Productivity in a Crossbred Herd of Swine

Records available for the rotation breed cross herd at the North Central Substation, Eureka, provide a look at what happens to herd performance, over time, in a herd in which an attempt is made to apply information learned from research about breeding for performance. This herd is maintained under conditions and management similar to many commercial swine operations. Herd management was described in some detail in A.S. Series 65-26 (S.D.S.U. Swine Day, 1965). The breeding program is a systematic rotation breed cross, with a new generation each year. Replacement gilts are selected from each pig crop with emphasis on litter performance, growth rate, and minimum backfat. Herd boar replacements represent the Hampshire, Duroc and Yorkshire breeds and are used in that order so that a cycle of use is completed every three years. Boars are chosen principally for growthiness and meatiness from purebred herds doing some testing including carcass evaluation

Marketing Butcher Hogs at Minimum Weights of Either 205 or 260 Pounds

Long held views about the necessity of marketing hogs at weights between 200 and 225 lb. appear to need changing as producers are marketing a larger proportion of meatier hogs. These hogs retain their market desirability in terms of lean yield without excessive waste to weights of at least 250 lb. and in some instances heavier. Whether or not such a marketing plan is justified when the additional cost of production is considered is still not clear. A number of factors influence these production costs and returns. The trial reported here was an at tempt to evaluate final market weight of slaughter hogs and the effects on carcass yield, carcass desirability and production costs and returns

Systematic Rotation Crossing and SPF Management in Swine Production

Work with swine at the North Central Substation, Eureka, is intended to demonstrate: 1. The usefulness of systematic rotation breed crossing 2 . Herd management with SPF or disease free swine 3 . Feeding and management for sound swine productio

Performance in an Experimental SPF Herd

Disease free or SPF swine production has received increasing attention in recent years as an attempt to improve the environment under which pigs are produced. SPF procedures were developed to combat specifically atrophic rhinitis (AR) and virus pig pneumonia (VFF) which have been very costly to swine producers over the last several years. These diseases are transmitted principally by pig-to-pig contact once a herd is infected, or a clean herd is infected by introducing infected animals such as replacements for the breeding herd. A producer can unknowingly infect his herd by introducing apparently healthy, but actually carrier animals. Certified SFF herds, which must be maintained free of AR and VFF as determined by inspection at slaughter, are a source of clean breeding animals for these two diseases

Lysine and Protein Supplementation of Barley Rations for Growing-Finishing Swine

Barley is an important crop for north central South Dakota. It is higher in protein content than corn, ranging from 11 to 15 percent. However, it is lacking in adequate quantities of the amino acid lysine to support normal growth of growing-finishing pigs. A series of trials have been conducted at the North Central Substation, Eureka, using barley as the only grain in rations for growing-finishing swine. These trials have indicated a moderate improvement in gain and feed efficiency when barley-soybean me al rations have been supplemented with lysine. The objective of the experiment reported herein was to study the influence of lysine in the drinking water when pigs were fed a barley ration without additional protein and to compare this ration with barley-soybean meal rations of low (12%) and high (16 %) protein content

Meal or Pelleted Barley Rations, the Effect of Shaded Feeders and Waterers for Growing-Finishing Pigs on Pasture

This trial was conducted at the Eureka Station which is an area of the state where barley is relatively more easily available as a swine feed than corn. Barley has been shown to have about 90 percent of the feeding value of corn when properly supplemented. Barley has higher protein content than corn but also has a higher fiber content. One means which has been used to make this otherwise excellent feed more useful is to pellet complete ground mixed barley rations. Results have been variable with respect to improve d pig gains and feed efficiency when bar ley rations were fed in both meal and pelleted form. Pasture-raised spring pigs which are provided with only minimum shelter and have access to feed and water free-choice usually appear to be uncomfortable on warm days. Eating and drinking is usually limited to the night or cooler periods of the daytime. It is known that excessive heat reduces feed consumption which in turn reduces gains. Shade over feeders and waterers might be a means of permitting pigs to eat any time during the day. Swine production facilities at the Eureka Station limit the production to pasture conditions which are typical of those found on many farms. The objectives of this trial were to: (1) Compare performance of pigs fed a complete ground mixed barley ration in both meal and pelleted form, (2) compare performance of pigs with and without shade for the feeder and waterer, and (3) determine, if any, the joint effects of these treatments

