Environmental Assistance for Swine Producers

Tim Schell
Extension Swine Specialist

Environmental Responsibilities of the Georgia Pork Industry

Rick Jones, PhD
Professor and Extension Animal Scientist

Relating Pork Production Operation Size
to Animal Unit Measures

Dr. Rick Jones
Professor and Extension Animal Scientist

With this great variation in the proportions of feed consumed and nitrogen produced, the comparisons between a 1000 sow (400 AU) farrow to wean operation and a 1000 pig (400 AU) grow-finish operation show a great disparity relative to waste production. An 11,000 sow farrow to wean operation would only produce the waste nitrogen of a 1000 sow farrow to finish unit.

The table below puts these different phases of operations into perspective relative to numbers of animals and waste produced. The values in the nursery and grow-finish sections correlate to the number of pigs produced by the farrow to wean operations given in the same column.
 

Multi-site production inventories, animal units and nitrogen production
Farrow to wean	AU	40	240	300	480	1000	3000
	Head	100	600	750	1200	2500	7500
	N prod*	771	4340	5422	8676	18075	54243
Nursery - only	AU	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
	Head	208	1429	1783	2845	5914	17723
	N prod*	1168	8039	10026	16002	33262	99680
Grow-finish - only	AU	218	1499	1869	2984	6202	18586
	Head	544	3747	4673	7459	15505	46464
	N prod*	5620	38686	48248	77007	160073	479708

* Does not include N lost to atmosphere.
 
 

Catfish health is best managed by considering all aspects of production rather than applying treatments whenever an emergency arises. In order to manage for the best fish health possible, a whole farm plan must be made and followed by everyone on the farm.

Catfish Farm Design. This is an key point of planning toward fish health maintenance and disease prevention. When ponds are filled with water from sources other than groundwater of high quality, the health of the catfish grown in those ponds may be compromised. The water supply system should be designed in order to maintain pond water volume during dry periods of the year. Allowing ponds to remain partially full concentrates the fish and nutrients which results in water quality degradation. Facilities for aeration should be available and adequate for the pond sizes used. At least 2 horsepower and up to 4 horsepower of electric paddle wheel aerator per acre of water is needed to maintain dissolved oxygen levels in catfish ponds. Emergency aerators should also be available.

Marketing to Reduce Disease Probability. Marketing your catfish plays an important role in the control of disease frequency on a catfish farm. Catfish should be sold as soon as they reach the desired market size. Minimizing the time catfish are in your ponds makes good economic sense and reduces the time the catfish are exposed to possible disease pressures. Carrying over older fish and stocking fingerlings under them allows disease transfer. All fish that are captured during seining should be removed from the pond to avoid release of harvest stressed fish. Pond size should be designed so that it matches the volume of fish the market can accept.

Use Clean Seedstock. Fingerling purchase must be controlled. This issue should be given special attention since starting with poor quality fingerlings will be problematic even with the best management thereafter. Fingerling management before purchase should be investigated since nutrition and stocking densities are important to the future health of the catfish. Deliveries of catfish fingerlings should be checked for signs of disease on arrival. Proper treatments should be administered or the fish returned to the source for treatment if disease is discovered. Stocking the fingerling at the right time is important. Hot weather and ESC seasons should be avoided. If the fingerlings are stocked at a time when they will not quickly respond to feeding, diseases may strike the fish as they become nutritionally weakened. Stocking densities of 5,000 to 10,000 catfish fingerlings per acre are used in the industry but the lower stocking densities are less likely to result in disease experiences.

Proper Nutrition. Utilize a completely fortified diet that is obtained from a reliable source. Some commercial diets without certain vitamins have been shown to produce adequate growth under commercial conditions, however, those diets may not be available in areas outside of the Mississippi Delta. Investigate the success of others who have used the diets before switching suppliers. Stick with success. Use the proper particle size for fish size. Inspect each lot of feed as it is delivered for mold, moisture, or fines. Then feed an adequate amount to keep your catfish growing at a rapid rate.

