You've undoubtedly done your best to trim expenses from the hog operation over the past 12 months, but the New Year presents a fresh opportunity to take another look.
"Basics are the key, and it seems like we are never as good as we probably can be on the basics," says Jeff Kayser, production manager, Suidae Health and Production (SHP).
Kayser and Jason Kelly, DVM , also with SHP, based in Algona, IA, partnered to develop 10 detailed ideas for lowering your farm's operational costs and improving your bottom line.
"These items are in no particular order of importance," says Kelly. Some might slightly increase production costs, but in the end "will improve returns and, therefore, improve profitability or reduce financial losses."
Intensify farm biosecurity and keep disease out from the sow farm to the finishing barns
This has been accomplished on a number of clients' farms, says Kelly. "We work hard every day to produce healthy pigs, and producing PRRS-negative pigs is one of our big goals," he says. "If we are successful at making a PRRS-negative pig, we want to make sure we keep that pig negative through the nursery and grow-finish period because that is where most of the production cost is."
SHP research with clients shows the value of keeping a herd negative for PRRS (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome). A producer five years ago thought all of his PRRS-negative weaned pigs were staying negative through finishing. Mortality and gains were acceptable, but in screening for the virus, it was discovered that a small percentage of the pigs were becoming infected during the grow-finish period. The non-clinical cost of PRRS was $4.42/head.
Congressman Charlie Wilson (OH-6) is pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is awarding a $426,000 Recovery grant to Ohio University in Athens for its research on the Intracortical Mechanisms of Muscle Weakness. The award is being made by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a division within HHS.
"I'm so proud of the good work being done at Ohio University," Wilson said.
"The money is being used to hire talented researchers and to do valuable medical research. That's a win-win and is exactly the type of …
According to Dailymail, nightmare is a scary dream which can wake someone when they are in a phase of rapid eye movement (REM). In such phase, brain activity is at the highest level.
A research by psychiatrist in China on 9000 adults shows that 5.1 percent experienced nightmares at least once a week. Women more often experience it, which is 6.2 percent, compared to men which is only 3.8 percent.
Psychiatric disorders such as depressions, are five times more experienced by men and women who frequent have nightmares. Someone with a neurotic personality who tend to think negatively, also experience more nightmares.
In the other hand, a bad dream could also trigger health problems such as insomnia, headaches, feeling tired, and difficult to get up early. Even the risk of psychiatric disorders increased 5.7 times more in people with frequent nightmares.
According to the research, nightmares are also closely related to welfare. Unemployed and employees with low salaries of have a 2.3 times greater chance of getting a nightmare as many as three or more times a week.
Here are the seven categories of the most popular nightmare in this study:
1. Falling (39.5 per cent)
2. Being chased (25.7)
3. Being paralysed (25.3)
4. Being late for an event (24)
5. Close person disappears/ dies (20.9)
6. Horror films (18.9)
7. Unable to complete a task (17.3)
