PRRS Year 3- The Last Year

I wish I could say that the disease issues our herd has experienced over the last three years have passed.  That we have come out stronger, better, and unscathed.  However, the reality is that we are in the worst position we have been in over our 60 year history.  We have exhausted every option we can think of to regain our pig health, and nothing is working.  Even the strategies that have helped feel like a band-aid, masking another, bigger problem by throwing money at it.  Once one health challenge seems to ease up, another problem emerges.  It is hard to meet with our vets and advisors, them showing a mild indifference to our situation, as we are working tirelessly to save our pigs, bleeding every day for the last 1000. 

I wish we had found the cure, the answer, maybe made better decisions, but I honestly don’t know what we would’ve done differently with the information we had at the time.  Now, I am a lot less trusting of “experts.”  I’m weary of easy fixes, and the traditional way of doing things.  Our farm is different, our life is different, and our pigs our different.  My values don’t always line up with those driving our industry, but I do love being on the farm.   Weighing our options, we decided we need to start over; selling every last pig, and then buying new breeding stock.  Maybe we can do something to salvage what we have, but we are getting to the point where we just can’t keep waiting for things to right.  We need to take action.

Big changes hurt, but I don’t want to be the generation that spoils my family legacy, as so often happens in multi-generational businesses, where things get complacent.  I may go down, but it won’t be without a fight. These changes aren’t easy, and there are many places where we will make mistakes.  Our notions of who we are as a company are going to shift.  The solid foundation we have is going to move.  We will lose some people- people I have known my whole life.  That is probably the hardest part for me, but it is another piece of our upheaval. 

While change is hard, it gives me the possibility of going back to “normal.”  Where every phone call isn’t the next disaster, when my weekend travels are the only thing that keeps me sane. When I can look at my work and again be proud of what I have accomplished, or actually make progress and provide better care to our animals.  I look forward to these moments now, as I am sitting nearly paralyzed with fear.  In these times, I can see my support system- it’s not as big as I thought it was, but I can make do with what I have.

My lack of writing over the last year is due to dealing with the challenges that I have experienced on the farm.  I still journal, and I have taken up a side-gig writing for Silent Sports, which gives me a creative outlet.  However, I want to write here, and share my story- the good, and the bad.  I can’t say what my life will look like in another year, but I am excited to see how things unfold. 

First Farm Memories

My first memory of the farm starts with an early morning.  I would wake up, and go sit on the bathroom scale while my parents got ready for the day.  My Dad would let me brush his shaving soap on to his face.  Then we would all go down to the kitchen for breakfast, usually oatmeal or cream of wheat with butter and brown sugar, and watered down cranberry juice. 

After filling up, mom would bundle me up (it must have been fall or winter in my earliest memories) and I would go out to look at the pigs in the barn in our backyard.  I think we were in the process of expanding at the time, and must’ve run out of room for pigs, because we were using the old dairy barn behind the house as a makeshift pig pen.  The tall doors were wide open, and the biggest bay where hay wagons and such must have been stored had been turned into a makeshift pen, with fencing panels strung together.  Straw bedding covered the floor.

I went to see the pigs every day, sometimes multiple times a day, naming them.  My favorite was “Ketchup”, but I also grew fond of “Stuart”, and “Cupcake”.  None of these pigs were discernable from any of the others, and I usually just dubbed the first to come to the fence and nose my hand “Ketchup” for the day.  Sometimes I would bring scraps from the kitchen to throw over the fence as treats. 

After a while, the pigs got so big that I couldn’t go in the pen anymore at risk of being trampled, and finally they were shipped off to market.  We never had pigs in the dairy barn again, but I found a new outlet in the hot nursery. 

The hot nursery is where the smallest pigs of the litter are weaned where it was extra warm and they receive extra care.  Everything is small, and designed to transition the pigs from mom to on their own with as little disruption as possible.  I was also the right size for the hot nursery pens, and I would go and check on the little pigs each day, making sure they had water and food, milk replacer or electrolytes, and that the floor was nice and dry for them.  I named these too, “Sam” being my favorite that I would check each day, to see if he was making a good recovery after his rough start. 

Even though I wasn’t yet four years old, these early visits on the farm narrowed down my career choices considerably.  I figured I could either work on the farm with the pigs, become a fireman, or a ballerina.  I thought the farm was my most likely option for success, although looking at the world now it actually may have been the most unusual choice of the three.  Regardless, there may have been some stumbling blocks on the way, and a healthy dose of self-doubt, but here I am 25 years later, doing the same work as when I was four years old. 

Farm Update: Transition

(Green Valley Farm)

Since I last wrote specifically about the farm, a lot has changed.  We re-broke with PRRS in the spring of 2017, and battled it for most of last summer and early fall.  It seems like now we are starting to get back on our feet again, but it is with weary skepticism.  After being knocked down so much it's hard to trust that getting back up is possible.

The pigs are what everyone likes to hear about most, and right now at the farrowing farms (where little pigs are born), things are looking pretty good.  Our most recent testing has shown our piglets are negative again for PRRS, and we have enough sows coming in to give birth that our barns are starting to be comfortably full. We aren't sure if the spring weather is causing everything to do better, if our strategy for dealing with the disease is working, or if the pigs are just getting healthier because time has passed.  We probably won't know for at least a year, and even then a bad break can happen again.  Right now, it's just keeping our fingers crossed, doing our best, and hoping it is enough.

We are becoming more creative in our management in order to recover from PRRS.  One of our farms, River Ridge, was hit harder than the others. Many of their sows got sick and either had lasting reproductive/respiratory problems, or just died altogether.  In order to get the herd back up to it's normal size, we are breeding some gilts in the finisher at a different farm.  We have never done this before, but are very interested to see how things go.  If this works well we may consider breeding all gilts in finishers with a dedicated breeding team.  It will take us six months to a year of observation to make that determination, but so far things seem to be going well. 