Observation by Trained Personnel. Monitoring catfish ponds for water quality and signs of fish distress is very important. A trained and experienced individual should conduct the monitoring program. Collection of dissolved oxygen values is important on a daily basis and for several times each day. Ammonia and nitrite should be checked weekly. Whenever fish are harvested, a sample should be examined for signs of disease so that the proper treatment can be planned. It is important to remember that monitoring should be a regular task of high priority, even when operations seem to be running smoothly.

Sanitation. Waste disposal is important to the spread of disease. When fish die, they should be picked up out of the pond as soon as possible and preferable within 12 hours. Catfish can be infected by consumption of the dead fish or as pathogens are shed from the carcasses. Burial, incineration, or composing has been utilized for disposal of fish. Local regulations should be investigated before disposing of catfish carcasses. Between crops of fish, the pond should be sanitized by applying chlorine, hydrated lime, or air drying. When ponds are partially harvested, older catfish will transfer any disease they may have to the new stock if an effort is not made to remove most of the old fish. Producers who use water from other ponds should treat and/or filter the water prior to pumping it into new ponds.

Records. Finally, records should be kept of your farm fish health program to allow you to identify areas of potential problems. Missing records usually mean that shortcuts were taken or that treatments were missed. Records will help with the economic evaluation of different treatments and help to decide when to treat a disease or to let it run its course. A good integrated fish health management plan will fit well with a quality assurance program. Both goals are similar in their aim to produce the best fish possible with sound economic principles.
 
 

It has often been said that the inconsistency in the beef industry is due to too many breeds of cattle. The accompanying table lists the number of registrations for the top 15 U.S. beef breeds. There are over 30 more beef breeds with fewer registrations and the table leaves out one of the largest breeds that contributes to the beef supply, Holsteins. As long as we drink milk we will probably continue to have Holstein beef as a by-product of the dairy industry and there's not much that will change that.

When you look at the accompanying table it does look like there is a tremendous amount of variation in seedstock. There is another way to look at this, however. Instead of counting breeds, lets look at biological types of cattle. Angus, Hereford, Red Angus and Shorthorn are British breeds. Together they make up over 50% of the registrations. Limousin, Charolais, Simmental, Gelbvieh, Maine-Anjou, and Salers are continental breeds. Together they make up about 30% of these registrations. The Brahman and Brahman durative breeds are about 15% of the total. If we can get away from hide color and think more about what is under the hide, we are really looking at 3 biological types of cattle making up most of the registrations in this country.

There are, of course, differences between breeds. Some on average, produce more milk, have lower birth weights or tend to be leaner. So, certain breeds will fit a particular environment or management system better than others. Every breed on this list has a place somewhere. In commercial crossbreeding program there are individuals within all of these breeds that can be crossed with individuals from one or two of the other breeds on the list to produce a choice steer with a 700-800 pound carcass with a yield grade of 3 or less. They can all be worked into a crossbreeding program to "fit the box." Inconsistency is not due so much to too many breeds as it is due to not matching breeds well in crossbreeding, not selecting animals that fit within those breeds and not maintaining a systematic breeding program.

If you eliminate all but two or three of these breeds (which is exactly what an individual commercial cattleman should do in designing his own cross breeding program) you have not solved the problem of inconsistency. There is a great deal of variation with breeds. Selecting the right animal to fit the market is still the problem.
 

TABLE: 1998 REGISTRATION NUMBERS FOR THE LARGEST 15 BREEDS IN THE UNITED STATES.
 

This is the time of the year that horse people should be making and/or buying their year's supply of hay. The moisture conditions have many concerned about drought conditions so it is even more important to get the year's supply of hay stored as soon as possible or to begin getting the supply.

What is "horse" quality hay? Horse quality hay is any hay that provides the horse the most nutrients, is free of mold and toxic weeds, is relatively dust free, the horse eats it, and the price is the lowest per unit of nutrient.

