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Raising Pigs on Pasture
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In a well-managed farrow-to-finish
pasture system, producers can net more than $10 per pig, according to Texas Tech
University. Photo by Jerry DeWitt |
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Farrowing on pasture. In recent years, hog farmers thought
sows needed to farrow in confinement to ensure piglet survival. However,
some criticize the system as promoting ulcers, sores and behaviors
such as bar biting. Instead, producers are raising sows outdoors to
allow them more space and access to fresh air and sunshine. Researchers
and farmers have found that, with small portable huts and good pasture,
they can drastically reduce the cost of production.
Outdoor pig production on a large scale
is gaining a hoof-hold in the southern High Plains because of the moderate
climate, relatively flat land and sparse population. In fact, the traditional
cattle country of the Texas panhandle is beginning to diversify into
hogs. Texas Tech University’s Sustainable
Pork Program began studying intensive outdoor pig production in
1993 and, in 1998, built a research farm dedicated to exploring profitable,
environmentally sound systems they call “animal-, environment-, worker-,
and community-friendly.”
The prototype, larger than the indoor-based
models, operates within a paddock system that requires about 100 acres
for every 300 sows – or three sows per acre. The 12-acre paddocks radiate
out from a central circular area, used for handling and observation,
and are demarcated by electric fence. The separate paddocks isolate
breeding, gestation, farrowing and pasture growth.
Texas Tech researchers are evaluating production costs, behavior and
environmental impacts, dust and microbe levels, and pork quality.
Thus far, they have found improved pig health, a better work environment,
less odor, less microbial activity, fewer regulatory problems and
lower start-up and operating costs. More specifically, they found
it costs $23.20 to raise a pig in “intensive outdoor” production
versus $31 in a typical confinement system. In that 1995 study,
they found a net profit of $10.39 per pig in the outdoor system.
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| The pasture-based system developed
at Texas Tech's Pork Industry Institute moves 600 sows through
paddocks developed for different reproductive stages. |
The institute’s director, John McGlone,
is sure sustainable pastured pork systems will take off once more producers
learn of their environmental benefits, lower start-up costs and marketing
opportunities. “Pigs are going to be bigger than cattle on the southern
Plains, and it could happen within the next 10 to 20 years,” said McGlone,
who has received lots of ink in newspapers and magazines in Texas and
beyond for his new production model.
A study conducted in Iowa by Mark Honeyman
and Arlie Penner of Iowa State University compared economic and production
data of indoor and outdoor herds. Results showed that fixed costs for
the outdoor herds were approximately $3 less per pig weaned than for
the indoor herds. “There is much variation between individual producers’
costs within a given system,” Honeyman said. “A lot of producers are
doing it for other reasons,” primarily the low start-up costs and improved
quality of life. In the Midwest, pasture farrowing is limited to spring,
summer and fall.
Large pasture farrowers have developed
time-saving systems, such as arranging huts in set patterns or creating
same-size paddocks so fencing and water lines can be pre-measured.
The main cost in a pasture hog system
is supplemental feed, with grain accounting for 60 to 70 percent of
the cost from farrow to finish. Lately, more hog producers are allowing
their pigs to graze directly on grain crops to cut down on the labor
and expense of harvesting row crops. ISU researchers studying the feasibility
of grazing sows on alfalfa found similar costs for raising sows in confinement
versus grazing alfalfa in a managed four-paddock rotational system.
The grazing animals were supplemented with 1.5 to 2 pounds of corn per
day. In the meantime, the alfalfa stand improved the soil.
Although an Iowa study found that outdoor
farrowing produced fewer piglets per litter, the lower costs of production
makes it more profitable than confinement. Honeyman said that fixed
costs were $3.33 less per pig weaned outdoors, 30 to 40 percent lower
overall than confinement systems. Production costs for a 250-pound outdoor
market hog were $4.88 less per pig, reflecting feed, labor, repairs,
utilities, health and fixed costs.
The environmental considerations, too,
make this an attractive system for hog producers. While grazing through
different paddocks, the hogs evenly distribute manure across the field.
Pastures can be seeded or natural, and including leguminous plants like
alfalfa in a rotation can improve nitrogen cycling and supply a nutritious
feed for pigs. One of the biggest benefits of raising pigs outside is
giving the animals access to mud, water and shade to cool themselves.
McGlone recommends that producers design and build wallows for them.
Hog producers use a variety of wood,
metal, or plastic huts to house their farrowing sows. Lined with bedding
– hay, corn cobs, cornstalks, straw or shredded newspaper – the huts
stay warm despite outdoor conditions. At Texas Tech, researchers use
English arc-style huts to decrease the likelihood of piglet crushing.
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| If farrowing hogs on pasture,
keep in mind: |
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When choosing a farrowing hut, seek portability
and an easy entrance and exit for the sow and litter. |
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Pasture systems require portable waterers and
feeders. |
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Do not use floors in farrowing huts and move
huts to fresh ground for each new litter. |
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Labor is more seasonal than in confinement systems,
so evaluate whether to raise one or two litters per sow each
year and time group farrowing around crop chores. |
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Most swine herds suffer from internal parasites
that may persist in soil. Develop a rigorous parasite control
program as part of a whole-herd health program. |
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Fencing options vary, although some veterans
recommend steel wire or electric fences that use rolls of netting
on fiberglass posts for greater visibility. |
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Thanks to the low start-up costs, pasture systems
create an ideal way for new hog producers to get started in
the industry. |
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Feeding hogs with pasture. New Hampton, Iowa, farmer Tom
Frantzen grazes his gestating sows in permanent paddocks in the
warm season. He plants corn alongside strips of pasture, partly
to provide shade or act as a windbreak. Sows about to farrow graze
on corn, oats and clover strips. Then, as cold approaches and the
sows are ready to give birth, Frantzen moves them into a straw-bedded
cattle shed. The sows over-winter in the shed, while the piglets
spend the rest of their lives there. Each spring, Frantzen re-seeds
his 30 half-acre paddocks and the system begins anew.
Jim and Adele Hayes raise poultry,
cattle, pigs and sheep on 200 acres of pasture in Warnerville, N.Y.
They believe their intensive pasture management has strengthened the
operation, both by adding biological diversity and creating marketing
options. During the grazing season, they rotate ruminants through a
series of paddocks to provide high quality forage and to allow the pasture
to re-grow before animals return to graze.
Careful attention to pasture conditions makes
the system work. “We have a ‘sacrifice’ pasture near the barn that’s
well fenced so it’s easy to maintain the animals in there,” Adele Hayes
says. “We allow that to get destroyed if we need to,” a better option,
she says, than damaging prime pasture acreage through overgrazing.
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