New Service Offers Help With Everyday Pig Tasks and Recordkeeping
March 29, 2010
The Pipestone System shareholder daily divides time between pig finishing and crop production while monitoring employees, the markets, and new layers of compliance. So sharing some of those responsibilities makes sense.
“We asked producers, ‘How can we help you do what you need to do every day?’ Then we used their want-list to build a new service package,” says Pipestone System Swine Specialist Hannah Walkes.
The package, named Progressive Pork Solutions, provides training programs for barn employees, scheduled animal health assessments, recordkeeping assistance, and climate control monitoring for barns.
Here’s what’s included in Progressive Pork Solutions Services in the package include:
- Health and production assessments
- Barn interior climate evaluations
- Recordkeeping to track barn performance
- Nutrition program reviews.
You may also choose additional services that provide hands-on help with:
- Pig marking
- Vaccinating
- Starting nursery pigs.
What’s a nutrition program review?
“We’ll help develop feed budgets and monitor a barn’s feed efficiencies, if that is something the producer wants us to do,” Hannah continues. “Based on our preliminary test of this service, I suspect we could save a producer anywhere from 50¢ to $3 per pig in feed costs by identifying small improvements.”
Incorrectly sorted pig groups going to the packer reduce the value producers earn for each load. As part of the Progressive Pork service package, Hannah and the Pipestone veterinarians will also be available to train producers and their employees to effectively sort and market hogs.
Monitoring pig growth rates and setting marketing benchmarks is an important aspect of the service. Hannah explains how producers who choose that option will get tools that will help track the rate at which pigs should grow and when they’re ready to leave the barn. “Personalized spreadsheets will compare an individual barn’s production to the thousands and thousands of pigs marketed through Pipestone System over the years. We’ll factor in the genetics and health of each group of pigs as it progresses to pinpoint the time to market.”
Your level of expertise and how busy you are with other enterprises on your farm will determine how many elements of this service you decide to use. Hannah says some long-time System shareholders—who come from a strong swine producing tradition—may not need to tap all of the choices on the Progressive Pork Solutions menu. But other producers will want more of what this program provides.
What will these services cost?
Naturally, this new comprehensive service package won’t be free. Producers will know what fee will match the services selected. “The price will be a straightforward cost per pig. Then, we want to set up monthly visits to provide those services,” Hannah continues. “How frequently we’re onsite will depend on pig health and what the grower needs. But the whole point is continuous contact to get ahead of health and efficiency challenges.”
For the past 12 months we’ve been watching Dr. Cameron Schmitt’s initial tests of the services with 30,000 pigs in Iowa. A team of veterinarians, swine-health professionals, and support staff is now prepared to go work on your farm. Talk to us about Progressive Pork Solutions package of services.
“We’re prepared to tailor services in this package to fit individual producers’ needs,” Hannah points out. “I’m convinced this new service will pay for itself.”
Contact: hwalkes@pipevet.com; 507-215-2420
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