The New and the Old in Raising Hogs in Manitoba
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by student on June 26, 2018
Author: Harry Siemens
Reference: Prairie Hog Country – October/November 2017
Summary:
New – An open house was held for the first new barn opened in seven years in Manitoba. The facility is a 800 sow farrow to 80 pounds and utilizes open group housing with 125 sows in each group. Kleinsasser, the boss of the operation, described the group sow housing to be going well with some challenges.
The facility anticipated the training to be the most challenging aspect of the group housing, however to their surprise it has been going quite well. Through trial an error, they determined that pigs around 100 kg trained the best.
The facility forward sold approximately 70% of their production which has proven to be beneficial with the U.S. dollar decreasing and interest rates increasing.
Old- Rolf Penner, previous a full-fledged hog producer made the decision to focus on the grain industry. However, he still has his barns but is just not in the pig business anymore. He has been renting out his barns to a third party.
The New and Old in Raising Hogs in Manitoba