The reason a horse needs forage (grass or hay) is that it is a nonruminant herbivore. That is the horse was designed to consume and digest forages to supply nutrients (energy, protein, minerals, vitamins). The horse has a hindgut (large intestine) that contains a population of microrganisms, similar to the microrganisms in the cow's rumen, that breaks down plant (roughage) material that has not been digested by the enzymes of the small intestine. Because the horse's digestive system is designed as such it needs a certain minimum amount of "roughage" in the diet per day. Most equine nutritionists recommend that a horse consume at least 1% of its body weight per day in hay equivalent dry matter to maintain normal digestive system function. Another concern relating to normal digestive function and normal behavior associated with roughage and the fiber portion of the diet is that it appears a horse has a certain daily "chew factor". If a roughage source is fed as a pellet or chopped to a length of less than an inch the horse will not have to chew the roughage as long. Therefore less saliva is produced which has been shown to affect the ph (acidity) of the large intestine. It has been demonstrated that lowering the ph of the hindgut will affect the type of microrganisms present. In addition it is thought that when a horse's minimum daily "chew factor" is not met that the horse may begin to look to chew on other objects such as wood, manes, and tails. This may be due to too little fiber and the corresponding change in gut ph, boredom ( the horse simply may need to do something) or a combination of factors. Whatever the reasons it is important that the horse does meet its "chew factor" requirement.

The main nutrient supplied by hay to horses is energy. Energy requirements for the horse are expressed as megacalories of digestible energy. For example an 1100 pound horse being ridden lightly requires 20.5 megacalories of digestible energy per day. A high quality Costal Bermudagrass hay as shown in Table 1 will contain 0.9 megacalories of digestible energy per pound on a 100% dry matter basis. If the hay is 90% dry matter that means that as the hay is fed out of the bale it will contain 0.81 megacalories of digestible energy per pound. Therefore to meet the 1100 pound horse's energy requirements being ridden lightly the horse would need to consume 25.3 pounds of hay. A horse can consume up to 2.25 to 2.5% of its body weight in forage dry matter per day.

The problem of determining hay quality for horses based on energy content of the hay is that routine laboratory analyzes do not provide digestible energy values. Instead a typical routine forage analysis will provide crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, crude fiber, moisture, and possibly some mineral analyses. It is well documented that as a plant matures crude protein values decline and fiber values increase. Along with the advancing maturity of a plant the digestibility decreases and therefore the digestible energy value decreases. Therefore the higher the neutral detergent and crude fiber values the lower the digestible energy values.

I have attempted to simplify all of the above by putting "Relative Feed Values" on various types of horse hays fed in the southeastern United States. Most all hays are compared to alfalfa so I have put a relative feed value of 100 on a high quality alfalfa. I have listed three levels of relative feed values as well as digestible energy values for each type of hay so that there are three categories into which a hay may fall; excellent, average, and poor quality. Of course this table is useless unless the hay is analyzed for at least dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber and/or crude fiber.

Table 1. Approximate digestible energy and relative feed values of hays for horses.  (100% Dry Matter Basis)
 

A short breeding season (and therefore a short calving season) of 90 or less days is recommended. A short breeding season is usually the most profitable. Assuming a constant weaning date (or marketing date) (most producers do wean all calves at the same time regardless of age) early calving season are born in the summer.

Calves born is summer months (June-August) are approximately 70 pounds lighter at weaning than those dropped at other times. Estimates are that nearly 40 percent of the calves from herds on a year-round calving season are born in the summer.

How to start a controlled calving season is simple - producers must want to. The steps involved are as follows:

Step 1 - Build a good, strong pen or pasture for the bull.

Step 2 - Select a desired calving season, i.e., fall or spring. This depends upon the producer's feed supply, labor, marketing plans and weather (location) to a great extent.

Step 3 - Develop and use schedule and management plan for chosen calving season.

No system of getting started on a controlled breeding program can completely eliminate the delaying of some cows from their current calving schedule, short of culling a bunch of cows the first year. A more reasonable approach is to adopt a 3-year plan for converting down to a 90-day calving season.

The following schedules are designed for a 3-year management program. Dates could be changed to adapt to different desired calving dates. This is based on 283 days of pregnancy. These schedules allow for a minimum of time that the cows will be open and still accomplish the goal of reducing the calving season. The bulls are put back in the herd the first year so that the calving season will be six months long.

The second year, the breeding schedule is such that the calving season will be cut down to about four and one-half months. In the third year, the bull will only be in the breeding pasture for 90 days, therefore the calving season of the cows will be reduced down to the desired 90 days. Further reduction in the calving season is possible, however better management and nutrition are generally necessary.

