The Rural Voice, 1991-10, Page 29as soon as their cheques reach them
through the mail.
All the hogs are killed before the
weekend — no hold overs! There is
little problem with P.S.E. because of
minimal stress, as the hogs are rested
for two hours before killing.
All hogs are either bought privately
or through buying stations, and are
scheduled one week in advance as
much as possible. They own eight
buying stations through North and
South Carolina, with each station
employing one man. The commission
on buying is 50 to 60 cents a hog. All
hog transportation from the buying
stations is supplied by the plant.
They like to have the hogs weigh
220 to 260 lbs. and lean, because the
weight is important for loin size,
which they prefer to have between 12
and 16 lbs. It takes a hog weighing
230 to 235 lbs. live to get this size
loin.
The hogs are mostly from PIC or
Dekalb genetics. The plant is non-
union, and each person is on incentive
pay and earns wages according to
years of service and experience. The
floor manager couldn't or wouldn't
say what the average hourly wage
was, but after talking for a while, it
seemed to be somewhere between $8
and $10 U.S. per hour. He told us that
their turnover of employees was very
small.
Hog Slat Inc.
Hog Slat Inc. is a family owned
business that specializes in the pro-
duction of swine equipment and builds
complete swine units by contract.
Most interesting was the $300 Proctor
sow farrowing crate (the bottom side
arms move out as the sow lies down).
Also interesting was a stainless steel
feeder which bolted together and was
shipped in a six inch flat box (cost —
around $200 for a four -foot long
feeder).
One of their biggest sellers was a
woven wire slat of about 1/4" gauge
(also $5 to $6 per square foot). The
most popular concrete slat was four
feet by eight feet by five inches thick,
and had 7/8" grooves at six inch
centres. The top of the slat was hand
trowelled This slat was priced at
around $2 per square foot. The wages
were around $6.50 per hour plus
incentives.
Round Table Discussion
On the Thursday evening, the
group was invited to a dinner and
round table discussion by the North
Carolina Pork Producers' Association
Board of Directors. Brief introductions
preceded the meal. The size of our
host's farm was almost overwhelming.
Some of us throughout the dinner
were asking ourselves, "Did that man
really say he finishes 75,000 pigs
annually?"
A more formal discussion followed
the meal. John Lichti explained the
Canadian grading grid and the
tripartite stabilization program.
"Once the Americans
understood the tripartite
stabilization program,
tension subsided."
Tension was evident amongst our
American counterparts as the details
of the stabilization program were
discussed. However, this tension
subsided after thorough disclosure of
all of the program details. Again, like
in many previous encounters, it was
apparent that the American pork pro-
ducer does not have a clear under-
standing of the Canadian tripartite
stabilization program.
Many other topics were discussed
and compared openly. They were:
• the down -sizing of the Ontario pork
industry (in contrast to the expanding
industry in North Carolina);
• the dollar received per pig;
• health care and tax systems;
• bylaw restrictions;
• animal welfarists/rightists' influence;
• comparisons of input costs and crop
yields;
• genetics — they were impressed
with the leanness and efficiency of the
Canadian hog.
Our hosts were very surprised at
how much money is taken off in the
form of fees, check -offs, etc. from
each Ontario hog sold.
The question was asked "Do you
feel threatened by the size of Murphy
Farms?" There was not a consensus
— some felt threatened, others did
not. Some concerns expressed were:
• Murphy deals mostly with liquid
assets;
• their size commands large discounts
when purchasing inputs;
• 66 producers the size of Murphy
could supply the whole U.S.;
• there is a constant fear of new units
being put next door to existing oper-
ations (the fear of pseudo rabies);
• the pork industry is becoming totally
integrated (like the American poultry
industry — where there is no open
market for birds);
• Murphy Farms, in order to attract
qualified labour, offers university
scholarships to potential employees.
It was concluded that the pork
industries on both sides of the border
have similar concerns and problems.
The Canadian Pork Council and the
National Pork Producers' Council in
the U.S. face similar challenges and
have reciprocal goals for the future.
However, the Ontario contingent on
this tour could not help but be in awe
of the size, wealth, confidence, and
unlimited potential of the pork
industry in North Carolina.
Allen McCoy
At 8:30 a.m. the next day, we
arrived at M 4 R Livestock, owned by
Allen McCoy. The farm produces F1,
maternal line gilts. Mr. McCoy has
360 sows using Large White or York-
shire, crossing them with Landrace
boars. He had totally confined farrow-
ing and nursery rooms, with a 21 -day
weaning period. He said he had
$300,000 invested in this unit on 38
acres.
He was supplying four herds with
F1 gilts at $200 each, and used some
Al. The barns were all on a flush
system. One man and two women
looked after this operation. They were
using a lawn sprinkler to spread the
effluent from the lagoon. This was a
top quality operation with good hogs.
Mr. McCoy also runs an additional
800 sow commercial operation.
Roy Wood Farms
Roy farms with his brother and one
son on a 350 sow farrow -to -finish
commercial operation.
OCTOBER 1991 25