As far as we can tell, PRRS is pretty mild in our herd right now.  The biggest health challenge we have been facing recently is a flare-up of pig-pneumonia, which can be treated easily as long as we keep an eye on it.  The keeping an eye on it part is a little tricky, because a pig can go to exposure to death in 24-48 hours, so it really is something that has to be caught right away.  The other health issue we are up against is one of the vaccines we are using doesn't have the coverage it guarentees.  This means that pigs need a booster shot at some point, at least until the vaccine is updated.  We still haven't figured out exactly how we will handle this, but this is why keeping a close eye on our animal health is so important.

In other news, we are seeing the younger generation of farm employees stepping into management roles for the first time.  Two of our long time managers, one in genetics, the other in herd health, retired a few weeks ago.  This is a huge adjustment for the farm.  I am assuming quite a few more duties in the health area, and that both exciting and challenging.  Weston, a paddler and farm worker will be taking on more responsibilty in the genetics side of the business.  Both of us will be learning a lot in the next few months, and we have to in order to keep things running well.

On top of this, our nutritionist, Dave, has decided to try his hand as a feed company representative, and will be leaving us in the early summer.  We are excited for him and his opportunities, and are happy with the knowledge he has given us over the past three years.  His will be big shoes to fill, but we are confident that the future on the farm will be bright.

How Farms are Reducing Antibiotic Use

For the final post in my Midwest Pork Conference Series (the first was about pork industry risks, the second 3 ways to get piglets off to a good start) I will come back to Antibiotics.  This is a topic I have covered quite a bit over the past few years, as it is one of the changing areas of animal agriculture.    We use them to treat sick animals, or in some cases to prevent a flair-up of an existing herd health challenge.  Antibiotic use is monitored by our individual caretakers, on farm health experts, vets, and state regulation, as well as by federal regulatory agencies. While over site has become part of using antibiotics, what can we do to reduce or even discontinue the use?

As a disclaimer, I believe in treating animals that are sick.  Pigs, like people, can suffer from pneumonia, respiratory infections, or skin/tissue infections.  Even those in clean, warm, dry, houses with little stress, can still develop these conditions and do need to be treated.  It is silly to let an animal suffer when we have the tools, and expertise to help it get well.

At the Midwest Pork Conference, I listened to a lecture by a farm manager who has transitioned many farms to an antibiotic free system, and greatly reduced use in others.  These strategies are not rocket science, just getting back to basics and managing the stress and risk that we can control.  In any of these systems, pigs that do get sick are treated, they just can't be marketed as being raised with out antibiotics, although they are still antibiotic free, as are all livestock sold in the United States.  I'm getting to ramble a bit, so why don't we get to the point... 3 strategies for reducing or discontinuing antibiotic use.

Treat the Root Cause

Antibiotics in pork production are usually used to treat secondary infections.  For example, that respiratory disease our pigs have contracted, PRRS, is a virus.  Because the pigs have a virus that weakens their immune system, they are more susceptible to bacterial infections, like staph, strep, and pneumonia.  To reduce our antibiotic use, we would need to work on eliminating the PRRS virus, not just treating the secondary infections.  Of course, this is easier said than done, as you can read about in my prior posts about our PRRS outbreak, and how we were progressing through one month, three months, six months, and one year living with the disease.

As in the example I outlined above, infections are often a result, and not the cause of a problem.  Getting chilled puts enough stress on a piglet that it can weaken it's immune system, making it more likely to get sick.  Weaning piglets off of the sow too soon can leave the immune system not quite ready for the stress of weaning and cause problems.  By keeping the pigs warm enough, and managing for optimum wean age, both of the "root" problems, we avoid the unnecessary stress and immune response that causes the need for treatments.

Manage Gut Health

Getting the gut off to a good start is huge in raising pigs, and should not be overlooked.  Transitioning from a milk based diet to a grain based diet, having consistency in the feed provided, and even water pH can have an impact on the gut microbiota (all of the good bacteria, organisms, and other things in the gut that make it work). It might seem counter-intuitive, but leaving a pig on milk too long can cause it's gut to stall out and not develop properly, just as transitioning to dry feed too early doesn't allow the gut to develop fully.  This is a change we have to carefully monitor and work through gradually. 

Pigs that have healthy guts grow better, have more energy, and are overall more robust.  A robust pig has a better immune system, and is less likely to need medical attention as it grows.  I will go into more detail on gut health and development in a future post, but much like in humans, a happy gut is part of good overall health.

Reduce Stress

Reducing pig stress is a way we already cut down on our antibiotic use.  We aim to move our pigs "all-in all-out.  That means a barn, room, and pen of pigs aren't mixed with pigs of different ages or health statuses.  By keeping pigs with their peers, they usually have the same things going on health wise at the same time, instead of swapping them back and forth with older and younger pigs, causing any bugs to circulate.  We can move pigs less often, and keep them in the same groups, so that they don't have to fight to establish a new pecking order.  Fewer pig handling events will make the pigs more comfortable.

When a pig is stressed, it usually goes off of feed and water.  Not eating or drinking not only stops growth, but it can mess with the pig's gut which is not good!  Sometimes when this happens for a short period of time, say after the small pigs are weaned, the piglets will make "compensatory gains" where they grow faster than normal for a short period of time after the stress is over.  For a long time, the pork industry thought this was a tool to leverage, but actually, the pigs never catch up to where they would be if there was no stress.  Seeing a compensatory gain means that we caused a stress that can lead to gut and immunity problems, and is not a good thing.  Not all stressors can be removed, but realizing what causes pressure in the pig's life is the first step in learning to manage it to the best of our ability. 

Up next, we will turn away from the farm, and get the race recap that all of my canoe friends having been asking about- the Chattajack!

Top 9 of 2017

2017 has been a goal crushing year for me. I don't think I have accomplished so much in any year before.  Picking highlights on such a fantastic year is a tall order, but here are nine that come to the top of my list. 

