Profile and structure of modern pork production AND Society Issues for Pork Production

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Profile and structure of modern pork production
AND Society Issues forPork Production

• John J. McGlone, PhD
• Texas Tech University

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Outline

• National and international competition
• USA pork production areas
• Changing structure of farms
• Large vs. small farms
• Legal requirements
• Modern systems
• Society Issues

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National and international competition

• Today
• 1 billion pigs
• 91 million mt/year
• In 30 years
• 3 billion pigs
• 231 million mt/year
• Who will produce pork for the future?

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USA grain production
Where has pork production grown in recent years?
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Why is pork production moving?

• To get away from population centers
• To lower the cost of environmental compliance
  (and to minimize the risk of pollution)
• To lower cost of land and labor

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Largest USA farms
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Recent re-structuring

• Farms are getting larger
• Fewer companies are owning more market share
• Family farms are declining rapidly
• Corporate farms are growing
• In the 1990s by building new farms
• In the 2000s by buying their competitors

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Legal requirements

• Set-back from houses
• Water or well requirements
• Waste treatment rules and regulations
• Ground or surface water protection
• Air quality protection
• Fire, flood and disaster protection

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Other factors to consider before building a pig
farm

• Available capital
• Through-out of pigs required
• Neighbors
• Labor force
• Other operating costs (power, bedding, markets)
• Regulations
• Environmental
• Food Safety
• Animal welfare

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Model farms
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Large farm organization
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Life cycle of a pork production unit
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Production schedules

• Based on a 20 or 21 week cycle
• 20 groups of sows would be on a weekly schedule
• Each week one group farrows another is weaned and
  another is bred
• Shorter lactation length results in more litters
  per sow per year (up to a point)

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What drives production?

• Lower the cost
• Increase pigs per sow per year
• Increase farrowing or conception rate
• Increase litter size
• Increase weight gain
• Improve feed efficiency
• Improve animal health
• Morbidity
• Mortality

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Society Issues

• If the public perceives there is a problem with
  the industry, then there is a problem that must
  be dealt with.

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Issues

• Pig farms smell
• Pigs suffer on farms
• You can get worms from eating pork
• Pork has cancer-causing chemicals
• Pigs pollute the water
• Pigs eat grain that people could eat
• Corporate farms kill the family farm

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Pig farms smell

• Would you like to have your home next to a pig
  farm?
• Why are pig farms not inside city limits? (note
  the orient)
• If a pig farm actually did not smell, would you
  like to live near it?
• The Nebraska retirement program

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Pigs suffer on farms

• How much space do you think sows need?
• Enough to turn around?
• Enough for social interactions?
• Should aggressive animals be penned apart from
  submissive animals?

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You can get worms from eating pork!

• Should pork be required to be free from
  Trichinae?
• Should the industry eradicate Trichinae?

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Pork has cancer-causing chemicals

• Should additives be used in meat products?
• Would reducing acute deaths by 90 be worth
  adding 10 to the long-term cancer rate?
• What advanced technologies could be used to
  reduce chemical-induced cancer?

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Pigs pollute the water

• Should farms of all sizes be required to spend
  what ever is required to prevent water pollution?
• Should farms be located where water pollution
  risk is low?
• Should farms be allowed to be near waterways?
• Where should farms be located?

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Pigs eat grain that people could eat

• Feed fed to 100 million pigs in the USA could
  feed 54 million people
• What would happen if the world grew and we could
  not feed everyone would we feed grain to pigs?
  (and cattle)
• What happens to meat consumption when poor
  countries improve their income?

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Corporate farms kill the family farm

• Are corporate farms killing the family farm?
• The Kansas Experience
• The Nebraska Experience
• The Iowa experience

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The End