efforts to try to shape a better future for the next generation of farmers. The university has an important role in helping enhance some of the better aspects of life in rural Iowa, added Mark in response to why he is involved in VISION 2020. | A VISIT TO THE SWEDISH HOG SYSTEM Dan Wilson, Paullina (Editors note: Brothers Dan and Colin Wilson and their wives Lorna and Carla farm in O Brien County, in northwest Iowa, where they raise hogs using both pasture farrowing and some confinement.) On Sept. 19, 1994, nine farmers and university personnel from Iowa and Minnesota, along with our tour organizer, Marlene Halverson, flew out of Minneapolis on our way to Stockholm, Sweden. Why were we going to Sweden? First of all we were going to see what the Vstgtamodel hog system was all about. We were also going to see what the Swedish hog industry as a whole looked like after not being able to use feed grade antibiotics or growth promotants since 1986. Sweden also has much stricter animal rights and environmental laws than we have in this country. So what is the Vstgtamodel system? This system is commonly referred to as the family pen. There are two versions of the system: the Ljungstrm version and the Thorstensson version. In the Thorstensson version, sows farrow in temporary wooden pens that are about 6 ft. by 8 ft. and 4 ft. high, with a door in the short side. The pen doors have thresholds that are aout 14 inches high, with a roller on top to protect the sow s udder. These pens are set up along the outside walls of the nursery rooms. These rooms provide 70 to 80 square feet of floor space per sow and litter (family). In each room there are 8 to 16 families. We did see one farm where they had 22 sows per room, which was too many sows in one group, so they had divided the room into an area for 10 families and an area for 12 families. Even numbers of sows seem to work better than odd numbers per group. The sows are introduced to the farrowing boxes (pens) about five days before they are to farrow. When the sows are first introduced to the boxes, the boxes are the only area of the room that has been bedded. The boxes are bedded quite deeply by our standards, eight to ten inches of straw to start with. Along one side of the room there is a five-foot-wide raised platform where the sow feeders and a creep for the pigs is located. When all sows in one room have farrowed, the en-tire pen is bedded. The farrowing period per room should never be longer than one week. When the pigs are ten to fourteen days old, or when the pigs start to jump out of the boxes, the boxes are removed and the families have access to the entire room. Each room receives one or two (depending on room size) 800 lb. round bales of straw per week until the pigs are removed from the room. No manure is removed from the room until the room is cleaned between groups. Each room is operated on an all-in\all-out basis. The sows stay with their pigs for five to six weeks, at which time the pigs are weaned. When the pigs are weaned, the sows are removed and the pigs stay where they are until they reach 50 lbs. One of the ladies whose farm we visited told us it is very easy to wean pigs in this system; you simply let the sow feeders go empty, and when the sows get hungry you open the door, sprinkle some feed in the walkway, the sows come out after the feed, and the pigs stay where they are a very easy way to move sows. In the Ljungstrm version, the farrowing takes place in a separate room, where the sows farrow in permanent pens or farrowing stalls. The families are then moved into the family rooms when the pigs are about 14 days old. Where the sows farrow is the only difference between the two versions; other than that they are identical. Most gestating sows in Sweden are housed in large, deep-bedded pens because gestation stalls are outlawed. In the family pen system all sows and boars are also kept in deep-bedded pens, with anywhere from eight to 35 sows per pen. There are different parities of sows kept in the same pen. This is done on purpose, because the Swedes feel the older sows teach the younger ones the ways of the system. Along one side of the sow pens there are feeding stalls; all of the gestating sows that we saw were fed in stalls. That is a brief description of the physical layout of the facilities. Now let me give you some personal observations and opinions about the family pen system. There were several things that really caught my attention when I first walked into each of the different buildings. In the Thorstensson version the first thing that impressed me was how quiet it was. There were no rattling gates and no fan noise (the fans were in the attic so there would be no noise). The only sounds that you heard were sows talking to their pigs and the occasional sound of a sow eating at the feeder or drinking. In all the buildings the hogs seemed very contented and very thrifty. All of the sows were very tame. I walked into one of the family rooms, and an old sow walked up to me and leaned against me. She wanted to have her ears scratched. We saw very little fighting in the sow pens, even though there were eighth parity sows and second parity sows in the same pen. There also was very little dust in any of the buildings. But the thing that really caught your attention was that there was NO SMELL in any of the buildings. Ask anyone that was there, and they will agree there was no smell. We went from the hog barns into a restaurant no shower in between and no one could tell were we had been. So can this system he used in the U.S.? I think so, if you do some adapting. First of all, we cannot spend as much on building costs as the Swedes do because we do not have the profit margins that they have. The place where I think