HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-03-17, Page 26CCENTRAL RENTAL &
SUPPLY LTD.
BUT Crawford — Manager
Industrial & Farm Supplies
Horse Tack & Supplies
Small Equipment & Tool Rental
Honda Engines
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26 Isaac St.
CLINTON, ON.
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482-7930
FARM & AUTO GLASS
• windshields
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Box 117 WINGHAM
357-1270
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GET READY FOR SPRING
P - -
Application
of pre-plant
incorporated
spray at the
same time
FERTILIZERS
• Terra-Gator® with air
spreader and impregnator
• Standard Mixes
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CHEMICALS
We have a large supply
on hand.
Protect your crops against
insects and weeds
CHEMICAL
APPLICATION UNIT
Available for P.P.I., Pre or
Post complete with
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SEEDS
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Let us build you a fertilizer and chemical program to meet your
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PHONE 523-4241 or come in and see us for your complete spring planting supplies
Howson & Howson Limited
Flour & Feed Millers, Complete Farm Supplies,
Grain Elevators
WINGHAM BLYTH CARGILL
A6. FARMING '93, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 1993.
Knowing how to raise a champion
A closer look
Maintaining Herd Health Status is important at Bodmin
Ltd., thus buyers are not permitted to enter the balls, but
rather view the swine through the glass enclosure. Here,
Production Manager Dale Patch, behind, confers with
owner, George Procter
By Bonnie Gropp
Raising champion swine at Bod-
min Farms is no accident. It takes
careful monitoring and record
keeping to ensure that the pigs bred
at the highly respected family oper-
ation are as close to perfection as
possible.
Bodmin Farms, located between
Belgrave and Brussels is a family
owned, multi-divisional operation
which has been in existence for 40
years. George Procter and his wife
Elizabeth head the Swine Division,
which produces purebred York-
shire, Landrace, Hampshire and
Duroc swine. They presently carry
about 32 boars and 350 sows.
Production Manager Dale Patch
says the business of swine breeding
is, in addition to being more lucra-
tive than commercial production,
more challenging. "You are select-
ing to achieve perfection. You are
looking at all the things that go into
producing an animal which is going
to be of interest to the commercial
producer."
Bodmin's has, if not achieved
that perfection, come close many
times as the multitudinous number
of ribbons will attest. As well as
having copped numerous awards
from the Royal Winter Fair, they
have, as well, bred three super
sires, a special status earned by
only five boars at the National Bar-
row Show in Austin, Minnesota.
"Bodmin approaches pig produc-
tion as if they are a commercial
producer," says Mr. Patch. "They
still work hard to produce as many
pigs to sell as possible. I think that
probably is not all that typical in
pure bred breeders.
Mr. Patch, who oversees the
breeding and servicing of the
nucleus herd sows, says Bodmin
Ltd. is a multiplier system. "The
nucleus herd supplies multipliers,
which produce cross-bred animals
used by commercial producers.
Sows are cross-bred, he says,
because they get high bred vigour
by crossing genes. What Mr. Patch
does through recording every detail
of each swine in the nucleus is to
"match mates and females to pro-
duce the type of animal the market-
place is demanding.
"The Gilt Selection List, he says,
"summarizes all measurable factors
affecting sow productivity, then
gives a rate for each litter, which
will project the probability of the
future productivity of the females
in a given litter. Records are kept of
how many piglets are born alive in
a litter and the ability of the sow to
milk well.
Sows are watched while farrow-
ing for temperament and are scored
from one to five, with five being
the highest. "If a sow gets a score
of two or less twice in a row it's
gone to market," said Mr. Patch.
Also, if the sow doesn't produce a
piglet every 30 minutes while far-
rowing, she is examined and a
stimulant may be used to speed up
the birthing process.
Age is also a factor to determin-
ing whether or not a female should
be culled. "As they will start pro-
ducing litters before they're a year
old, it's not uncommon to have the
top end at three to four years," said
Mr. Patch.
The males are evaluated with
more emphasis being placed on
their Estimated Breeding Value
(EBV score) than on productivity
rating, said Mr. Patch. The EBV is
evaluated by the province and com-
pares each pig to all others in its
peer group. "Through the Ontario
Swine Herd Improvement program
hard information is gathered
through testing, a process which
begins when the animal is about
eight weeks old," said Mr. Patch.
At that time they are weighed then
again when approaching 100 kilo-
grams. They are also probed, which
is essentially an ultra sound to mea-
sure thickness of fat.
When looking for breeding males
among the factors to be given con-
sideration is the history of the ani-
mal and the type. "We know from
history which lines have done the
best job in areas we're trying to
improve," said Mr. Patch.
Also, if the sow is desirable for
producing female replacements her
Productivity index will be the main
consideration whereas if she is to
be used to produce males as work-
ing boars then her EBV informa-
tion would be the higher
consideration.
Continued on A7