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International Clients article: Pig Progress is a
magazine published in the Netherlands that bills
itself as the portal on global pork production
for farmers, veterinarians and other industry
professionals.
Purpose: This article was
designed to provide an overview of key
information presented at the World Pork Expo to
help producers operate their business more
efficiently.
Feed Cost Dominate Discussions at the
World Pork Expo
By Darcy Maulsby
From soaring feed costs to skyrocketing energy
prices, pork producers who attended the World
Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa, in early June
were looking for ways to control their costs and
survive the current profitability challenge.
“These are challenging times,” said Doug Hucka,
a grow-finish pork producer from Lake City,
Iowa, U.S.A., who stopped by the trade show,
which featured more than 1,000 booths displayed
by approximately 450 different companies. “I
think now’s the time to sit back and be patient,
and focus on the things you can control, like
making feeder adjustments so you’re not wasting
feed.”
The National Pork Producers Council’s (NPPC)
20th Anniversary World Pork Expo was held with
slightly lower attendance than in years past– a
fact that comes as no surprise, given the tough
economic times producers are facing. NPPC
reported that 17,756 pork producers attended the
event, not counting exhibitors, staff and others
who came through the gates. The number of
international exhibitors increased, however,
with companies traveling from Canada and Mexico
as well as South America, Europe and Asia, to
take part in the show. An estimated 10 percent
of the producer attendees at the show were
international visitors as well, coming from at
least 45 different countries around the world.
Improve production efficiencies
While pork producers from around the globe were
willing to look at some of the newer feeding
technologies and other equipment on display at
this year’s World Pork Expo, many agreed that
staying in the swine business until better days
arrive requires a renewed focus on the basics.
“What you do daily adds up,” said Dr. Mike Brumm
of Brumm Swine Consulting Inc. in North Mankato,
Minn., U.S.A., who offered the following tips:
• Cut feed waste. Make sure that your employees
are adjusting feeders properly, with 40 percent
pan coverage.
• Control out-of-feed events. Human error—not
the bridging of feed or equipment failure—is the
number-one cause of feed outages. “Of-of-feed
events clearly impact daily gain and appear to
impact growing pigs in the 40- to 120-pound
range more than finishing pigs,” Brumm said.
• Order full loads of feed. Fees are increasing
for partial loads, so plan ahead and only order
full loads, if possible.
• Conduct an energy walk-through in your barns.
With propane prices expect to rise by 25 percent
this fall in America, an energy audit can help
you cut your power bills, no matter where you
raise pigs. “Also, you need to learn how your
barn’s electronic controller works, so you can
get it set correctly,” said Brumm, who added
that keeping your fans fixed will also maximize
efficiency and control electrical costs.
• Be more aggressive with cooling. Simply
blowing air over pigs won’t help if the air
temperature is greater than the pigs’
temperature. In fact, higher air speeds will
make pigs more heat stressed. “Cooling happens
as the pigs dry, not when they are wet,” said
Brumm, who recommends leaving the water on for
two minutes at a time. Try using cone nozzles in
curtain barns and flat-fan nozzles in tunnel
barns.
• Consider an aggressive euthanasia policy.
Since crowding always reduces daily gain, try
limiting sick pens and making better use of your
barn space so all pigs can grow faster.
Manage feed inputs
To reach these goals, you need to remain alert.
“You’re going to have to be nimble when grain
buying opportunities come along, because they
won’t last very long,” said Steve Meyer,
president of Paragon Economics in Adel, Iowa,
U.S.A., who spoke at the Pork Checkoff’s Pork
Academy. Meyer offered the following tips to
control feed costs:
• Build a strategic reserve of corn. Grain
availability will become an issue in some
places. “Try to get a two- to three-month
supply, if possible,” Meyer said.
• Consider long-term supply agreements with
grain growers. Look for options that might work
in your area.
• Streamline your operation. Consider pulling
market weights down, and watch feed rations
carefully.
These strategies become more even important when
you consider that world corn usage has grown
faster than supply, said Meyer, who added that
the United States’ Renewable Fuel Standard calls
for increased ethanol production through 2015,
which will drive demand for corn. Currently,
there are 148 ethanol plants nationwide in the
United States, with a capacity of 9.4 billion
gallons per year. By late 2009, 211 plants with
a capacity of 14.8 billion gallons per year will
be in use. “The ethanol plants can afford to bid
a lot for corn,” Meyer added.
Compound this with the fact that the 2008 U.S.
planting season has been one of the slowest on
record. “Bad weather could be disastrous this
year, and spot shortages of grain are very
likely next summer,” said Meyer, who projects a
trend yield of 151.9 bushels for corn in 2008.
“I think we’ll be 3 or 4 million bushels short
on corn acres this year, which will put us 258
million bushels in the hole.”
This could spell big trouble for corn
utilization. Where will the market cut usage?
Probably not in exports, since the weak U.S.
dollar is making U.S. corn very affordable to
foreign buyers, Meyer said. In fact, both Meyer
and Glenn Grimes, a University of Missouri
professor emeritus who spoke at the 2008 World
Pork Expo, agreed that with the convergence of
market pressures, the soonest pork producers
will see some light at the end of the economic
tunnel is by early 2010.
“In the end, realize that all the production
technology and business strategies in the world
will never replace a positive attitude,” Brumm
added. “Be positive with your employees, and
take the steps you can to cut costs and become
more efficient.” 
For more information on the World Pork Expo,
visit www.worldpork.org.
A veteran journalist, Darcy Maulsby has written
about agriculture and livestock for more than 10
years. This Iowa State University graduate lives
with her husband on an acreage near Lake City
Iowa, U.S.A. You can visit her online at
www.darcymaulsby.com. 
Darcy
Maulsby | Darcy Maulsby & Co. | 1735 340th St. |
Lake City, IA 51449 515-971-4415 |
darcy@darcymaulsby.com |