genetics

Temple Grandin is an associate professor of animal science at Colorado State University. She is also autistic. A published author, her latest book is called "Animals in Translation". Perhaps most importantly Temple Grandin is a woman who thinks we can be more productive and more humane with our livestock animals if we pay them close attention, listening and observing. In this way, we can discern much of what they are trying to tell us. She speculates that the behavior and management problems that come with the new ultra lean breeding in pigs may come from the lack of fat on the carcass. Lack of myelin, a fat sheath surrounding the nerve bundles, may cause the pig to lose the ability to calm itself down and rest, leading to destructive mob behavior where the animals kill a designated victim simply because they cannot quit picking on it. These ultra lean pigs are also difficult to breed. The boars have greatly reduced sexual appetite and the sows often do not display strong signs of being in season. Breeding percentages (number of pregnancies per sow serviced either naturally or artificially) are trending down. The drive for species survival seems to be blunted by the carcass characteristics we have insisted upon breeding in. And the animals are getting savage and unmanageable. Here at Pastures A Plenty, we have noticed for some time that the same characteristics that make for excellent taste in pork also make for an easy to manage animal on the farm. It is one of those very rare win-win situations. However, staying away from ultra lean breeding, which produces pork that tastes like a long weak drink of vinegar, is difficult because the industry is so enamored of it. Look at the pictures to get an idea of the difference between these different genotypes. Note that the red sow on the top has a nice smooth top line from front to back and she shows a generous covering of fat throughout. This is necessary for health. This red sow is of moderate length, size, and thickness, well proportioned in her muscling. She looks and is durable. This is how we want the sow herd to look. The close up of the back of the black sow, the picture on the bottom, shows prominent muscle grouping and you can even see the knobs of her spine in a line from the bottom of the picture. This sow shows ultra lean genetics, and should we try to breed her, would farrow pigs that would be fast growing, edgy and quarrelsome, and then none too tasty when slaughtered. She does not have enough fat on her carcass for her own good, much less the well being of our farm or our eating enjoyment

Winter

It is difficult to remember as we go through a more traditional winter complete with snow and cold that a mere six months ago we were working pretty hard trying to keep pastured cattle alive in the heat and get sows to breed in that same heat, in August, when they are physiologically not very inclined toward pregnancy anyhow. The cold snaps here at Pastures mean extra hay set out for the cattle and the half frozen fingers that go with trying to get the twine off those bales to a seemingly endless need for extra bedding in the hog quarters. We are approaching another turn in the seasons now as we get into February. The winter has shown us weaknesses in our winter operations just as the heat did for summer a few months ago. The challenge is to set things up so that the livestock is comfortable in a wide range of temperatures and conditions without requiring a great amount of heroic effort on our part. That is part of what farm management really is, and for those of us in alternative agriculture, we must find our own way since we have left behind the turnkey systems that conventional agriculture offers. Jim

snow covered

Once again this winter, the fields are snow covered. Our first snow fall was seventeen inches before Christmas, followed by several more 2-3 inch events. The pheasants are coming close to the buildings again to find spilled feed, as the crusted snow cover makes foraging difficult for them. Snowy winters are not necessarily easy for us either, as the stuff must be moved before any of the necessary machine work can be done. Since the alternative to snow cover is often blowing dirt out here on the over tilled prairie though, we make the best of it, appreciating the white beauty and its invitation to restfulness. As I write this, the natural year, which started toward summer on December 21st is beginning to exert itself, with several extra minutes of sunshine every day. We hope your Christmas celebration was every thing you wanted it to be, and wish you well for the remainder of the winter. Stay warm. Jim

farrowing house

Our new thirty stall farrowing house is up and waiting on construction of the farrowing pens for us to put it into use. These pens, of course, will be roomy, non-constrictive for the sow and protective of the piglets, and will be bedded with straw. We have, as you know, decided some time ago that farrowing crates, which so completely control the movement of the sow, are not for us. Therefore, we needed to design a pen that would encourage the sow to do on her own what we want her to do, that is, to farrow her piglets in some comfort and to settle in quietly with them for lactation. Much thought has gone into these pens. We will have much more on this in later installments of this writing. Important too is the design of the building, which is very well insulated, with a higher ceiling and natural light via windows for a better atmosphere for both farmer and animals. It also incorporates a passive geothermal system which delivers ground water through pipes buried in the concrete for the purpose of cooling the sow in the heat of summer and keeping her quiet and comfortable. Pipes have also been installed in the piglet area so that we might warm them by use of a thermal solar panel. This is exciting for us. And it is this kind of thinking that will be necessary if agriculture is to move from being a climate problem to a climate solution. Stay tuned. More to follow. Jim

