snow

 A new layer of snow covers the earth this morning and the gentle breeze from the southeast is not disturbing it.  Temps are to climb several degrees by noon and then fall toward zero in the evening and overnight hours.  I can see cattle in the pasture around their hay rings from where I sit and they aren't yet greatly disturbed. 

When the wind switches to the northwest later today the pigs will show discomfort, particularly the sows.  We do not have adequate shelter for them from winter winds and to achieve that will require extensive renovations to the two hoops that house them.  30-60 head of sows in a standard hoop is not enough animal body heat under any circumstances and the lower the temp and higher the wind, the worse it is.

In addition, we need perhaps fifty percent more space for our market hogs.  And our bedding pile shrinks rapidly and we wonder how much of it we will have to buy to get through til spring when we can bale more from the stalks the cow herd now forages.  We use an incredible amount of bedding, perhaps 400 big cornstalk bales per year.  It is difficult to get them made and that amount of soiled bedding to haul out and apply to the cropping acres is a major materials moving task.

This is simply too much work for a small hog operation.  The view among our customers is favorable toward the idea of bedding the hogs, and we prefer to produce that way as well, but we will need to get better at it.