07/03/1996

Lower Coastal Plain Research Station Bringing Home the Bacon...and More

CAMDEN, Ala.- With all the ham sandwiches packed for picnics, spare ribs cooked on the grill, and pork chops for dinner, summer is not a great time to be a hog. With corn prices near record highs and pork prices relatively low, it is not the best time to be a hog producer either. Current research underway by Auburn University scientists at the Lower Coastal Plain Substation in Camden could significantly aid hog farmers in their choice of a crossbreeding system, but it won't likely reduce the total commitment it takes from a hog to contribute to future summertime celebrations.

Researchers from Auburn University recently completed a three-year study at the 2,500-acre Lower Coastal Plain Substation comparing three-breed rotational and three-breed terminal crossbreeding systems in swine. Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire breeds were used with matings made to maximize heterosis. Over the test Auburn researchers Daryl Kuhlers and Steve Jungst evaluated 262 sows which produced over 930 litters, totaling over 11,000 pigs. The three-breed terminal crossbreeding system showed performance advantages do exist for pig survival from 56 days to market, number of pigs marketed, litter weight marketed per day, and weaning to estrus interval. No difference in other sow, litter and pig performance traits were evident between the two crossbreeding systems. The best system for a producer to use depends on an economic analysis to determine the profitability of each system including the monetary value of performance, cost of replacements and sow longevity. A follow-up study to make an economic comparison of the two crossbreeding systems under industry-like management is currently in progress.

"These tests are outside the normal range of studies that we do at this and other stations around the state where local problems are generally addressed, because the results are just as applicable in western Iowa as they are in western Alabama," noted Joe Little, superintendent of the Lower Coastal Plain Substation. Little went on to explain that the technology generated by studies such as this one are needed to strengthen the swine industry in Alabama.

In addition to swine breeding and management studies, researchers are looking at more cost efficient and environmentally friendly ways to dispose of pigs that die during the production process. A two-stage compost system has been effective in disposing of baby pigs (2.5-10 pound). The composting process caused no odor or fly problems and the dry product that results from the composting can be applied to land as fertilizer or reused in composting.

Though the Lower Coastal Plain Substation has long been recognized as a center for livestock (beef cattle in addition to hogs) research in the state, much of the acreage at the Station is devoted to forestry. A cooperative project among the Fisheries Department in Auburn's College of Agriculture, the School of Forestry, and the U.S. Forest Service is currently underway at the Station to determine the impact of certain forest harvesting management practices on stream ecology.

"In addition to our swine, beef cattle, and forestry research, we do a number of variety tests on agronomic crops each year and have added some vegetable work for the first time," Little said. "The three-year swine study that we finished recently should have some positive impacts on the state's swine industry, and the new swine project we are just beginning will provide research-proven information for our producers," Little concluded.

-30-

News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
by Roy Roberson

07/03/96