21 minute read
Swine & U
Much of my Extension swine work since 2018 has included and revolved around biosecurity education and foreign animal disease preparedness. 2018 was the year when, in August, the swine world learned of the outbreak of African swine fever in China.
In late July 2021, ASF was confirmed in the northwest part of the Dominican Republic. A month later, it was positively identified in pigs in Haiti. The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is highly porous. Suddenly we were facing ASF in our hemisphere. The U. S. Department of Agriculture and its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service already had a working arrangement with the Dominican Republic to provide disease testing and assistance with their Classical Swine Fever outbreak. At the request of the Dominican Republic government and health officials, USDA and APHIS began to assist with the issues surrounding the new ASF outbreak.
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Fast forward to mid-March 2022. Farmer to Farmer, a US-AID funded program at Partners of the Americas, was seeking a volunteer to work in the Dominican Republic for 15 days in April. The project focused on teaching smallholder pig farmers about ASF and biosecurity. I submitted my application and learned they wanted me in the Dominican Republic in mid-April.
Because I was going to a place where ASF was active, I planned a wardrobe which would not return to the United States. Two of my colleagues, Dr. Marie Culhane and Dr. Cesar Corzo, helped me prepare for the project. Both had international pig experience and shared with me what to expect.
By April my work had morphed into a “Train-theTrainer” project wherein I would work with veterinarians and other agency personnel who would then take the message to the small pig farmers across the country. For me, it was a relief that I wouldn’t visit ASF-infected farms and pigs; but also a disappointment I wouldn’t interact directly with those smallholder farmers.
Piggyback farmers
The Dominican Republic has a population of about 10 million people and 1.9 million pigs. In the Dominican swine industry, roughly 20 percent of the pig farmers raise 80 percent of the pigs in U.S.-style “modern” facilities. Conversely, 80 percent of the pig
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farmers raise 20 percent of the pigs on small farm or in backyard settings. Those smallholder pig farmers (80 percent of all pig farmers) are termed “Piggybank Farmers” because SWINE & U their pig operations provide a
By Diane DeWitte liquid funding source for their needs. If they have to pay school fees for their children, they sell a pig. If they need vehicle repairs, or to pay medical bills, they sell a pig. In many cases, these piggybank farmers’ pigs roam freely, and often there is a “village boar” who is shared from herd to herd for breeding purposes. These farmers commonly feed their pigs garbage, and they obtain the garbage from Dominican hotels. The ASF outbreak has affected these pig farms the most.
Dressed up in biohazzard gear, I spoke to veterinarians and swine technicians. The headphones I’m wearing helped with my limited Spanish skills.
In many cases, the 20 percent of Dominican pig farmers who raise the majority of the country’s pork are vertically integrated with a company slaughter plant. They feed their pigs balanced rations and practice exclusion-type biosecurity, use artificial insemination, and have made significant investments in their operations.
Governmental support
The Dominican government has worked directly with USDA and APHIS to address steps to take to eradicate ASF in the country. Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Agriculture provides veterinary technicians to take samples and help confirm cases. The General Directorate for Livestock employs veterinarians who work directly with pig farmers across the country.
At the time of my visit, ASF was confirmed in 29 of the 32 provinces in the Dominican Republic. I learned that many of the piggybank farmers didn’t think ASF was really anything different than a usual sickness which caused their pigs to die. Veterinarians shared stories of entire villages losing their pigs, farm-by-farm because of a shared boar who spread ASF.
Teaching
I spent my first days teaching a large group of DIGEGA veterinarians and technicians. For three days we covered the basics of ASF, biosecurity, methods of teaching adults, and possible alternative livelihoods. The information was familiar to them, but they typically did not formally teach groups. My mission was to prepare them to take the message throughout the country to their provinces’ pig farmers.
PROGANA provided a simultaneous translation service for the entire project. Two translators and a tech guy set us up with ear buds daily. One translator spoke English into my earbud and the other translated my words into Spanish for the group. My high school Spanish skills were quickly revived and I relished the chance to (try to!) communicate with them in Español.
