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Fontanelle, IA | "Humane" is in the eye of the beholder.
My parents pasture farrowed to finish when I was in school. last 6 or 8 pigs left the farm in 1998 were my Brothers 4-H/FFA pigs @ $.08/lbs. Call me nostalgic - but I do miss the bang of hog feeder covers and the "woof-woof" of a blue butt when I wake up in the morning.
After reading this thread, it is readily apparent that "Stockmanship" has been lost. How did you keep pigs warm in the winter in Cargill buildings? you bedded the **** out of them. How did you keep pigs dry? you hauled the wet crap out with a manure spreader onto a cornstalk field. What happened when the fields were too wet to haul manure out on? You bedded over the top of the wet. When did you haul? When you could haul/field supported you? Where did you get your bedding from? You raised oats and baled small squares for the farrowing huts and smaller, large rounds of straw for the Cargill pens. What happened when oat straw wasn't enough? You baled soybean stubble... How did you keep a stupid Franklin waterer going in winter? You carried 1 gallon of hot water/ opened the top lid/slowly dumped hot water on the valve until you got water. How did you check feeder levels without a smart phone app? you pounded on the side of the feeder as you walked by doing your pen checks or heaven forbid you opened the lid, climbed up the 2 steps on the side of the feeder, and looked in. How did you farrow in December/January/February on pasture? We didn't …. you planned your farrowings around "nature". How did you keep baby pigs dry during late april/May monsoon rains? You bedded the crap out of their huts. How did you stay dry bedding in a rainstorm..... you never were 100% dry.....because rain coats were never long enough and gum boots were never tall enough.....
Humanity has leveraged technology and innovation in this world to replace common sense. It's why major cities almost mutiny if a heavy snow blankets the streets. No one prepares. Everything is right now - on demand - push of a button.
Frankly, I wouldn't want a ban on confinement buildings. I like the idea that yuppies, hippies, and foodies be given the choice to leverage their $$ to purchase meat that meets their "needs". It gives opportunity to all and hopefully the lucrativeness that should be afforded to people that take the risk and are willing to work a little harder. Maybe the "terroire" comes out in pork just as it does in wine...…
If more people raised hogs (livestock in general), I guarantee there would be more "civility" in society today.
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Abstract: What if there were no Hog Confinements?
