. In the
next five years, 75 per cent planned
to expand their hog enterprise, 17 per
cent planned to maintain the current
size and eight per cent planned to
leave thebusiness or reduce the size
of their operation.
The average farm surveyed had
2.16 litters per sow per year
and 11.2 pigs born per litter.
Of the 10.5 pigs born alive per litter,
9.1 were weaned. The average pig
was weaned at 26 days while
weighing 7.5 kg. Total days to
market for market hogs averaged
178. Hogs shipped at a weight of
105.9 kg and indexed 107.4. Three-
quarters of the farms reported using
some artificial insemination and 83
per cent reported scheduled vet visits.
Three quarters weighed all hogs
before shipment while 58 per cent
weighed rations on a regular basis
and 50 per cent reported using feed
tests.
The average net farm income on
the 14 farms was $60,234 before
income tax. Average ending assets
were $1,409,957 with ending
liabilities of $577,910 and ending
equity of $832,047, or 59 per cent.
Average return on assets was 7.7 per
cent with average return on equity of
7.8 per cent.
Of the farms surveyed, 83 per cent
used computers with financial
management for accounting purposes
being the largest use at 60 per cent
and 17 per cent doing budgeting on
computer.
Forty-two per cent of the farms
surveyed had completed an
Environmental Farm Plan.O
MARCH 1999 31