9/20/23

Question 1

How are Swine Farms Productive?

Answer 1

Fewer, Larger Farms produce more meat by focusing on one product

Question 2

What are problems with swine confinement?

Answer 2

Waste Issues
Animal Welfare (housing)
NIMBY
Environmental management

Question 3

Pigs in confinement

Answer 3

Pigs “lend themselves to confinement” because you can hold lots of pigs in a small area

Question 4

How is animal waste (specifically swine waste) an asset?

Answer 4

Used as fertilizer.
Has NPK (nitrogen, phosphate, potassium)
Swine waste produces phosphorous.

Question 5

Pig Teeth

Answer 5

Pigs are born with needle teeth –> blunted to preserve teats

Question 6

Pig Diet

Answer 6

Pigs are omnivores, but… they prefer carnivarism

Question 7

Describe a Swine Farm

Answer 7

Pit design –> waste falls through to flush basins and are flushed to the lagoon where solid waste falls to the bottom

Question 8

CAFO

Answer 8

Confined Animal Feeding Operations

Question 9

Life Cycle of a Pig

Answer 9

Birth (3-5 lbs)
21 days (10-12/15 lbs)
Move from farrowing crate to nursery w/ creep feeder (3-4 weeks, till 40-50 lbs)
Moved to “finisher” (under 6 months, till 280-300 lbs)
Sexual maturity (6 months)
Harvest OR farrow for 4 months
21 days of lactation

Question 10

Swine Temperature Needs

Answer 10

Farrowing crate (98* for piglets, 68* for pig) use heating pads/lamps

Question 11

How many litters does a sow have?

Answer 11

2.2 per year up to 6 years

Question 12

SGI

Answer 12

Swine genetic international (#1 sow farm in US)
38 pigs per sow per year

Question 13

When are piglets weaned?

Answer 13

3 weeks

Question 14

SEW

Answer 14

Segregated Early Weaning (10 day pigs)

Question 15

MEW

Answer 15

Medicated early weaning

Question 16

Snatch Farrowing

Answer 16

Baby is removed at birth due to medical condition of sow

Question 17

Vertical Integration

Answer 17

One company owns/controls almost all aspects of production
Poultry = #1
Swine = #2

Question 18

How is Vertical Integration good?

Answer 18

Farmers can stay on farms
Build finishing barns
Paid on production

Question 19

Iowa

Answer 19

Produces most corn and most red meat per square mile

Question 20

Swine Production

Answer 20

Switch from “pasture based” to “total confinement”

Question 21

How are hogs raised?

Answer 21

Either in continous flow or all-in-all-out systems

Question 22

Phases of produciton

Answer 22

Farrow
Nursery
Finisher

Question 23

Time of Conception to Processing

Answer 23

295 days