Back home Drs. Culhane and Corzo assisted my development of information about alternative livelihoods. Pig farmers in Eastern Europe and Africa who lost their herds were able to grow chickens, rabbits, goats or fish, so within the groups I met, we discussed the possibilities. We also plotted the pros and cons of a type of “cooperative” in a village where pig farmers would repopulate but specialize; set up sows and boars only on one farm and provide growing pigs to the other farmers. All of these suggestions have potential, but the details need to be worked out and then financially incentivized — most likely by the government.
With my Farmer to Farmer and PROGANA hosts, I toured the national laboratory, LaVeCen, where the USDA has assisted expansion of the lab which tests for ASF. I met Dominican and U.S. technicians who process 600 samples per day with the capability of handling 2,000 daily in a 24-hour turnaround time. We also visited JAD (Junta Agroempresarial Dominicana), the 40-year-old ag production cooperative and trade organization where one of their team members is currently developing a livestock biosecurity certification program for Dominican farmers.
I did meet some farmers out in the countryside at neutral locations. We traveled to Moca, in the
See SWINE & U, pg. 13
By TIM KING
The Land Correspondent
ASKOV, Minn. — When Dave Becker’s grandchildren won a passel of ribbons at the Pine County fair in early August, he was understandably beaming with grandfatherly pride. What grandfather wouldn’t be?
“My 11-year-old granddaughter, Natalie, won reserve overall in 4-H and in open class with her registered Angus yearling heifer and grand champion for junior showmanship,” he said.
But the success of Becker’s grandchildren (including grandsons Jonathan and Matthew) in the 4-H show ring goes beyond ordinary and justifiable grandpa pride. That’s because Dave and his wife Rose started building the herd of ribbon-winning registered Black Angus cattle a quarter of a century ago. Seeing his grandchildren enjoying the results of a thoughtful breeding program brings Dave and Rose a lot of pride.
Dave, who showed livestock when he was in 4-H, had some Angus cows when he was in high school. His dad also had some registered Angus cows. But he didn’t get serious about the breed until the late 1990s.
“I kept a Simental heifer that I showed in 1977 in 4-H,” he said. “She was the matron dam of my commercial herd up until 1998. In 1996 I used a registered Angus bull on my mostly Simental cross herd. He was an AAR New Trend son. When his first set of
Photos submitted Dave and Rose Becker run about 100 cow/calf pairs of registered Angus on their farm near Askov, Minn.
ON THE COVER: Eleven year old Natalie Becker (back right) is shown with her prize winning Becker Angus calf, Jasmine; and nine year old Jonathan Becker with his calf Honey. calves hit the ground up and sucking in no time with lots of vigor I had forgotten how nice that was like back when I was 15 or 16.”
That calving experience caused Dave (who says he has nothing against Simentals) to return to his Angus roots.
“I sold about three commercial cows to buy one registered Angus,” he said. “For me it is always about quality over quantity. My Dad always said it costs the same amount of feed to raise a good one as does a bad one!”
With that initial purchase, Dave aimed to build a top-quality herd of registered Angus cattle. As he and Rose carefully built up that herd, they were looking for certain characteristics in their cows.
“At first I was looking for confirmation, structural correctness, and performance,” he said. “Then as time went by, we worked on maternal characteristics, functionality, and calving ease with performance.”
Becker’s goal has always been cows with good mothering ability and ade-
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“It is all a balancing act,” he says. “As a rule, if the cow milks too much she won›t hold condition and has a less of a chance to breed back in your breeding time frame. If she doesn’t milk enough she gets too fat and the calf does not grow as big as his contemporary group.”
The Beckers have used artificial insemination for the last two decades as they continue to work to improve their Becker Angus herd. Dave says they look closely at Expected Progeny Differences, or EPDs. He says they work to avoid extremes.
