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Times-Advocate, 1996-02-07, Page 14Page 14 Times -Advocate, February 7, 1996 FARM 1J1P1: At the January 31 Centralia Swine Update at Kirkton are from the left, Dr. Kirk Clark of Purdue University, Dr. Doug Bach, Dr. Gaylan Josephson and Dr. Emest Sanford. Denfield Livestock Sales The market at Denfield Livestock met a good de- mand at barely steady prices with the quality well fed cattle bringing a premium. Cows sold active at higher prices. Pigs sold strong, veal steady and stockers under pressure. Mike Hartman, Dashwood sold 10 head average wt. 1209 ay. price 89.50 sales to 1.00 for a steer purchased by Dendekker and 96.25 purchased by Dendekker. Don Eedy and Mark Vanderploeg, Denfield sold 20 heifers ay. wt. 1269, ay. price 86.60 to a high sales of 95 purchased by M.G.I. Wilma Farms, Watford sold a holstein cow 1700 lbs. at 53. Bob Turner, Varna sold a limo bull, 2100 Ib. at 65.75. 88-92 sales to 1.00 80-88 72-80 88-92 sales to 95. 80-85 60-75 Choice steers Good steers low yielding medium steers Choice exotic cross heifers Good heifers Common and medium ire•. -:+is• ,.s, russets livestock sales BRUSSELS - Sales at Brussels Livestock for the week ending February 1, 1996. Fed cattle 369 Cows 125 Veal calves 198 Sheep & Goats Light run Stockers 692 Fed steers and heifers sold under pressure at prices $2.00 lower. The cows sold actively at prices 52.00 to $4.00 higher. A better quality offering of veal calves traded $3.00 to $4.00 higher, with pressure on the heavy and plain calves. On Friday calves sold steady with the yearlings selling $2.00 to $3.00 lower. There were 247 fed steers on offer selling from 80.00 to 84.00 to the high of 95.50. A RWF steer consigned by Cunningham Farms, Lucan, weighing 1440 lbs. sold for 95.50 and was purchased by Norwich Packers, with their total offering of 35 steers averaging 1458 lbs. selling from the overall price of 81.61. Fourteen steers consigned by Howard Martin, Brussels, averaging 1407 lbs. sold for an overall price of 82.87 to the top of 88.75. Twelve steers consigned by Gerald Rathwell, Brucefield, averaging 1431 lbs. sold for an average price of 76.73 to the high of 85.25. Thirteen steers consigned by Schmidt Brook Farms, Woodstock, averaging 1448 lbs. sold for an average price of 80.61 with sales to 84.75. - Thirty-eight steers consigned by Mac Willits, Wingham, averaging 1472 lbs. sold for the overall price of 79.37, to the top of 84.50. Thirty-two steers consigned by Norm Stewart, Mount Forest, averaging 1538 lbs. sold for an average price of 79.25 with sales to 83.25. Eight charlois steers consigned by Bill Van Dyke, Lucknow, averaging 1401 lbs. sold for an overall price of 79.29, to the high of 82.00. Seven steers consigned by Noah Weppler, Ayton, averaging 1535 lbs. sold for an average price of 76.64, with sales to 82.00. There were 116 fed heifers on offer selling from 80.00 to 84.00 to the high of 90.00. Two red heifers consigned by Dave Bender, Palmerston, averaging 1115 lbs. sold for 90.00 and were purchased by Dominion Meat Packers. Fourteen heifers consigned by Mux -Lea Farms, Woodstock, averaging 1293 lbs. sold for an average price of 81.43, to the high of 87.00. A Lim. heifer consigned by Jon Miller, Ayton, weighing 1345 lbs. sold for 85.75. Eight heifers consigned by Ahren Bros. Farms. Mitchell, averaging 1283 lbs. sold for the overall price of 80.92,,to the top of 84.00. A black heifer consigned by Ross Henry, Goderich, weighing 1260 lbs. sold for 83.25. There were 125 cows on offer selling from 32.00 to 52.00 to the high of 62.25. A Lim. cow consigned by John Winger, Palmerston, weighing 1355 lbs. sold for 62.25. A Hol. cow consigned by Terpstra Farms, Brussels, weighing 1450 lbs. sold for 57.50. • A Sim. cow consigned by Francis Moran, Williamsford, weighing 1560 lbs. sold for 56.6'. A holstein cow consigned by Amold Lamb, Goderich weighing 1415 lbs. sold for 55.50. A light run of bulls sold from 55.00 to 62.00. There were 198 veal on offer selling. Hol. 62.00 to 72.00, beef 72.00 to 92.00 with sales to 93.00. Heavy and plain 50.00 to 58.00. A white veal consigned by Ducharme Farms Ltd., Zurich, weighing 740 lbs. sold for 93.00. A veal consigned by Don Smith, Mount Forest, weighing 640 lbs. sold for 86.00. Seven veal consigned by Pioneer Creek Farms, Ayton, averaging 585 lbs. sold for an average price of 79.39, to the high of 85.00. Stockers Steers: 400 - 499 lbs. 62.50 to 109.00 500 - 599 64.50 to 87.50 600 - 699 63.50 to 83.00 700 - 799 70.00 to 80.50 800 - 899 67.50 to 94.50 900 a over 78.00 to 81.00 Heifers: 300 - 399 lbs. 51.50 to 85.50 400 - 499 53.00 to 95.00 500 - 599 61.00 to 81.00 600 - 699 58.50 to 73.50 700 - 799 52.50 to 71.50 800 & over 6830 to 79.00 Annual meeting held by Huron County Beef Producers CLINTON - The Huron County Beef Producers' Association held its annual meeting on Jan. 17 at the Canadian Legion Hall. The meeting, which included a dinner, featured guest speaker Ke- vin Stewart, host of Family Farmer. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food reports were given by Bob Humphries, agricultural repre- sentative and Ralph Macartney, manager -beef, sheep and goat in Guelph. Huron/Bruce MP Paul Steckle and Huron Bruce MPP Helen Johns also attended the meeting. Disease-free versus germ -free pigs By Ross Haugh During the January 31, 15th annual Centralia Swine Research Update, Dr. Tim Blackwell, a veterinarian from OMAFRA in Fergus discussed the subject of dis- ease-free versus germ -free pigs. He started out by saying, " The introduction of segre- gated weaning technology (SEW) to produce healthier pigs for market purposes has become popular in cer- tain parts of North America. On some farms, this pro- cess of moving the pigs off-site at less than 21 days of age has resulted in significant improvements in feed ef- ficiency, days to market and mortality. The improvements after adopting SEW technology are not consistent across all farms. However when greater efficiency is achieved, it is thought to be the result of decreased immune stim- ulation in growing pigs. The immune system is critical to ani- mal survival but requires a large amount of energy and protein when operating at full throttle. This is one rea- son why sick pigs lose so much weight. Weight loss in sick pigs is generally much greater than would be expected simply due to decreased feed consumption. The immune system is taking energy and protein out of the pig to battle the infection. SEW practices are designed to greatly reduce stimu- lation to the immune system. Pigs are removed from their mothers while they are still protected by the im- munity they received in the colostrum and are placed on raised decks which have been washed, disinfected and left to dry. They are fed medicated feed and often medicated water for the first several days or weeks. The result is an immune system which is on idle while the weaned pig invests the majority of energy and protein in the diet to produce lean tissue. When working properly this is an ideal situation for commer- cial pork production. Are these pigs disease-free? Any group of pigs that is not sick is disease-free by my definition. Are these pigs germ -free or specific pathogen free (SPF) ? Germ free or specific pathogen free means not carrying the bug or bugs which cause a disease. Early weaning of pigs together with all-in/all-out production methods greatly reduces the opportunity of germs carried by pigs to multiply and cause disease. However the germs may be there. Under the right ,circumstances, for example a breakdown in ventilation, 'they can begin to multiply. They may multiply enough to start a disease break in what were previously dis- ease-free (but not germ -free) pigs. One aspect of SEW systems confuses me. There are usually very strict biosecurity measures enforced re- garding movement of people from the sow heeds, often considered pathogen positive and the nursery barns, of- ten treated as pathogen -free. People moving from the sow herd to the nursery barns often must wait 24 or 48 hours and then shower and completely change clothes before entering the nur-'Z, sery. This is because there is a concern that pig patho- gens could be carried on the clothing, skin, hair, etc. of people entering the nursery. However in many of these systems, 1000 pigs move weekly from the "dirty" sow herds to the "clean" nur- series and not a single pig waits 24, hours or takes a shower. If a person can , carry a pig germ on their skin, why can't ► a pig. I suggest that these pigs do camp.; germs but in such low numbers that they I are unlikely to cause a disease outbreak. A' It takes a critical number of bugs to start an infection. Most of the time the number of bugs transmitted is too low and the pigs are too healthy to succumb to the low number of germs carried onto the farm. These bugs may eventually die out if they do not find a pig to call home. They may also sit quietly inside the pig waiting for some stressor to allow them to multiply and start a problem. So barns can be disease-free but not necessar- ily germ -free. Is this difference important? Not if you are raising ' commercial hogs. If the immune system stays in low i gear, the pig's ability to lay down lean tissue should op- erate at maximum efficiency regardless of whether there are a few pig germs sitting quietly in the building 1' or not. However, SEW pigs should not be confused with SPF pigs. When SPF pigs are stressed, they do not break out with disease since the germs needed to pro- r duce infection are not present. Therefore operators of 1 SEW systems must pay more attention to detail to avoid disease breaks than SPF producers. The distinction between disease-free swine and pathogen -free swine has become somewhat blurred with the advent of SEW systems. It is important to un- derstand that swine pathogens do not by their mere ex- istence in a group of pigs, guarantee that clinical dis- ease will occur. Properly operating SEW systems minimize disease and immune stimulation to maximize growth potential. This is the purpose for which they were designed. They may produce pathogen -free pigs but it should never be assumed that a pig weaned at some magical age from an infected farm is by nature of its early weaning truly pathogen -free." "Is the difference important? Not if you are raising commercial hogs." Mixof swine herds hfr future predicted ..iv,-: Ross'Haugh.. )1 2.,frorru700.000 to fewer than .2,0Q0 nce 1985. Of