Noquemanon Podium

For one day in January, I was a professional skiier! The Noquemanon in Marquette, MI is the largest, most competitive race in Michigan (outside of collegiate races). It typically is a 50km classic race, but because of poor snow conditions in 2017 it was shortened to 30km. Classic is my technique, and after getting 4th, 5th, and 6th over the last 3 years, I had the best ski race of my life (and some pretty stellar skis) and managed to get 3rd place. The giant cowbell still has a place of prominence in our household. 

Illinois Half-Marathon PR

Running has always been love-hate for me. It comes pretty naturally, but I don't enjoy training to run unless it's perfect conditions. After my half marathons of 2014-2016 putting me so close to a 1 hour 40 minute half marathon that I could taste it, I decided to truly dedicate my training to breaking that barrier.  In April, after 13 weeks of training, I took on the Illinois Half Marathon in Champaign, IL and smashed my previous personal best. I finished in 1 hour 32 minutes and 34 seconds, and it has me seriously considering a Boston Qualifiying marathon in 2018. 

World Pork Expo

In June, the Barton-Davis clan went to Des Moines, Iowa for the World Pork Expo.  The last time I attended was in 1994, so this was an eye opening experience. We talked to industry experts, other producers, and sales reps, all while collecting tons of free goodies, and eating So. Much. Pork. 

AuSable River Canoe Marathon Record

2017 had me challenging myself more than ever, racing the AuSable as part of a women's team (something I love), and in the bow (something that terrified me). My partner, Edith MacHattie, is one of the best paddlers (and people) I have ever raced with, and I never dreamed we could have such a historic race. We tipped over within the first minutes of the race, but the water was high, and we were fast.... So fast that we broke a record I never thought would fall, the women's record set in 1994. We assumed after our rough start that any chance we had was firmly out of reach, and didn't realize that we were close until the final portage. After 15 hour 17 minutes ans 120 miles we crossed the finish line 9 minutes under the old course record.

Paddling on the Mississippi

It's funny to think that Iowa is a flyover state for most, but it was one of my favorite places of 2017. In August, the USCA Nationals were held on the Mississippi River in Dubuque, Iowa. The River is "small" that far north, but it felt legendary.  Seeing the freighters, bridges, lock, and beauty of the Mississippi brought up a deep respect in all of us that were lucky enough to paddle it. As a bonus, I was able to race there with my Mom. 

Top 10 Catalina Crossings

September had me crossing the continent a few times, and a quick trip to Catalina via team Hui Wa'a  was definitely worth it.  This was my third crossing, and two years of past experience left me much more confident on the ocean. The women's team finished 6th, and the men were able to week out a 10th place finish after taking an unplanned swim.  For a full race re-cap, check out my prior post (I will link when I get back to the computer). 

"Real" vacation to Washington

It's hard to believe- Mike and I traveled somewhere, and didn't race once! Our week in Washington took us to 3 National Parks, 30 miles of hiking, kayaks, and the Seattle Barton's.  It was the trip of a lifetime and we can't wait to go back. A full trip recap will be linked here once I get back to the computer. 

Girls take Louisville

I am always ready for a good girls trip, and Louisville was epic (look here once linked for full recap).  I seriously doubt we will ever top it for girls weekend, but we have agreed to try in 2018, probably in Nashville. 

Paddling in Rain

I started and finished my racing season of 2017 in 45 degree rain. I suppose it usually goes that way, but this year it had such an impact that I asked for TWO raincoats for Christmas.  I realized in Canton, NY that I don't melt and managed to have a 6th place finish with Mike in the General Clinton on Memorial Day in the rain. Fast forward to Halloween Weekend, and Dad and I were able to grind our way to a 2nd place finish in OC2 at the Chattajack in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  I don't know how we had Michigan weather that far south, but it must have kept us in our comfort zone. 

With this last weekend of 2017, I plan to ski as much as possible and squeeze every bit of fun out of the year. Happy New Year to all- see you in 2018!

Midwest Pork Conference- 3 ways to get Piglets off to a Good Start

One of the best things about the Midwest Pork Conference is that the topics are always timely, and the speakers give action points that we can take home and use the next day on the farm.  Most of the time the tips aren't groundbreaking, but it gets us back to basics and really focusing on how to set the pigs up for success.  One of the best seminars from the Conference was on caring for pigs after weaning.

Weaning is one of the first major stressors (after birth) in a little pig's life.  Separation from mom, a new house, figuring out eating solid food, and drinking water are big learning experiences.  Anything we can do as caretakers to ease the process will help the pigs get off to a good start.  If we did our best to have healthy, well cared for pigs pre-weaning it helps a lot, but there are still some tips and tricks that will get the pigs started off right.

1. Keep it clean!

Having a clean, warm, and dry pen for the pigs to be weaned into reduces the risk for disease to develop and spread.  Between groups of wean pigs, we make sure to wash and disinfect every surface- from the floor to the ceiling- then allow them to dry overnight.  Rooms are heated to approximately 84 degrees, so it's nice and cozy for the little ones coming in.  When checking barns each day, we start with the youngest and move to the oldest.  This is to keep the little pigs safe from anything that might be going around in the older pigs.  Just like people, pigs will get the flu, or a cold, but the older they are when they get it, the less problems they will face.

2. Make Water easy to Find

While little pigs are on the sow, they have water available, but if everything is going good with mom they may not ever use it.  This means when the pigs are weaned they have to figure out a new drinking system- either out of a nipple, bowl, or pan.  We train the pigs to drink a few different ways, depending on what type of system is in place in the barn. 

For our older barns, there are water nipples with bowls underneath them.  We loosen the nipples so they leak into the bowls, and the pigs will drink from the bowls the first few days.  After a few days, they find the nipples, train themselves how to use them, and we can stop the leaking. This takes the caretaker observing how the pigs are doing and deciding when they are trained well enough to drink out of the nipples.  In our newer barns we have shallow, gravity-fed pans that fill with a fresh supply of water constantly.  These are easy for the pigs to find, and they pretty much manage themselves.  Of course, all systems have to be monitored, but it seems like the little pigs figure this out pretty fast.

