Group Sow Housing and Management Seminar presentions available on Youtube

In December, 2018 OMAFRA, Ontario Pork, Ontario Pork Industry Council, and The Prairie Swine Centre, with support from industry, held a London Swine Conference special seminar in Stratford, ON. Its objective was to help pork producers address challenges of sow management, in particular challenges related to group housing.

Videos of presentations are available on the London Swine Conference YouTube site (click here). Read more information about the seminar and our sponsors by following this link to the LSC website: www.londonswineconference.ca/index.php/gshms.

Following are the presentations on the program. Click on the titles below to watch the videos. 

• Producer Profile on Loose Sow Housing

• Common Challenges with Group Sow Housing

Best Mixing Practices in Group Housing

Health Management in Groups

• Producer Profile on Hord Family Farms

• Breakout Session on Converting 4300 Sow Barn to Loose Housing

• Producer Profile – Group Sow Housing

• Sow Lameness: Causes and Prevention Strategies

• Breakout Session on Sunterra Farms Loose Housing Conversion

• Improving Production Efficiencies and Benchmarking

• Group Sow Housing Panel Discussion

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2019 January and February Swine Budgets Now Available

Knowing your costs and where your money goes is key to improving your bottom line. The OMAFRA monthly  Swine Budget provides a guide and format to estimate the cost of production for a swine enterprise. Accurate and up to date information is essential to determine an individual farm cost of production and to make management, financial, and marketing decisions.  Check out how your compare.

• 2019 Swine Budget
• 2018 Swine Budget

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New Intake Added for Final Year of Growing Forward 2 Program

While demand has remained high, there is still plenty of opportunity left. Originally, only two intakes had been scheduled for 2017, but a third intake has been added to make sure producers have time plenty of chances to apply. Intake dates for 2017 are:

**Newly added intake

Intake Dates

1          February 3 – 23, 2017

2          April 4 – 18, 2017**

3          May 12 – June 1, 2017

More Information

 

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Selling Food to Ontario Are you starting or growing a food business?

Are you starting or growing a food business?

Learn how you as a producer or small processor can access new market channels at these one day workshops. Topics include market channel opportunities, basics of food regulations, costing and pricing your products for success, food packaging and labelling, getting your product listed, and food trends: consumer and industry expectations.

For more information and to register visit: www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/busdev/facts/sellingfoodwkshop.htm

Other dates and locations planned are Renfrew, March 7, Smiths Falls, March 8, Huron county, and Middlesex county (dates TBD). Information on these workshops will be added to the OMAFRA website shortly.

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Looking for information on agri-tourism or direct farm marketing?

Looking for information on agri-tourism, marketing plans, or direct farm marketing? Three updated factsheets are now available on OMAFRA’s Business Management page:

 Developing an Agri-Tourism Operation in Ontario

Are you interested in opening your farm to the public? Does your farm have the potential to integrate agri-tourism into the business? This factsheet discusses what it takes to run an agri-tourism operation, how to define your target market, and the first steps in marketing your business.

 Developing a Marketing Plan

If you are looking for information on how to develop a marketing plan or have ever wondered if a marketing plan is necessary, the newly updated Developing a Marketing Plan factsheet is a must-read.

 Direct Farm Marketing in Ontario- A Primer

Have you ever wanted to shift gears and become a price maker, not a price taker? Does direct farm marketing appeal to you? Similar to agri-tourism, there are many different considerations to take into account when entering the direct farm marketing business.

 More>>

 

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Hog supplies in Canada and the US are on the rise (Stats Canada July 1 Livestock Estimates)

From Statistics Canada the Daily, August 18:

“As of July 1, there were 7,035 hog farms in Canada, up 0.1% from the same date a year earlier. These farms reported 1.2 million sows and gilts, up 0.7% from July 1, 2015.

Canada exported 2.9 million hogs in the first half of 2016, down 0.1% from the same period in 2015. There was continued strong demand for hogs in the United States. According to the most recent US data, hog inventories reached their highest June 1 level in over 50 years, up 2.0% from June 1, 2015. Hog slaughter in the US was 1% higher in the first six months of 2016 compared with the same period in 2015.

Hog slaughter increased in Canada in the first six months of 2016, up 1.3% from the same period in 2015 to 10.6 million head.

The January-to-June 2016 pig crop was 14.4 million head, up 2.2% from the same period in 2015.”

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Custom farmwork rates increased again in 2015

Reblogged from ONagbusiness

Continuing a long standing trend with custom farmwork, 2015 custom rates rose from the previous report in 2012. Figure 1 shows an example of grain corn combining rates from 1994 to 2015. Combining rates have been on a steady increase over the past 20 years, which is true of most field crop operations. Overall, per […]

via Custom rates increased again in 2015 — onagbusiness

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