fall

The tomatoes and green peppers as well as the eggplant finally quit for the season last night. When I walked out through the garden to check the cattle this morning of October fifth, the leaves were curled from the frost and the faint smell of green chopped feed was on the air. As I made my way through the cornfield on the field road a rooster pheasant surged up from the side sounding his rusty caw-cackle as he zoomed low over the standing corn, settling in toward the other end of the field. The cattle are putting on weight fast on the fall grasses and they were busy harvesting the last crop of hay where we had them temporarily fenced. In several weeks there will be the cornfields for them to glean, while the sow herd picks through the last of the pasture growth. The drought closed in this year, but we had excellent yields on the oats, what looks like a good corn crop and adequate hay crops. We have much to be thankful for, but the soil is very deeply dried out and we have a bushel full of worries for next year. Something is afoot that it is going to be hard to live with. The upcoming winter is for rest, for planning and finishing the new farrowing building, and for planning and studying a more weather durable approach to our cropping pattern. But if we are alive to the earth, we cannot fail to notice the beauty that surrounds us in this fall season. We do not get to come this way again. Jim

extreme weather

As the weather gets more extreme, the importance of local observation and response grows. For instance, this late summer we notice a surplus of ragweed volunteering in our pastures. Ragweed, like dandelion in the spring, is a marker weed,indicating bare ground or a sparseness in the grass sward. Possible causes are many. Could it be the dry summer just past, or the wet spring we had? Maybe it was the even wetter spring and summer in 2011, or hoof compaction encouraged by the terribly wet October in 2010, when we pulled the cattle off for a week and fed hay because we were worried about destroying the pasture entirely. Maybe it is the increased sow traffic, as the mother sows have been allowed free range of the pastures on a daily basis this entire year. Maybe we are grazing too long, or coming back too soon in the rotation, trying to get too many grazing passes in a season. Maybe we are just overstocked. Farming is the ability to think clearly about these possibilities and then choose the simplest and most effective solution. Should we reseed, increase fertility with a manure application, better control sow traffic, decrease stocking density, or, most costly install better drainage or irrigate? First we must think! Farming is often underpaid, but never boring. It is also going to be increasingly complex and difficult as the weather gets more erratic. Jim

bedding

Bedding for livestock is an important consideration on a diversified farm, not only because it greatly enhances animal comfort, which it does, but because the use of bedding materials, and the choice of which ones to use, further tie the farm together presenting possibilities for synergy which make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. On our farm, the process starts from two poles. First, we want to bed the animals rather than use liquid manure systems. This is a quality of life issue for the animals for obvious reasons, and for us, the farmers as well, because the carbon in the bedding material ties up the nitrogen compounds in the feces and urine and does an excellent job of controlling odors. We do have people visit us who are surprised to hear that we have hogs, since they often cannot smell them. Second, the decision as to what bedding materials to use both impacts the land and is impacted by it. We must ask what the farm grows easily that can economically be used for bedding. Corn grows well here as you can see from the picture taken in late June, and can be grown in a responsible manner if done right. After harvest there is a considerable residue left that can be baled and brought to the livestock quarters for use as bedding. Though rough and coarse, it is quite absorbent and plentiful, thus providing a good deal of carbon for neutralizing odors, while increasing pig comfort and giving the animals something to play with. We use the cornstalk bales for bedding the older animals in our feeding hoops. They like to tear the bales apart and carry the stalks and cobs around chewing on them. Generally we add a bale or two several times a week to keep their areas fresh. Oats grows well here too, though sometimes in a wet spring, we do have trouble getting it planted on time in April. As you can see, we had a nice stand of oats in late June this year, and it did yield well when we harvested in late July. Oats is an excellent feed ingredient. We blend it in all our feeds, as it tends to modify or tone down the high energy corn in the ration, serving to improve digestion and soothe the stomach. Think of oatmeal. For the baby pigs, it is essential when they are weaned and needing to get their digestion working on foods other than mother's milk. The sows benefit from oats at farrowing because of its tendency to improve milk production and the whole herd benefits from the fiber. Oat straw is a finer fibered bedding material than cornstalks and is excellent in our farrowing quarters because it mats down a little, giving the baby pigs a layer of insulation between them and the floor and a nice soft surface to walk on. The sow, when she arranges her nest as she wants it before farrowing finds straw nice to work with as she can mold it to curve along her backbone as she lies down to give birth. The piglets are then born in a little straw pocket that keeps them close to their mother for the first few critical hours of life. The other function of all bedding materials is as a safety feature when it comes to land application. Unlike with liquid manures, it is nearly impossible to over apply manures mixed with bedding materials. This is because the bulk of the straw or stalks will balk the next field operations if it is spread too thickly. Bedding in the manure is an environmental safeguard. And this kind of manure application generally becomes available to crop plants over a two or three year period, rather than immediately. This means that the farm will be improved by this kind of operation over the course of some years, and the farm family will see the benefits if it can be long term on the land. It all fits together.