Articles

With breakeven pressures lifted, now is the perfect time to step back from working in your business and focus on working on it—making strategic plans today to future-proof your farm and secure long-term success.

When it comes to running a successful wean-to-finish operation, the condition of your facilities is more than just a backdrop—it directly impacts efficiency, animal welfare, and long-term profitability. Future-proofing your farm starts with a strong foundation, both literally and figuratively.

Crisp air, the hustle and bustle of harvest, bonfires, football, and pumpkin spice everything—all remind us of the beauty of fall. Unfortunately, the season also brings back the all-too-familiar hack of influenza in pigs. Effectively managing influenza not only protects herd health but also helps secure the long-term productivity of the farm.

Over the past decade, ethanol plants have become increasingly efficient at squeezing every last bit of oil out of corn. Good news for the ethanol industry, but a challenge for the DDGS by-product we rely on for swine diets. Historically, feeding DDGS up to 30% in grow-finish rations worked well—if the diet was balanced correctly.

Choosing a supplier isn’t all that different from dating—it’s not just about looks (or price). It’s about finding a dependable partner who checks all the boxes and shows up when it counts.

Today’s pig farms have access to a wide range of technologies—from mobile phones to specialized software—that help us track production and communicate more effectively. But even with these tools, communication gaps still exist. We often assume that if the data is recorded and analyzed, everyone on the farm understands what it means.

Adequate. Mediocre. Tolerable. These are not adjectives we want to use to describe the standards we have for aspects of our business. So why would we ever accept these terms when it comes to the standards we have for pig health? Maybe we don’t think of having standards for health.

Farming has always been a risky business. Markets shift, input costs climb, weather patterns change, and disease threats never fully go away. But the producers who manage risk well don’t just react—they prepare. And preparation starts with discipline. Risk management isn’t about avoiding risk altogether.

When summer temperatures climb, managing barn conditions becomes critical—not just for comfort, but for pig health and performance. Misters are a key tool in helping pigs stay cool. When barn temperatures rise above a set threshold, misters activate to wet pigs and begin the process of evaporative cooling.

Glaesserella parasuis (GPS) is a disease that almost every swine producer has encountered at some point. While it may not be as easily recognized as Streptococcus suis or Escherichia coli, it can lead to similar consequences—sick pigs and increased mortality.

Swine nursery diets encompass less than 20% of overall feed cost. However, we know that those first 6 weeks on feed have the biggest impact on overall performance. So, the question becomes, does investing more in your nursery diet pay off in the long run? Tokach et al.

Change is often described as inevitable, but in the pig business, it’s more than a reality—it’s a mindset. Embracing change can set the course for progress and success, as demonstrated by one producer’s journey to transform their operation. This producer owned a 30-year-old, 1,300-head sow unit located in a swine-dense area.