Replacement heifers are bred 30 days ahead of the cow herd's final long-range planned breeding date each year. This is to provide the heifers with needed extra time after calving the first time to breed back with their second calf. Most first calve heifers will need this extra time in order to "fit into" the mature cows calving season. Controlled breeding seasons are efficient and profitable for cattle operations. They just require commitment on the producer's part, a calendar and a good bull pen. The rewards are well worth the effort!
 

Three Year Schedules for Converting From Year-Round to 90-Day Calving Season

SPRING CALVING (Jan., Feb., Mar.)

1^st Year

Remove buss June 22.

Pregnancy test all cows August 22 (pregnancy test 60-90 days after removing bulls from herd (or at a convenient time, such as, at weaning).

 

a. Cull - all nonpregnant, dry breeding-age females which have been running with the bull.
b. Cull - all nonpregnant cows with calves five months of age or older.
c. Cull all open replacement heifers not bred after exposed for 60 days each year.

2^nd Year

• Remove bull from cows June 22.
• Pregnancy test and cull as outlined in first year.
• Put bull back with herd February 6.
• Breed replacement heifers for 60 days - February 22 thru April 22.

• Remove bull from cows June 22.
• Pregnancy test and cull all open cows this year regardless of age of their calves.
• Put bull back with herd March 25.
• Breed replacement heifers February 22 thru April 22.

FALL CALVING (Oct., Nov., Dec.)

1^st Year

• Remove bull March 24.
• Pregnancy test all cows May 24.
• Pregnancy test 60-90 days after removing bulls from herd (or at a convenient time, such as, at weaning).

a.  Cull - all nonpregnant, dry breeding-age females which have been running with the bull.
b.  Cull - all nonpregnant cows with calves five months of age or older.
c.  Dull all open replacement heifers not bred after exposed for 60 days each year.

• Put bull back with herd September 22.
• Start breeding replacement heifers November 23.
• Remove bull from replacement heifers January 23.

• Remove bull from cows March 24.
• Pregnancy test and cull as outlined in first year.
• Put bull back with herd November 6.
• Breed replacement heifers for 60 days - November 23 thru January 23.

• Remove bull from cows March 24.
• Pregnancy test and cull all open cows this year regardless of age of their calves.
• Put bull back with herd December 23.
• Breed replacement heifers November 23 thru January 23.

As we approach the hotter, dryer months, producers should consider culling as a viable economic means to not only reduce stocking rates, but to boost the bottom line of returns.

Efficiency of production and desirability of product is essential today. Producers that do not have and utilize culling standards do not make maximum profits, if any profit at all! Normal rate of culling averages 15-20% per year. The most important criterion in culling a cow is her reproductive efficiency. The second most important measure of cow productively is for growth performance of her offspring.

Reasons

There are several reasons for practicing a good well-run culling program in any beef herd - failure to conceive, poor milk production, inferior calf performance, age, genetic improvement (shorting the generation interval), however, these and many more can all be grouped into one major reason - ECONOMICS! Animals that do not efficiently produce a profit every year can not be tolerated.

Basis

By the use of your herd or breed association, etc., records, one can objectively cull inferior animals from the herd. Without records, this management job cannot be conducted effectively. Cows should be culled on the basis of their performance in the following categories:

Trait Standard

1. Fertility - conceive and produce a live calf every year.
2. Calving Difficulty - eliminate the vet bill before you bury it.
3. Birth Weight - discriminate against excessive birth weights in both parental lines.
4. Mothering Ability - healthy, vigorous calf.
5. Milk Production - calf at least 50% weight of cow.
6. Growth Rate - at weaning.
7. Conformation - at least medium frame, choice calf.
8. Carcass Merit - calf capable of finishing at a low choice, high yield carcass grade.
9. Efficiency of Gain - produce a profitable calf at a minimum of upkeep.
10. Longevity - Longevity is important in a beef herd. Females that can meet the above goals are hard to produce and are not cheap to produce. Good beef cows should be functional at least until they are 10 years of age. Many cows are going strong at 14-15 years of age.