Dad and I made our way to Franklin, Virginia last Friday to go to the Virginia Pork Conference that is held every year. There were quite a few very good speakers there this year, and Dad and I learned a lot! The first speaker was talking on moving pigs and what kind of stress it had on them and how to help with it, and then the second speaker was the best. He talked about nursery care for pigs, or the wean-to-finish plan. That is where the pigs go in one pen at the time that they are moved, and stay there until they are finished, or ready for market. We don't have the facilities for that, and we use the different rooms for our nurseries to move our pigs throughout as they grow. But, he did have some great information that I wasn't as familiar with about some new techniques that can be used with the pigs after they have been weaned and go into the nurseries. We are going to buy some new creep feeders, and give our weaned pigs a special mash- just feed mixed with some warm water- to help them better adapt to new feed when they are weaned.
The last two speakers talked about the Chesapeake Bay initiative, and what it's impact is going to be on farmers, and the possibility for many more regulations that will have to be followed. It was pretty scary to think about what is possibly coming for farmers throughout the United States!
We certainly enjoyed the warmer weather that was here over the weekend! It is always nice to have 50 degree temperatures in January- until the next day when all the mud has thawed out, and red mud makes a big mess when you are trying to get around to the barns, or to feed hay. There is still snow on the ground, and I will be very glad when all of that goes away, and the mud starts to dry up, so the probability of me getting stuck goes down! I think the warm weather is gone for a while though, with the rain coming in and probably going to stay for a while.
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