3. Transition from Milk to Dry Feed

For the early part of a pig's life, all nutrition comes from mother's milk.  Over that time, the pigs grow and change rapidly.  Their guts begin to develop for solid food, and if left on mom long enough they will start to get a scour (diarrhea) from not having solid food available to eat.  The start of transitioning pigs to solid food begins while the piglet is still in its litter.  For the week before weaning, we provide a little bit of solid feed to the pigs each day.  This allows them to get used to the sight, smell, and taste of the solid food they will be eating after weaning. 

Once weaned, we make sure the feeders are full of this rich, yummy- smelling feed.  The pigs probably recognize it as something familiar from pre-weaning, and usually will go to it within the first day- which is pretty fast considering how much stress they have been under.  For the smaller pigs that might not be so sure, we can feed them on a rubber mat.  On the mat we may mix the feed with an electrolyte gel (think Pedialyte in "Gu" form) to give them an extra boost, since the piglets that avoid feed are probably also the ones that have a slow start on drinking, too.  We will only do this for a couple of days, and then transition to the feeder.

By doing these 3 things we minimize stress, begin to transition the gut, and provide a healthy environment for the young piglets.  Next week, we will look at the hot-button issue of reducing antibiotic use on farms.  For some background information, check my posts on How we work with our Vets, Manage Herd Health, and as an industry Manage Antibiotic Use.

 

Midwest Pork Conference- Industry Risks

This week had us on the road to Danville, Indiana for the Midwest Pork Conference.  This is a newer event on our schedule, but the programs are relevant, the meeting is well run, and the the price point keeps it in the budget.  This year, we had five attendees- Bruce, Weston, Julie, Dave and myself.  After the meeting we each picked a top takeaway from the event.  We had so many good things that I can develop a series- each piece addressing a major consideration in our farm's production system.   Like any business, we have to be aware of risks and manage to minimize their impact, or use them to create market opportunities. Our first speaker was Steve Meyer, a top ag economist from Express Markets Inc. Analytics.  Steve talked about 4 macro-level risks to farms.

1. Exports

Exports have been a huge part of agriculture in the last twenty years.  The pork industry relies on our trade partnerships with Japan, China, Canada and Mexico, among other smaller trading partners.  With NAFTA under review, and the TPP dead, our trade is not as secure as it once was.  Without some trading relationships and place, we are at high risk to produce more pork in the USA than we can possibly consume.  At the on farm level, the best we can do is call our representatives urging the resolution to our trade partnerships. 

2. Disease

I have mentioned health challenges on our farm quite a bit, and the last three years have really tested our system.  I have realized the truth in how we can take health our health for granted.  A foreign animal disease entering the United States has huge implications.  Our animals wouldn't have any immunity, similar to when small pox made it's way to North America.  It's something that always seemed too far away to worry about, but after our herd contracted PRRS (something that seemed like it would never happen)  I realize that this is a real threat. 

On the farm it's about recognizing how we can spread things on our own- usually either with people or pig movement- and managing to reduce our risks.  Simple things like washing hands, changing boots, and looking at the youngest pigs first in the day make a big difference.  Also, taking the time to diagnose anything that looks suspicious, instead waiting to see if it goes away in a few days can really help us make better decisions, before we have a big problem due to slow reactions.

3. Labor

Finding the right people and placing them in the right positions is one of the most challenging parts of my job on the farm.  A good employee put in the wrong place can quickly turn into a disengaged team member who is looking for something else.  The time and commitment that is put into developing people makes these bad management decisions on my part really stand out.  Coupled with that is that fewer people want to work with livestock than in the past, partially due to exposure, poor marketing, and farms not willing to pay the going rate for skilled labor.  It may not seem like it, but most of the work on the farm take training, attention to detail, patience, and critical thinking.  These skills all have to developed and should be rewarded. 

Our farm is lucky to be in a supportive community, and we haven't had to deal with many of the labor struggles of our neighboring farms.  However, there is no guarantee this will last, so we constantly are working to secure a work supply by visiting local high schools, and working with two community colleges and one university to provide farm tours, and internships to future agriculturalists.  Even if these things don't directly lead to hire on our farm, they do help to keep our agriculture community going. 

(New Feed Truck!)

4. Feed Costs

Feed is the most expensive input when growing animals.  How the crops do each year in our area greatly effects how well we can raise hogs.  A wet summer may help to produce a big yield, but that doesn't mean the corn, soybeans, and wheat will be of good quality. For example, if corn kernels are lighter than usual, it takes more kernels to feed each animal.  If the kernels are too wet, they attract mold and other fungi, which can make the corn taste bad, and in high levels can cause growth problems.  We do our best to dry and store our corn properly, but we can only get it fresh out of the field one a year, so what goes into the bin is what we will be feeding until the next season. 

To manage this risk, we have a nutritionist (Dave) who looks at each feed ingredient for quality and available supply, and then formulates a feed ration to have the proper mix of energy, amino acids, minerals, and palatability to encourage gut health.  Gut health is EVERYTHING in keeping pigs fed and healthy.  To mitigate mold or fungi problems, we may try feeding more wheat, which is harvested in July, to dilute out any corn problems, since corn fed in July has probably been in storage since October.

Next week, we will look at things we can do to start our pigs off right after transitions- particularly after weaning.

What is a VFD?

As I have discussed in previous posts, (here, here, and here) antibiotics are one of the tools that farmers use to keep their animals healthy by treating and preventing disease.  They can be very expensive, but it is worth it to use them, and to have them available in order to care for the animals.
New in January 2017, farmers must follow a new regulation put in place to monitor the use of certain feed antibiotics called the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD).  The VFDs basically act as prescriptions in order to feed certain antibiotics.  The antibiotics affected are those that are medically important in human medicine.  As with any new program, there is confusion on how it will work, and what adjustments need to be made to current programs.