the 70 per cent that KIRKTON - "Swine producers It si of the 21st century will be a mix of mhave left the industry since 1980, 85 per cent had inventories of few - medium to large herds, although i producers with small efficient er than 100 pigs. Most of the remainder of the pro - herds may produce pigs for a prof- it for as long as they choose." That was the prediction of Dr. Kirk Clark of the University of Purdue at the 15th annual Central- ia Swine Research Update held January 31 at the Kirk - ton -Woodham Commu- nity Centre. He continued, "A mar- ket of nearly 50 million new pigs should be availa- ble to the US producer of 2005 AD. About 30 million pig spaces in the market will become available from the out migration of more producers with small herds or retiring producers. Another 20 million pig spaces will come from annual market growth estimated to be between 1.5 and 2 per cent. Thus, for those who aspire to become pork pro- ducers of the 21st century, there is ample room for growth and expan- sion as long as that growth meets the requirements mentioned above. Producers with small herds can remain viable if they keep costs down, maintain market access, and improve genetics. Midwest pro- ducers can remain viable if they recapitalize and rebuild. The annual value of pork pro- duction in the United States is about 11 billion dollars. The annu- al value of the pork industry in the US was 27 billion dollars in 1994. About 78 per cent of swine pro- duction is located in the midwest. During the past 10 years, four per cent of swine production has moved out of this region predomi- nantly to the southeast. Thus, swine production in the US is a large stable industry based essen- tially in the midwest. The number of swine producers has diminished ducers that have left the industry had inventory of less than 500 pigs. Because animal production has either remained the same or in- creased in the past 15 years, these data indicate that producers with small herds are leav- ing the industry and are being replaced by producers with larger herds." Clark asked, "What will be required for a producer to remain viable in swine produc- tion in the 21st century? He said, "Firstly the cost of pro- duction will have to be $40 per hundred, weight or less. The aver- age carcass will have to have at least 55 per cent lean. Variation in carcasses will have to be minimal and the producer will have to be as- sured a place to market the number and quality of pigs he/she has available at any given time." Clark concluded, "Probably most important to remain viable in the pork industry will be whether a producer can rear pigs in an envi- ronmentally neutral manner." The recent program was orga- nized by Dr. Doug Bach and the morning session chairman was Dr. Gaylan Josephson. Both were for- merly involved with the Centralia Veterinary College. Bach is now in charge of veterinary technology at Ridgetown College of Agricultural technology and Josephson at the Veterinary College in Guelph. Bach said this year's attendance of 233 southwestern Ontario pork producers was the best in the 15 year history of the event. Atten- dance was 166 last year and 130 in 1994. Kirkton-Woodham Farmers Club Thursday Feb. 22,1:30 p.m. Klrkton-Woodham Community Centre All members welcome. Bring your neighbour along. Refreshments provided. Farm fatalities down GUELPH - The Farm Safety As- sociation announced recently that farm work-related fatalities were down in 1995 by 21 percent. Nine, teen people were killed on Ontario farms in the course of farm work. There were 24 fatalities recorded in 1994 and 24 fatalities in 1993. Of the 19 individuals killed, two were children under the age of 15. The number of deaths of children on Ontario farms has been declin- ing over the last three years. In 1995, the Farm Safety Association launched a major Rural Child Safety Project, introducing new characters, Bernie and the Cat, to promote safety with rural children and their families. Approximately 100 agricultural commodity groups, agribusinesses and other interested parties became partners in the program. The program was promoted at major agricultural functions around the province as well as at Rural Child Safety Day - camps held throughout the year. Of the 19 deaths, three occurred to employees on agricultural op- erations reporting to the Workers' Compensation Board. Prior to dug* fataliti%.�Ing, there - .had not been an'etnployee killed on an Ontario agricultural horti- cultural or landscape operation for 21 months. Approximately 23,000 agricultural operations employing some 150,000 season- al and full-time employees report to the Workers' Compensation Board. These 23,000 firms com- prise the membership of the Farm Safety Association. The remain- ing 16 deaths occurred on family farming operations, not under the jurisdiction of the Farm Safety Association. The Association has continued to develop programs for family farming operations with funding from the Ontario Ministry of Ag- riculture, Food and Rural Affairs, in an attempt to improve health and safety awareness and reduce accidents and injuries on these operations. Easyto get et attached fvr ;, _.,.. . , i . *if?* r, 0 Ot. 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