Studies on Supplementing Barley Rations for Growing-Finishing Pigs

In north central South Dakota, barley is more readily available as a feed for swine than is corn. A number of studies have shown that barley either as the only grain or as part of the grain in swine rations supports satisfactory growth. Barley has higher protein content than corn but also greater fiber content. Like all cereal grains, it is considered low in both minerals and vitamins, and supplemental protein is usually recommended. A series of trials using barley as the only grain in rations for growing finishing swine have been conducted at the Experiment Station\u27s North Central Substation, Eureka. General results of these trials have indicated that pigs fed barley in pelleted form gained more rapidly and efficiently than pigs fed the same rations in meal form . Increased gains and feed efficiency, however, were not sufficient to offset the extra cost of pelleting. Trials utilizing low protein rations when the barley tested 11 percent protein or more have suggested a re-evaluation of recommendations with respect to supplementing barley

Barley or Combination of Barley and Oats for Growing-Finishing Gilts

Efficient utilization of barley alone or barley and oats combined has been the object of a number of feeding trials with swine at the North Central Substation, Eureka. An unreplicated trial during the growing-finishing period for 1968 spring pigs indicated essentially no difference among rations using properly supplemented barley alone or in three different combinations with oats as the grain. Because of those unexpected results a replicated trial using the same treatments for 1969 spring pigs was conducted

Combining Barley and Oats for Growing-Finishing Gilts

Northcentral South Dakota is an area in which corn is not produced in sufficient quantity for livestock feed needs. Since barley and oats are also produced in the area, both are used singly or in combination for swine production. Work at the Northcentral Substation, Eureka, has demonstrated that properly supplemented all- barley rations support rapid growth and efficient gains for swine. Because of interest in the area in using oats also for swine rations this trial was designed to compare barley alone with combinations of barley and oats

Broadband Transmission Spectroscopy of the super-Earth GJ 1214b suggests a Low Mean Molecular Weight Atmosphere

We used WIRCam on CFHT to observe four transits of the super-Earth GJ 1214b in the near-infrared. For each transit we observed in two bands nearly-simultaneously by rapidly switching the WIRCam filter wheel back and forth for the duration of the observations. By combining all our J-band (~1.25 microns) observations we find a transit depth in this band of 1.338\pm0.013% - a value consistent with the optical transit depth reported by Charbonneau and collaborators. However, our best-fit combined Ks-band (~2.15 microns) transit depth is deeper: 1.438\pm0.019%. Formally our Ks-band transits are deeper than the J-band transits observed simultaneously by a factor of 1.072\pm0.018 - a 4-sigma discrepancy. The most straightforward explanation for our deeper Ks-band depth is a spectral absorption feature from the limb of the atmosphere of the planet; for the spectral absorption feature to be this prominent the atmosphere of GJ 1214b must have a large scale height and a low mean molecular weight. That is, it would have to be hydrogen/helium dominated and this planet would be better described as a mini-Neptune. However, recently published observations from 0.78 - 1.0 microns, by Bean and collaborators, show a lack of spectral features and transit depths consistent with those obtained by Charbonneau and collaborators. The most likely atmospheric composition for GJ 1214b that arises from combining all these observations is less clear; if the atmosphere of GJ 1214b is hydrogen/helium dominated then it must have either a haze layer that is obscuring transit depth differences at shorter wavelengths, or significantly different spectral features than current models predict. Our observations disfavour a water-world composition, but such a composition will remain a possibility until observations reconfirm our deeper Ks-band transit depth or detect features at other wavelengths. [Abridged]Comment: ApJ accepted. 12 pages, 6 figures, in EmulateApJ forma