(sows waiting for dinner)

While nobody likes to get new paperwork and regulations, the VFDs are actually a paper record of things we are doing already.  They verify that we are consulting our vet before feeding antibiotics (we are).  They are reviewed/renewed every 6 months to make sure that we are still on track with our herd health (we do this already).  They make us pause to look at our medication program and truly evaluate it (again, already in place).  With the VFD, we are also showing transparency and accountability in a way that is consistent and traceable. At minimum, the vet, the farmer, the feed mill, and the feed distributor are all aware of the program and are checking to make sure the medication program is followed accurately.   All of these things are positive for farmers, the animals, and consumers.

Of course there are many unknowns.  We aren't sure how often we will be audited, or what the exact audit requirements will be.  Feed mills need to figure out if they are part of the farm, or a "feed distributor," which sounds simple, but actually isn't clear.  Being one or the other, the mills fall under a different set of responsibilities when in comes to record keeping and distribution.  There also are questions on whether custom specialty feeds (for example, pellets made for newly weaned pigs) will be allowed to have any antibiotics added to them.  This may not sound like a big deal, but newly weaned piglets are the most susceptible population to bugs of all kinds (similar to toddlers in day-care).  Hopefully there will be answers to these questions in coming months.

Even antibiotics that are not medically important are being reevaluated in production systems. These antibiotics mainly fall under the category of "growth promoters."  This is something that looks and sounds scary, but it is often recommended by vets to help with overall animal health. Growth promoters are fed at a super low level (read less than 30 grams per ton- 2,000 lbs.- of complete feed) to stimulate gut health in the pigs.  A healthy gut helps with nutrient absorption and boosts the immune system.  It's hard to measure but research suggests that they do help keep the herd at a better immune status, which usually means that animals do reach market size faster.  For more information on antibiotics on feed, please please follow any one of the links I provided at the top of this post.

What is replacing antibiotics in feed?  There is research and development going into many things that will support immunity and increase overall health, and that is really exciting!  Yeast is now being used in some feeds to increase gut health, cutting drastically into the use of growth promoters.  Also probiotics and essential oil blends are having some positive therapeutic effects, with the potential to change treatments for many diseases.  These are the same things that you might find in your local health food store to improve your own immunity, and now we will have access to them for our animals.  Animals that get hit hard and have little or no immunity to new diseases will probably still need antibiotics, but diseases that have been present in the herd for awhile may no longer need antibiotics to keep them under control.  It is a good time for innovation in agriculture.  We are adding new tools to our toolbox, and honing the use of old ones to be more productive, socially conscious, and healthy.

What I know about GMOs

(Unloading corn at the Grain Elevator this Fall)

GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) are something I have not talked about too much over the last few years.  It's just not something I felt comfortable going over, and with so many animal welfare topics to cover it was an issue I stayed away from.  On our farm we grow some varieties of GM corn and soybeans.  If things change and consumers do not want us to produce GM crops, that's fine, but I think we are giving up some very real opportunities by throwing it out entirely.  I'm not an "expert," or a crop/biotech/biochemical scientist, but I am the user of GM technology, and a person who consumes some GM foods.

For those who don't know, a GMO is created by taking a desired trait from one organism and putting it into another organism to give it the desired trait.  For example, a corn variety that is drought resistant naturally may not have the stalk sturdy enough to support a large ear, so a plant geneticist will take the drought resistant trait and put it in the sturdy-stalked corn.  If we get technical, cross-breeding for a desired trait is a type of genetic modification.  The benefit of GMOs are that scientists can isolate desirable traits, and avoid less desirable traits when creating new varieties of crops.  Common types of genetic modification include drought or flood resistance, disease resistance (fungal, bacterial, etc), and weed and insect resistance.  These things allow farmers to produce a heartier, healthier crop that is better suited to their unique growing conditions.  I am not a GMO expert, but I have learned a few things that I think should come into consideration as you make decisions about GMOs.

1. GMOs are medically important.  One of the most innovative ways GMOs are being used is to produce insulin for diabetics.  The insulin produced is reliable and consistent. If people ate more balanced diets, where more active, and less overweight, maybe there would be fewer diabetics, however there would still be those who have genetic diabetes and need insulin. GMOs will help those fighting the disease to control their health.

2. GMOs are generally regarded as safe by the scientific community.  I often find that people have strong feelings about genetic engineering, and also about climate change.  Studies from around the world generally agree that climate change is real.  Many of the same institutions that back climate change, also back the safety of GMOs.  Science shouldn't just be used to support arguments when it's convenient.  Maybe the science is wrong.  I don't have the education, or time to really find out on either of these issues, so I am generally going to agree with the people who do.  For those arguing that Monsanto has payed it's way into positive outcomes in trials, consider the oil & gas industry with climate change, or even the tobacco industry on the carcinogenic effects of smoking.  The companies in these industries are large and have a lot of lobbying power, yet they were not able to stop the tide of research that pushed for change in our practices for health, safety, and longevity.  The same can be said about GMO research.
 
3. GMOs aren't everywhere.  The current list of GM crops available commercially in the United States are: corn, soybeans, canola, papaya, cotton, alfalfa, sugar beets, squash, potatoes, and apples.  All but the potatoes and apples were modified to resist a significant threat to the plant (fungus, disease, growing conditions, etc).  The apples and potatoes are modified to avoid bruising/browning during transport and preparation, which causes large losses between farm and table.  Not every seed grown is genetically modified, and farmers have the option to grow non-GM crops.  For farmers, GM crops are more of a risk management tool than an ideological point.  Consumers have the option to buy non-GMO products.  Now with labeling requirements, and different marketing campaigns by food companies you can fairly easily avoid GMOs in your food if that is what you choose to do.