“For an example, if you use a bull with extreme calving ease you will have a tiny calf born that has no performance. Or if you choose a bull with calves that have a weaning weight that is extremely high, you will generally have a very big calf at birth.”
They have also been doing embryo implants for the last nine years, Dave says.
Another trait Dave and Rose selected for was docility. That allowed their children and grandchildren to show their cattle with confidence.
While the children were growing up, Dave worked for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. During that time, the Beckers had 40 registered cow/calf pairs. When he retired, after 32 years, he begin expanding the herd. Around that time, Brian and his family joined the operation.
“Brian has always been a part of the farm since a very young age and even throughout his college years,” Dave said. “Becker Angus became more of a generational family operation about decade ago when his family moved back to the area.”
“Now my wife and I — along with Brian and his wife Rebecca — run about 100 registered Angus cow/calf pairs,” Dave said. “We own 240 acres and rent about the same amount. Our herd is a maternal herd with performance. I was very pleased with their ability to keep flesh on with the drought that we had last year.”
The Beckers are feeding some hay again this year and the cattle are in good condition; but Dave says things are not much better than last year as the rain dissipates before it reaches their farm in east central Minnesota.
“It seems to split to the north and south of us this year,” he said.
Looking to the future, the Beckers would like to add 25 more cows sometime soon; and they are building more fencing and improved paddocks to accommodate their growing rotationally-grazed herd. They have additional plans now that the second generation has joined the enterprise.
“I always wanted to have a production sale, but just did not have enough cows at the time,” Dave said. “In March of this year we had our first annual production sale. It was definitely a learning experience and a lot of work.”
However, Dave and the rest of the family thought the 2022 sale was a success and they received a lot of compliments on the quality of their animals. As a result they are planning a 2023 sale.
“At next year›s sale, people can expect there will be more potential calving ease sires with performance that they can keep their heifers to build their herd around,” Dave says of the sale scheduled for the second weekend of March of 2023.
Dave says he expects Brian and Rebecca to take over complete management of Beckers Angus sometime in the not-too-distant future. Meanwhile, he’s happy to talk Angus genetics, and the ins and outs of the cattle business, with anybody interested in getting started raising cattle. Becker Angus’ website is www.beckersangus.com v
SWINE & U, from pg. 10
Espaillat province, which hosts the highest population of pigs in the country, nearly 250,000. When I visited, they had already eliminated 10 percent of their pigs because of the ASF outbreak. The farmers at the meeting were mid-sized producers who understood the importance of biosecurity practices and were open to the idea of sow farm cooperatives.
Later that same week we traveled east to La Romana to present the message to a group of producers and slaughterhouse personnel from the vertically integrated company AGROCARNE. Their company veterinarian brought everyone to the meeting, including the truck driver. In every meeting, it was mightily apparent that truck cleanliness and biosecurity is a chink in the armor which needs to be fixed.
Throughout the two-week project I delivered the message, tailored to the specific audience of the day, including a Zoom call with an association of large modern-style pig farmers, AGROGRANJA. In total I made contact with 173 different producers, veterinarians and technicians.
Reflections and results
Throughout the project these important elements reappeared:
Here’s the winner of one of the door prizes I brought with me from Minnesota.
DIGEGA veterinarians are ready and willing to spread the message to their pig farmers
Trucks sanitation and truck driver biosecurity education is crucial
Heat treatment of garbage fed to pigs is an important management step
Educational and financial assistance to the piggybank farmers can help them get through the ASF disaster
Education of young students will set the stage for avoiding an outbreak in another 40 years
Establishment of a livestock census in the DR will help the government know exactly how many animals it is dealing with
Remuneration for pig farmers is critical
Development of an ASF vaccine may be a key in eradicating ASF in the Dominican Republic and Haiti
None of this will be simple or quick. Currently, Farmer to Farmer and US-AID are working to put together additional Extension education-type projects to assist piggybank farmers and to work with cooperatives.
While I never made it to a sunny Dominican beach, I spent two fantastic weeks working with wonderful Dominican people who care about pig farming as much as I do!
