Jeff Hill Premium Standard Farms

Publish Date: July 2, 2007

The general public, livestock producers and research scientist have shown an increasing interest in assuring proper animal care and handling [21]. There is a corresponding increase in efforts by research and educational institutions, government agencies, enterprise managers, health care providers and others in developing and accessing information that assists in creating appropriate management procedures and humane conditions for the transportation of farm animals [21].

Publish Date: July 2, 2007

Handling and movement is stressful for any size and type of pig, and even under the “best” conditions can cause significant changes in the pigs’ physiology, their behavior and consequently negatively impact pig performance and final meat quality.

Publish Date: June 3, 2006

Investment in nursery and grow-finish facilities represents the most capital-intensive portion of modern pork production systems. It also is the investment most likely to have the lowest asset turnover ratio as a measure of financial return to investment. Thus, the decision on how many pigs to stock a facility with has major economic impacts. Not only must a decision be made regarding the number of pigs to put into a facility each time it is stocked, during the construction of the facility decisions must be made regarding the number of pens per facility and hence, the number of pigs per pen.