4. GMOs are proprietary.  This is a sore point for some, because the idea of food flow is something that a private business has control over is scary.  I understand and can empathize with this way of thinking. However, the amount of time devoted to research, development, trials, and government regulations, as well as money that is put into developing this technology, it deserves a patent.  GMOs are innovations to production systems, just like the assembly line, interchangeable parts, or other manufacturing processes.

5. GMOs hold tremendous possibility.  Even if you choose to oppose GMOs in your own life, there are so many innovations that are awesome to think about.  In bio-fuels: there is research on different algae modifications to produces abundant supplies of clean energy relatively inexpensively.  In food crops: peanuts that don't cause allergies, or rice that provides vitamins to people in poverty stricken countries that can't afford a variety of different foods.  Even in forestry: what about a modification that would prevent thousands of trees from dying due to Emerald Ash Borer, or the drought affecting the Redwoods, or even the Chestnut Blight that basically eradicated the American Chestnut?  Maybe there are other ways to solve these problems, maybe there are practices we can take up to minimize the risk of any of these things, but there are tools that can help us combat these issues, so why not at least give the chance to use them?

Cover Crops

(The 14 plant mix of cover crops in front of the Pine Ridge Farm)

This fall, we did something a little different after harvesting our wheat acres, which was putting in a cover crop.  What is a cover crop?  It is a second crop put in towards the end of the growing season to provide ground cover, hold nutrients in the soil, increase organic matter, and reduce compaction.  All of these things should help our primary crop production in the coming years. 

(Look closely and you will see a be on the sunflower)

These all sound like really great things, so implementing a cover crop program seems like it would be easy, obvious, and immediately cost effective, but that isn't the case.  One obstacle is figuring out how to get the crop into the field, and to come up for a good cover before everything freezes up.  Wheat is harvested at the end of June, so we have plenty of time to haul manure and plant the crop before the ground freezes. It is a good place for us to start and see if it works before we start incorporating it into our other crop programs.  We are not quite done harvesting corn for this year, so to put a cover crop into the corn field we would have to fly it on  sometime in August/September.   

(14 plant mix cover crop in September at the Brigham Farm)

Of course we also have to know what to plant.  There are limitless possibilities of what to put in a cover crop mix based on the desired outcomes, climate, etc.  This year we are trying two mixes.  The first is a mix of 14 different varieties, some each of legumes, grasses, brassicas (root vegetables), and broadleaves.  Of course the stars of the show at least visually are the sunflowers, which are covered in bees and butterflies.  The other mix is 2 varieties- oats and tillage radishes- less expensive and less showy, but should get the job done.   

(It's hard to tell how tall the crops are until you are walking around in them)

All of these plants are supposed to winter kill (die off with the frost) but the grasses and roots will hold the nutrients in and keep the ground covered until they fully break down in the spring.  This should give us better nutrient availability from the manure we put on before planting, and better soil to plant into that will hold more moisture through the summer.  If everything goes as it is supposed to, we won't even have to till into the fields in the spring before planting, although right now that seems hard to believe with how tall and hardy our cover crop looks to be.  

 (View of the ground coverage... and a turnip!)

When we tried a cover crop in the past, we had just planted tillage radishes and they were giant (3 feet long and 4-6 inches in diameter), stunk as they decomposed, and we couldn't see any measurable benefit from having them in the field.  That being said, we may have had a yield boost that was subtle, so we aren't quite sure.  This year we worked with some people experienced with cover crops to choose our mixes and planting dates more carefully.  We also planted in a few different fields that aren't our top performers to see if we can make any improvements.  We won't know until next fall how the crops fair, but right now everyone is excited about the potential for improvement and learning new farming practices.

 (Brian displaying our tillage radishes- much smaller than last time!)

PRRS Update: A Year in Review

(Fall morning on the farm- on the right side in the distance you can just make out the hog huts.)

Over the past six months, we have had made big strides in recovery from our PRRS outbreak.  All four of our farrowing farms have been producing PRRS negative (it's a good thing to be negative!) piglets for roughly 4 months now.  This means we have decreased our use of antibiotics to treat secondary infections that arise when the pigs immune systems are compromised from the primary disease.  It's great to see healthy piglets and sows again, and our production through the summer seemed to be better than ever through the summer.  This caused the problem of having too many pigs and not enough space to grow them. We were moving and selling pigs lighter than we usually do, but after the last year it didn't seem like a bad problem to have.  We have continued to vaccinate our sows every 3 months for PRRS with a different vaccine or serum each time, so our strain is less likely to mutate into a new strain and cause massive losses again.

Since we have negative piglets being born, you would think that everything is healthy and disease free, but that is not yet the case.  When recovering from this type of disease, everything is done in stages. With the farrowing farms appearing to be clean and stable we now have to empty and clean all of our nurseries, and then all of our finishers.  Right now we are working through each nursery, getting it completely empty, washing, and then letting it sit empty for a few days before loading with new pigs.  Prior to all of the farrowing farms producing negative pigs, we had to mix sick pigs with clean ones, so the clean ones would also get sick.  It wasn't something we wanted to do, but there weren't many options.  Once we had all negative pigs coming to the nurseries, the older pigs in the nursery would spread the sickness to the younger ones who hadn't been exposed and cause more loss.  By emptying and cleaning each barn, we hope to break the cycle.

Another problem that has developed in the finishers are an outbreak of Circo Virus.  Since our older pigs have a compromised immune system, they are susecptible to secondary infection.  Circo Virus is a disease that has been present in our herd for a number of years, but is usually controlled by a vaccine we give to pigs just before they are weaned.  This would be similar to how the measles or chicken pox are now controlled in the human population.  Now we think we are seeing the Circo flare-up due to PRRS immune suppression, so we are giving a booster shot of Circo vaccine to pigs   before they leave the nursery.  We just started this last week, so we are vaccinating a lot of pigs in a short period of time, trying to save them from sickness as they get older.  Once the Circo Virus develops clinical signs, there isn't a whole lot we can do to help the pigs, so vaccination is the best we can do to raise a healthy herd.

