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The Rural Voice, 1987-12, Page 58M qtt a a e e veer ow Crete CONCRETE HOG FEEDERS ae ea Feeders O/S rS H • Ideal for wet feed • For high moisture corn, chopped & pelleted feed • Large variety available for weaner & finishing pigs • Round concrete base feeders steel top. 5-8-11 bushel • Solid & open concrete penning made to your specifications • Available in 2', 3', 4', 5' and 6' feeders • 4' Hog Trough Supercrete Before you buy, give us atry! co t's1 STUBBE FARM PRODUCTS FAR M R.R. 2, Harley, Ontario NOE 1E0 Call Burgessville Above: 4' long feeder • OD C, 519-424-2183 Guaranteed for High Moisture Corn p U The gifts of Christmas: toe f May each be yours in measure Exeter 235-2121 Liagmat, FARM EQUIPMENT LTD. Serving You For 55 Years ■ Dashwood 237-3242 56 THE RURAL VOICE ADVICE PORK RECORDS USE THEM WELL • From time to time I ask myself, why do pig producers keep production rec- ords? My reason for asking this ques- tion is that I see producers do interesting things with them. One interesting thing that producers do with their records is nothing. I have been in too many operations that could bury me in sow cards, but when I asked if any of this information was used to highlight strengths and weaknesses in the operation, I got blank stares. Perhaps this is extension's fault. Many producers responded: you just told us to keep the records, you didn't tell us we were supposed to do anything with them. I hope we aren't perpetuat- ing this feeling with the Ontario Pork Industry Improvement Plan (OPIIP). If the only reason you are keeping records is that someone suggested it was a good idea and you aren't doing any- thing with them, you have two choices. One is quit, because you're wasting your time. Two is to move on to record analysis and make records one of the driving forces in the success of the operation. The other interesting thing produc- ers do with their production records is compare them with a whole host of other production records. In many instances the pastime of "never mind what I'm doing, what's the other guy doing" can be a favourite but fatal one. Let me give you an example of some potential problems. Compare your pro- duction records to the following: PRODUCTION STANDARDS Pigs per sow per year MLC Top 10% (10-18 day weaning) 25.0 J. Gadd 27.8 Queen Elizabeth II 24.8 Archbishop of Canterbury Undisclosed (but remember, the Lord is on his side) (Source: J. Gadd, National Hog Fanner,1983) Now because the need to achieve high performance has been imprinted on your brain by advisors and the media, (cont'd)