Diane DeWitte is an Extension Educator specializing in swine for the University of Minnesota Extension. Her e-mail address is stouf002@umn.edu v
Chinese Covid lockdowns curtail soy buys
NYSTROM, from pg. 8
101.19 mmt. Conab increased its estimate for Brazil’s soybean crop from 124 mmt to 125.6 mmt and vs. USDA at 126 mmt.
More Covid lockdowns in China have called demand into question. After the Labor Day weekend, it was estimated that 65 cities in China covering 300 million people were either in partial or full lockdown. China’s soybean imports from January through August were 67.1 mmt, down 8.6 percent from the same time frame last year.
The cost of shipping soybeans from Iowa or Mato Grosso, Brazil to China is now about equal, according to the USDA. Brazil’s investment in its infrastructure is paying off. This, combined with a strong U.S. dollar, hinders our competitive edge even through harvest.
Outlook: If we are headed to a record soybean crop for the second year in a row and negative seasonals for late September, rallies may be limited in the near term. For the week, November soybeans were down 8.25 cents at $14.12.25 and the January contract fell 7.75 cents at $14.17.5 per bushel. The September WASDE report will provide short-term direction, but the harvest will come quickly, and we’ll see if U.S. growers are inclined to sell. South American weather will gain in importance with Brazilian soybean planting allowed to begin on Sept. 15.
Weekly price changes in December wheat for the week ended Sept. 9: Chicago wheat up 58.5 cents at $8.69.5, Kansas City up 51.5 cents at $9.29.25, and Minneapolis up 37.5 cents at $9.27.5 per bushel. v
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This column was written for the market- three-quarter cents higher on the week, ing week ending Sept. 9. 45.5 cents above a year ago, and just 1.5 Cash U.S. butter set a new record high in the Labor Day holiday shortened week, cents above the blocks. Sales totaled three cars of each. with one Sept. 9 sale soaring to $3.1825 Midwestern cheesemakers reported per pound. It closed at $3.17, up 7 cents “off-kilter buying” due to the price inveron the week, besting the Sept. 25, 2015 sion as barrels hold a premium to the record by 3.5 cents, and is $1.385 above blocks. Most cheesemakers say business that week a year ago. There were 17 sales is steady or picking up. Some continue to reported on the week at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. MIELKE MARKET WEEKLY be behind on orders and are limiting them. Milk availability at mid-week was StoneX reminds us the 2015 record lasted for just one day. Three days later the price had dropped by 51 cents, to $2.625. That obviously somewhat different than other holiday shortened weeks, as spot milk discounts were not being offered, says Dairy Market News. By Lee Mielke MARKETING didn’t happen this week, but their warning remains: Western retail cheese demand was unchanged in “Big prices can result in big price swings.” domestic markets. Food service is trending higher,
Butter manufacturers tell Dairy Market News with increased mozzarella sales to pizza makers. most things at the operational level are unchanged Domestically produced cheese is competitively — despite the record high prices. Butter demand is priced for international markets, and contacts say steady. “Customers are hesitant, but markets have this is contributing to strong demand. Cheese makshown few signs of backsliding coming into the busi- ers are running near capacity, though some plants est butter season of the year.” reported lighter output due to continuing labor Global values of butter are notably lower than domestic values, but are starting to pivot upward as shortages and delayed deliveries of production supplies. well. Questions remain as to large-scale end users Grade A nonfat dry milk closed at $1.575 per looking at freight availability and cost differentials pound Sept. 9, up 5.5 cents on the week and 21.75 of bringing in butter from New Zealand. cents above a year ago. There were 34 sales on the