At this point, the pigs are recovering better than expected by our vet, even though it feels slow to all of us on the farm.  We have had setbacks due to secondary infection, but as of yet we haven't seen any re-break from PRRS, and if we can keep it that way we will continue to work towards becoming PRRS naive once again.  The difference between negative and naive is that when we have a negative herd we will still vaccinate for the PRRS virus, but once we go naive we will stop vaccinations and see if the pigs stay disease free.  Not only does this save us money, but it will also mean we have eliminated the virus from our herd, as small pox has been eliminated from human populations. Anytime you can eliminate a deadly disease it is a victory.  

Farm Update: Planting Season

Hello all, things are back to busy as usual on the farm.  We have started field work for the spring!  So far we have done our tillage, manure hauling and started on the planting.  Our early field work was delayed by a cold spring, so we were more anxious than usual to get things rolling, but we have caught up now, and are moving strong.  The unfortunate thing about catching up means that it hasn't rained much lately, which is leaving our ground moisture lower than it normally is for the spring.  This could hurt things later on, but we will just have to wait and see.

(Hauling Manure)

After a hard winter, we are starting to come out of PRRS.  Our farrowing farms (the ones where the babies are born) are running well again, with the sows finally staying bred.  We didn't know when this would happen, so for a little while we have more baby pigs that usual.  That's not a bad thing after such a low time, but it takes more management to keep the pigs on their moms as long as possible, while creating space for new litters to be born.  In our nurseries and finishers, we aren't losing too many pigs, although it is still a little higher than we normally see.  The main difference in these pigs is that they don't grow as nice and even as they did before our outbreak.  This leads to challenges in adjusting the ventilation, water, and feed to fit a large range of pig needs in each group, where usually the pigs in a group are pretty uniform and ready for the same stage at the same time.

Good news moving forward is the piglets being born are consistently born negative for PRRS, which means our sows (mom pigs) are no longer actively shedding virus.  Since we have the sows in stable condition, we are moving to phase two of PRRS clean-up.  This second phase is to get the pigs going into our nurseries (21 days old) to be negative once they are off of mom.  As of our last test some pigs are and some aren't, so the positive pigs infect their peers when they are all grouped together, causing the virus to keep circulating.  We think this is happening because we sometimes mix older pigs and younger pigs in the farrowing house, in order to help the slower growers or runts get a better start.  We also "foster" pigs that can cause spread of the virus: fostering is taking babies off of a sow that has too many (maybe 17 babies, but only 12 working nipples) and put them on a sow who didn't have very many (maybe only 5, but has 12 working nipples).  This way all of the pigs have a better chance for survival, and the sow with only a few pigs produces more milk, which will help her to raise her next litter.

With phase two of PRRS clean-up we will keep all pigs that are born in the same week together, no late fostering (we still can foster within the first day or two after birth), and no holding runts back in the farrowing house.  We will dedicate nursery space specifically for the smallest pigs, so they get more intensive care (this part is usually handled at the farrowing farm instead of at the nursery).  We will also make sure to disinfect everything we use in the farrowing house between litters, where usually we disinfect each day.  This should stop the spread of the virus between little pigs within 3-4 months, baring a re-break of the sows.  It will be a lot of extra work, but it is worth it to get healthy pigs.  If we can successfully make it through phase two, we can start to work towards getting our herd PRRS naive, which is no virus on the farm anywhere.  We still have a long way to go, but things are looking up!

Transparency, Activism, and Problem Solving

(On the farm- an 1830's barn, a hog house, and a new barn across the road)

Next week, I am going to speak at the Tri-State Sow Housing Conference.  I am to be on a panel of producers speaking on the transition to group housing, you can read about our farm moving pigs inside from outside pastures in many of my previous posts.  I am pretty sure my experiences will be unique on the panel, since the other producers are transitioning from stalled systems.  It's exciting to meet with other farmers and hear about their challenges and innovations in our new systems.

Today I was informed that some animal activist groups have registered members for the conference.  In an effort for transparency, the conference has decided to welcome them, and address any questions they have, while trying to keep things civil between the parties.  I know that the panel I am speaking on may be a point of interest for for the activists, so I am fully aware that that I may be faced with some tough ethical questions.  I have been in those situations before, and while it is hard, I feel like I can present myself and my industry as caring and responsible.

That being said, I am afraid.  I am scared of what one person's bad experience with agriculture can do to my family, my community. Someday, something I write may cause somebody to find my farm and try to ruin what we have worked so hard to build. One video, one accusation, (even if it is unfounded) is enough to bring the farm to a screeching halt. Once somebody puts something bad out about the farm, it spreads like a disease. If I am doing something wrong, I absolutely want to be made aware, and I want to fix it.  I don't even care about people knowing that I messed up.  However, I don't want to be accused of not caring for the animals.  I know there are things that can be improved on the farm, but I am doing the best I can with the information I have.  I hold my coworkers to the standards set in place by our vets, packers, Pork Board, audits, and consumers.  I fill out the necessary documentation.  I can't promise that nothing bad has ever happened on the farm, but I can say with full confidence that everyday we become better at raising pigs.  Part of getting better is learning from past mistakes.  I am in no way saying we tolerate abuse, but what we know to be abuse now was not considered as such 25 years ago.  We listened, learned, and changed our practices; we will continue to change.

People in the United States are entitled to their own beliefs, and can make choices on the goods and services they purchase based on any parameters they choose.  I am not offended by people who follow their convictions even if I don't agree with them.  I write about my experiences- not trying to be right or wrong, but to explain my perspective.  I want to listen to what others have to say about production agriculture and learn from our conversations.  The people who push you to grow aren't those that put you down, but those that challenge you to aim higher.  I want to be part of the solution, and throwing around blame does not solve anything.  To really make agriculture better, we have to identify our problems and channel our energy towards fixing them.

