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conulybecause of course they are.
Anyway, one poster made an illuminating comment on modern farming that I think everybody could benefit from:
My familiarity is only with the hog industry. My dad is part of a very large farmer owned cooperative. Once upon a time, you kept your own boars (male studs) and your own sows (breeding females.) However, it's become more efficient to keep the boars and sows on one major farm, then put the feeder pigs (3 week old little pigs) on a semi and send them out to the grower farms. The grower farms have inside temperature controlled climates. Pigs are now bred so lean and so specific that their ability to handle stress is impacted. Their immune systems are lower and their ability to handle stress is impacted so they don't grow as well or get sick more easily. To decrease exposure, pigs are essentially held in quarantine - one large group comes in, one large group goes out. My dad used to get a shipment of pigs every 2-3 months. So he might have one pen of 1 month old pigs, one pen of four month old pigs, and one group headed to be butchered. But, if one group got sick in there, the entire building couldn't be cleaned, so they'd infect the new group coming in and it would just continue. So, most farmers have moved to an "all in all out" system. They get shipments of babies twice a year. Each group is butchered between 5-6 months, giving a week to rest and a week to clean (give or take) and disinfect the entire facility. It reduces illness and then reduces medication, thus reducing costs.
But, therein lies the problem. If your facility is full of 260 pound "fat hogs" you have ZERO space for the new batch of hogs. These hogs can't just "be put in the barn" out back. They're carefully cultivated for one thing (butchering) and not fit for stress (weather fluctuations, drafty areas, etc) and would die. Thus, your new babies have little cost wrapped up in them - it's cheaper to kill them. Your adult hogs have all the costs wrapped up in them. It would be stupid to kill your fully finished animals.
Okay - so you've kissed off your next six month group. Do you then get pigs next month? Or do you not get yours again for six months? Remember, every litter is completely spoken for and carefully timed. There are no "extra" animals in this system.
This is excerpted from a longer comment.
I think... I think I'm going to start spending a lot more to primarily get heritage breeds from small-scale suppliers in the future.
Anyway, one poster made an illuminating comment on modern farming that I think everybody could benefit from:
My familiarity is only with the hog industry. My dad is part of a very large farmer owned cooperative. Once upon a time, you kept your own boars (male studs) and your own sows (breeding females.) However, it's become more efficient to keep the boars and sows on one major farm, then put the feeder pigs (3 week old little pigs) on a semi and send them out to the grower farms. The grower farms have inside temperature controlled climates. Pigs are now bred so lean and so specific that their ability to handle stress is impacted. Their immune systems are lower and their ability to handle stress is impacted so they don't grow as well or get sick more easily. To decrease exposure, pigs are essentially held in quarantine - one large group comes in, one large group goes out. My dad used to get a shipment of pigs every 2-3 months. So he might have one pen of 1 month old pigs, one pen of four month old pigs, and one group headed to be butchered. But, if one group got sick in there, the entire building couldn't be cleaned, so they'd infect the new group coming in and it would just continue. So, most farmers have moved to an "all in all out" system. They get shipments of babies twice a year. Each group is butchered between 5-6 months, giving a week to rest and a week to clean (give or take) and disinfect the entire facility. It reduces illness and then reduces medication, thus reducing costs.
But, therein lies the problem. If your facility is full of 260 pound "fat hogs" you have ZERO space for the new batch of hogs. These hogs can't just "be put in the barn" out back. They're carefully cultivated for one thing (butchering) and not fit for stress (weather fluctuations, drafty areas, etc) and would die. Thus, your new babies have little cost wrapped up in them - it's cheaper to kill them. Your adult hogs have all the costs wrapped up in them. It would be stupid to kill your fully finished animals.
Okay - so you've kissed off your next six month group. Do you then get pigs next month? Or do you not get yours again for six months? Remember, every litter is completely spoken for and carefully timed. There are no "extra" animals in this system.
This is excerpted from a longer comment.
I think... I think I'm going to start spending a lot more to primarily get heritage breeds from small-scale suppliers in the future.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-30 08:44 pm (UTC)I can afford to pay but there is a limited supply.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-30 09:43 pm (UTC)