Maltese swine production and costs

Abstract

The aim of every pig farm should be to maximize the output of pig meat from the farm to provide safe, high quality pig meat for consumption. Livestock help bring stability to the farm business. By raising livestock the farmer makes good use of the resources already available to him, which is land, labour, capital, and management ability. This can increase the farming mcome. Including livestock in a farm business helps to spread the risks involved in farming over more enterprises. Thus, the farmer is not dependent on only one or two sources of income. In addition, both labour and income are spread more evenly throughout the year. It is important for the farmers to produce or work with animals by doing the best possible job of providing human treatment for their animals. Animals, in our case the pigs if well managed are more efficient producers of meat. Pig producers need to do a good job of letting people know that they care about the welfare of the animals they raise. The efficient use of resources is the key to profitability in the swine enterprise. To remain competitive, swine producers must select breeding stock that will produce lean hogs and feed efficiently. This is done by daily keeping feeders properly adjusted to reduce feed losses since feed wastage is a significant factor in determining the amount of feed used. This particular farm has a confinement management system. Some characteristics of this system include the high level of mechanization to reduce labour requirements, high investment in buildings and equipment, multiple farrowing per year with a large number of hogs raised, a high level of management ability is needed, and a high degree of control over feeding operation. There also has to be a stringent disease and parasite control program and the use of very little high-priced land to reduce as much as possible cost losses. [...]