 

New Year, New Barn

Happy New Year!  Just before the new year, we had some big excitement on the farm... the new barn is up and running! After a year of planning, weather, and building, we have all of the pigs inside.   The move didn't come a moment too soon because when the hole for the barn was dug some of the outside heater lines for the waterers were severed, so with below freezing temperatures it would have been difficult to keep some of the pens from freezing up.

(Mandie moving the last of the pigs inside)

So far, the crew likes the new barn, although as with anything new we are still figuring out the quirks.  The pigs are much more comfortable around people, since they have more human interaction.  We are able to feed them better to their needs, since we look at the pigs everyday.  On our farm we don't often see skinny animals; more often its a problem of overfeeding, so having the pigs inside we can monitor their intake a little more, keeping them at a healthier weight.  The crew has also noticed that we find at-risk animals sooner, so we are better able to help them.  Hopefully, as we get used to the new set-up we can offer better care to all of the pigs on the farm, including the newborn piglets who should get more attention when we aren't moving groups of pigs a mile or two per day.  

For anyone who is curious:  the "paint" on the pigs is a livestock marker, which is water based.  We put it on the pigs when we need to identify a group specifically.  In this case, the green pigs are bred to Landrace boars, and the pink pigs are bred to Large White boars.  It is painless identification for the pig, and a good visual for the people.   

With the last four months being pretty tough around here, we are excited to get something positive going for us.  It's a good start to 2016.  

Top 5 Posts of 2015

Hello all!  As we are reaching the end of 2015, I am looking over my year in blogging.  After reviewing the numbers, here are your favorite posts and events in the last year, maybe some that you may have missed the first time around.

5. Founding Farmer In April, we celebrated Grandpa's birthday on the farm, as well as looked back over how we got to where we are today.

4. Good Production Practices: Working with your Vet Part of a series, this post goes into how we interact with our vets on a daily basis when making animal treatment and care decisions.

3. 5 Things I learned from Michigan Young Farmer Leaders Conference  Mike and I attended a Farm Bureau Conference in Traverse City, and spent two days learning... plus a little bit of time skiing.

2. #MathieuStrong This is my only top 5 post that isn't directly about the farm, but more about our free time, training and as a family.  I also give an update about our paddling friend Mathieu after his logging accident.

1. Good Production Practices: Managing Herd Health The most popular post of 2015, this post goes into detail as to what we do on the farm to keep our pigs healthy, and how we treat them when they do get sick.


Since it's the end of the year, and my birthday, I am also posting a good memory from 2015.   This picture is from the hike Mike and I took on our anniversary in Kauai.  I am excited about the adventures we have planned for the year ahead.  

(Hiking the Napali Coast)

Farm Christmas

Merry Christmas from the farm!  We recently had our Christmas party, with all of the farm employees, contract growers, and other people in the area that work with the farm.  All in all, we served 140 people a home-cooked meal. Everything is put together by Mom, Marcia, Samantha (my sister), Leslie, and myself.  Instead of buying Poinsettias, we made Mason Jar Centerpieces for all of the tables this year.

(Mason Jar Centerpieces)

We try to have something special just for the kids.  This year we made these cute hot cocoa reindeer favors.  We also make sure to have some type of entertainment.  We had a face-painter/balloon artist that did some really cool work.  By the end of the night, we had quite a few superheroes, cats, and butterflies running around. 

(Hot Cocoa Reindeer-for instructions on how to make these cute favors, click here)

Each guest gets to take home a gift from the party.  This year we had water bottles, coffee mugs, lunch coolers, and LED Maglite flashlights, among other items. 

(Christmas Gifts for all of the attendees)

Christmas on the farm isn't anything fancy, it's just in our shop.  The guys who work in the shop become the decorating committee and put up all of the lights, tables, and chairs.  It is a good excuse to give the space a thorough cleaning before starting in on the winter maintenance program.  I think everybody enjoys a laid-back and casual evening.  

(Party started!)

PRRS update: Through the Worst?

(Sunset over the harvest crew  in the end of November)

Since I last wrote about our fight with PRRS, quite a bit has happened.  We have lost a lot of pigs, either to stillbirth, late-terms abortions (read miscarriage),  or just non-viable piglets that only live a few hours, or maybe a day or two.  Once the pigs have made it to our nurseries, we are still seeing high death losses, which we can't really do anything about.  It has been hard on everybody, especially seeing the whole system suffer.  Two weeks about we only had 40% of our normal number of piglets sent into the nursery for the week.  We know that in 6 weeks, we will have to leave some of our finisher building unfilled for awhile, which we very rarely do, and that is emotionally and financially hard.  During the times when the barns go unfilled, we continue to pay rent on the space.   

Since my last post, we have also worked with our vets and have made some changes on how we are handling our breeding animals. We had a serum made from the blood of some sick pigs to infect all of our breeding animals that are between 50-250 lbs.  so they will have an immune response when they get to the farrowing farms.  We also changed our vaccine we give to our breeding animals that includes a booster for PRRS, along with other pig diseases.  We discontinued a water antibiotic and have told our people to only treat a pig once, and if there is no response to stop treatments, since PRRS can look like a lot of other things, and we don't want to treat something with an antibiotic when it won't be effective.  It is hard to stop treatment on animals, but sometimes it is the responsible thing to do.  

We are starting to have some hope that we have made it through the worst part of the disease.  The new litters of pigs born are looking bigger, better, and more healthy.  The sows aren't showing signs of being sick.  The farm that broke with PRRS first is starting to put out baby pigs that are negative for the disease, which is important in being able to beat it long term.  It will be encouraging to say we are over the hump, but there is still a long way to go.  Other farms that have had this strain of the virus have had a hard time shaking it, so we are expecting that it will be the same on our farm.  Only time will tell.