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Once
upon a time farmers throughout the county raised hogs on their farms in
combination with a variety of crops and other livestock. Pigs were marketed
locally, through auctions, and buying stations to processors and pork was
common in the meals of most.
Then
the demand for pork began to fall out of concern for fat and cholesterol in
the diet and it’s effects on health. Loss of consumer demand and declining
real prices to producers in combination with other economic forces in
agricultural, put pig production into a phenomenal transition. Rapid changes
in genetic improvement, production technology, industry structure, and
product development and marketing occurred. Demand for park stabilized and
improved with lower fat learner pork, more convenient products, competitive
cost and added industry promotion. Additionally, new market opportunities
developed to export pork to other countries and the industry once again
grew.
Through this transition a much different more allinged and consolidated
industry developed. Large integrated companies replaced many independent
producers raising hogs as a diversification on farms. Contract production
and packer agreement selling become common. Like other industries, today hog
production is being done by far less people and firms than in the past. They
are on average much larger operations and highly specialized in the breeding
and farrowing of piglets or growing and finishing of feeders.
Large
specialized farms typically utilize indoor production confinement systems;
including climate control, automation for feeding, and flush type handling
of waste as a liquid. Employees are hired to manage and operate the
enterprise. Manure is held in pits and complying ponds, until the nutrients
can be recycled for crop production by applying to land. While most of the
pork in the market is produced by such systems, pigs continue to be raised
under a variety of methods and alternatives including low input facilities
and outdoor lots often for local and niche markets.
Accompanying these changes has been marked advances in swine productivity
and efficiency as measured by litter size, litters per year, feed
conversion, days to market, and percent lean yields contributing to reduced
cost to consumers. There are also new and emerging issues relating to animal
health, disease, and antibiotic use; ethical care, housing, and welfare;
environmental regulation and compliance; employee recruitment, training, and
retention; community relations and support; and the business structures to
access capital, align to markets, and obtain financing. A bottom line to the
story is though such dramatic industry transition, consumers today have
available high quality pork in my alternatives and options at very good
value.
Where
do opportunities in
North Dakota
fit in this big picture story? There are currently few
North Dakota farmers producing hogs and the states annual production is
low leaving the state as a very sparsely populated, low hog density region,
with considerable grain production. Currently there are some but few large
specialized production units, mostly sow farms for producing piglets to ship
to out of state feeders. Our isolation provides opportunities for making a
high health status for breeding farms producing seedstock and feeder stock
for other operations. We also have a pork processor in state and a grower
marketing alliance supplying them with hogs. The alliance offers benefits to
small and moderate producers in feeder pig procurement, market access,
negotiated premiums, risk management and production/business consultation.
There is room for additional participation and opportunity for operations
with labor and interest for an added hog feeding operation.
Pigs
and livestock development can be associated with community growth and
stability. Farm program support has made specialized grain production a
lower risk higher net strategy than livestock diversification. This works
for individuals but not for communities because with machinery technology
specialized grain farming relates to few but large operations. A 2004 Iowa
study equated a 6000 hour labor resource of a family farm that specialized
in corn – soy farming could operate about 2,400 acres. That same family if
they diversified with farrow to finish utilizing grain with hogs could
farrow about 200 sows and farm 550 acres. Using simulation prices and
variability from 1988 – 2002, the grain farm netted about $23,000 more per
year than the grain and hog producer with farm program support. Excluding
government payments puts the diversified farm ahead by $60,000. Their study
illustrates the fact that with intensive livestock we can have several times
as many people involved in agriculture in a given area.
There
are many obstacles to growing pork production. The capital investment is
large; financing requires strong equity and market protection for new
entrants. It is highly competitive requiring one to play to a comparative
advantage as: cost of production, valve added, or startup investment.
Additionally, community acceptance and support has a significant impact. It
is interesting to think what if; but time will tell the story of pork
production in North Dakota, what changes occurred what opportunities were
realized.
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