method

It seems likely that those new to hog production, or those few remaining small producers should shy away from conventional confinement methods.  The conventional approach is very expensive, for one thing, but also, it gets the farmer into some unnecessary problems.  The best small farm is always NOT a smaller version of a big one.  Take for instance the matter of disease.  Many of the illnesses that hog production is plagued with are a result of production methods.  PED, or porcine epidemic diarrhea which has been a scourge on the level of PRRS for some time now, absolutely depends on industrial scheduling of the sow herd, as it is a virus with an incubation period of less than four weeks.  This fits it admirably to the modern production schedule, which will supply a crop of newborns for the virus to feast on every three to four weeks like clockwork.  Even the somewhat more relaxed old "farmer" schedule of three groups farrowing in turn producing new litters every seven to eight weeks defeats this disease.

Seasonal is best, of course.  But markets sometimes dictate against that.  Until we can get the attitudes changed, we are probably stuck with a system running at a higher level of stress than is best.  But for those who mean to serve the "fill up the freezer market", a single spring farrowing is best.  This minimizes the work of cleaning between batches, gets sunshine and fresh air to do some of the work and provides a bit of time off for the operator.  Sales must drive this, as they drive everything else that makes sense in agriculture.