High temperatures in the west are lowering farm week. milk production and component content. Demand Dry whey closed the week at 45.75 cents per for cream is steady to lighter, as some Class II pro- pound, three-quarter cents lower and 7.25 cents ducers are running lighter schedules. Cream inven- below a year ago, with nine sales reported on the tories remain tight, though some contacts reported week at the CME. increased availability this week. Butter churns are active. Some plant managers say limited tanker n availability and labor shortages are preventing This week’s Global Dairy Trade auction reversed them from increasing output. Demand for butter is five consecutive drops in its weighted average, unchanged in retail and food service markets. Bulk jumping 4.9 percent. This is the highest gain since sales are strong and inventories remain tight. Some March 1, a period which saw 10 sessions of loss to contacts are limiting deliveries to customers to help only three gains. Traders brought 59.8 million fulfill near-term commitments. pounds of product to market, down from 66.9 million on Aug. 16. The average metric ton price n climbed to $4,007 U.S. per metric ton, up from
The CME cheddar blocks closed Sept. 9 at $1.9175 $3,768. per pound. This is up 15.25 cents on the week (the highest since July 27) and 12.75 cents above a year ago. The barrel’s Sept. 9 finish was at $1.9325, The ascent was led by anhydrous milkfat, up 13.9 percent after leading the declines last time with a 9.8 percent drop. Butter was up 3.3 percent following a 0.2 percent gain. Whole milk powder was up 5.1 percent after dropping 3.5 percent in the last GDT and its average was up $195 per metric ton from the last Pulse event. Skim milk powder was up 1.5 percent after inching 0.1 percent higher. Cheddar was up 1 percent following a 4.2 percent rise. Buttermilk powder was the only decline, down 5.1 percent. It did not trade in the last event. StoneX Dairy Group says the GDT 80 percent butterfat butter price equates to $2.3760 per pound U.S., up 7.3 cents from the last event, and compares to CME butter which closed Sept. 9 at what is likely a world-high $3.17 per pound. GDT cheddar, at $2.2889, was up 1.9 cents, and compares to Sept. 9’s CME block cheddar at a bargain $1.9175. GDT skim milk powder averaged $1.6215 per pound, up from $1.5984, and whole milk powder averaged $1.6374 per pound, up from $1.55. CME Grade A nonfat closed Sept. 9 at $1.575 per pound.
North Asia’s market share was “abysmal” in this event, reported StoneX, and the lowest value since March of 2020, falling well below both the last event and year-ago levels, thanks primarily to China. Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Europe picked up purchases, bringing their market share levels higher than year-ago levels as well as the last event.
China has implemented yet another zero-Covid lockdown, this time in Chengdu, another of the country’s biggest cities, putting future dairy purchases in limbo.
n
Meanwhile, July U.S. dairy exports continued to impress. HighGround Dairy’s Lucas Fuess reported details in the Sept. 12 “Dairy Radio Now” broadcast.
Butter exports saw the biggest gain, up 77.7 percent from July 2021. Volume only totaled 13.4 million pounds, small compared to domestic usage, Fuess said, but impressive nonetheless. The July total was the highest since March and the largest July shipments since 2013. Top destinations included Canada, Bahrain, and South Korea. Butter exports are up 31.7 percent year-to-date.
July butter imports grew to a record 12 million pounds, up 51 percent from a year ago, with year-todate up 10.9 percent, as the high U.S. price acts as a magnet for imports that may bring prices back down; but those imports be needed to satisfy domestic demand.
Cheese exports totaled 82.2 million pounds, up 1.6 percent, but topped those of a year ago for the 13th consecutive month and the strongest July on record, says HighGround Dairy.
Mexico remained the top destination and saw the largest year-over-year gain of any country, up 17 percent with a 31 percent market share, according to HighGround Dairy. South Korea was the secondlargest destination, followed by Japan. Cheese imports were down 14.1 percent from July 2021.
Dry whey exports were up for the second month in a row, totaling 43.3 million pounds, up 11.6 percent — though year-to-date they are down 13.9 percent.
To no one’s surprise, nonfat dry milk shipments were down, coming in at 142.8 million pounds. This is down 9.7 percent from last year’s impressive sum, according to Fuess, and was the weakest of any month since February. Mexico remained the top powder destination, but showed the largest yearover-year decline, down 14 percent. Some of the loss