this system will work the best is where you have older buildings that can be remodeled. We saw two older dairy barns where this system fit in nicely and was working well. If you are going to build new, you are going to have to be very creative in keeping your building as inexpensive as possible (hoop houses might work for everything from farrowing to finishing). The gestating part of the system would probably be where you could use the most creativity in building design and pen layout. Planning the pens so more than one group of sows could use each feeding stall would be one way to cut expense. Another hurdle that has to be crossed is the whole area of where do you get enough bedding. In Sweden they figure two tons of straw per sow per year in a feeder pig-producing operation. In the Midwest we can probably substitute cornstalks or maybe paper. If you live in an area where there are lots of small grains grown, straw is no problem. It may even be beneficial for all of our farms if we just planned on growing more small grains. So why even try to make the family pen system work in this country? Because if you can make it work you have a system that is VERY FRIENDLY to the herdsman, the pig, the environment, the neighbors, and, hopefully, your pocket book. If this article raises more questions than it answers, come to the PFI annual meeting, where there will be a panel discussion on alternative methods of raising hogs. The family pen system will be presented as one of the options. | PFI SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS 1995 TO FUND GOOD IDEAS Good ideas are seldom in short supply on PFI farms, but sometimes they need a little nudge to turn them into reality. That is where PFI Sustainable Projects is designed --- * Origin: [via Psychotronic BBS = Durham, NC = 919-286-4542]sustag- (1:3641/1) @PATH: 3641/1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (77) Fri 2 Dec 94 3:04 By: Rick Exner To: All Re: 08:Practical Farmers of Iowa newsletter, fall 1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @MSGID: 1:3641/223 0006aadf @PID GIGO+ sn 175 at psybbs vsn 0.99 pl1 @SPLIT: 04 Dec 94 14:31:40 @3641/223 6952 08/11 ++++++++++ From: dnexner@iastate.edu (Rick Exner) @Subject: Practical Farmers of Iowa newsletter, fall 1994 Date: 2 Dec 1994 03:04:21 -0000 @Sender: daemon@bigblue.oit.unc.edu @Message-Id: <9412011822.AA03635@iastate.edu> to help. The program makes small grants to Iowans with ideas ideas for projects, educational efforts, on-farm trials, and so on. About the only thing off limits in the program is major input and equipment purchases (see guidelines on the application form, opposite). Sustainable Projects will accept proposals until Feb. 1, 1995. (You won t get a reminder before then, so put this application form somewhere handy!) A committee of PFI members and ISU collaborators will review these proposals and determine by March 1 which ones will be accepted. Since 1990, Sustainable Projects has approved 34 project proposals from Iowans. In 1994, seven projects were accepted, for a total of $3,150. Here are the 1994 projects: * Dan Specht, McGregor Prairie Legume Nursery * John and Rosie Wurpts, Ogden Biological vs. Conventional Fertilizer * Dordt College, Sioux Center Controlled Grazing vs. Feedlot * Richard and Sharon Thompson, Boone Night Planting to Reduce Weeds * Steve Hopkins and Sarah Andreasen, Decorah Intensive Rotational Grazing Study * Jeff and Gayle Olson, Winfield Management Intensive Grazing in Narrow Strip Intercropping * Jim Green, Riceville Community Schools Corn Population and Soybean Tillage Comparisons SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS 1995 PROPOSAL FORM PRACTICAL FARMERS OF IOWA Sustainable Projects is designed to help citizens of Iowa carry out activities that focus on agriculture and the environment. Sustainable agriculture has been described as preserving the soil and water resources as well as the people involved in agriculture. What could a Sustainable Project be? Maybe you want to undertake an on-farm trial like those used by the farmer cooperators in Practical Farmers of Iowa. Maybe you would like to create a specific program for the local school or FFA that teaches about the relationship of farming to the environment. Perhaps you are part of a group that needs some support to have an educational booth at the county fair. Maybe you could use some funding to bring your community leaders together on a related issue. Be creative! Proposals for up to several hundred dollars will be accepted. (PFI cooperators, for example, receive up to $400 for an on-farm trial.) It is legitimate to include in the proposal payment for your own time. Itemize labor and other costs in the budget you submit. Large equipment purchases will not be funded; however, equipment leasing may be used in proposals to defray equipment costs. In return for funding your Sustainable Project, we ask that you agree to share both the results and the process that you went through carrying out the project. That will help us to build on past experience and share the successes of the program. A credible feedback, or reporting plan is one of the criteria on which proposals will be evaluated! Plan on sharing your project with a poster or display at the PFI annual meeting. Projects will be chosen by a committee consisting of PFI members and board representatives, the PFI coordinators, and representatives of ISU and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Proposals for 1995 are due by Feb. 1. Committee decisions will be announced by March 1. Project reimbursement will be made upon receipt of a final report. Please return this proposal form to: Practical Farmers of Iowa, 2104 Agronomy Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011.