Banff Pork Seminar in January covered topics related to “Feeding the World”. Demand for pork on a worldwide basis, especially in China, is high and requires additional inputs into pig production to meet this demand. With a poorer economy in much of Europe and the Americas, demand for domestic pork is declining as being a high-priced product. Less meat will be consumed overall, including pork. Therefore, exports of pork to high-priced countries will effectively keep our prices higher than we might expect relative to our current supplies of hogs.

Good weather so far in December and January, to lower the cost of heating in the pig barns and allowing pigs to continue to grow at optimum rates. We’ll see what happens when the winter snowstorms come to the Prairies in February and March.

Neu Muehl Colony is sending great slaughter pigs to OLYMEL as well. The 178 hogs delivered in December averaged $173 each on the new heavy grading grid for pigs marketed at “98 kg plus” carcass weight.

Parameter	Value
No. pigs graded	178
Ave. weight	99.5 kg
Ave. loin incentive	$1.66
Ave. backfat	17.9 mm
Ave. lean	63.6 mm
Ave. index	111.6
Ave. yield	61.1%

December 12, 2011

Hutterville Colony retains one Summit sow number 3297 for her 15th litter due March 19. The first 14 litters weaned an average of 12 pigs from the 187 liveborn and 5 stillborn piglets farrowed.
Yorkshire sow 3868 has farrowed 92 piglets in 7 litters already, for an average of 13.1 pigs/litter. The tour of sows in the herd shows them to be in great physical condition for production, as being not too overweight either in gestation or lactation.