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Raising the roof – hog barn expansions underway in Iowa

Jan 23, 2018

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Pork producers are capitalizing on cheap feed and increased exports

By Kate Ayers

Staff Writer

Farms.com

Iowa pork producers are scaling up their barns in light of lower-cost feed supplies and booming pork exports.

As a result of increased revenues, pig building permits have risen to a five-year high in Iowa, data from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) suggests.

Approvals for new pig barns that can house over 1,250 head, as well as for the expansion of existing barns totalled 451 in 2017, according to the DNR. Construction increased by 12 percent from 2016, according to a Reuters article on Thursday.

The number of hogs in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 73.2 million as of Dec. 1, 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported.

Also, corn prices are sitting around US$3.50 per bushel. American pork exports between January and November of 2017 were on target for a new volume record of 2.23 million tonnes with a total price tag of $5.9 billion, according to U.S. Meat Export Federation data.

In addition, pork producers benefited from last year’s 8 percent growth in slaughter capacity.

“A solid hog market, coupled with low-cost feed, have allowed producers to make money while chasing this capacity,” John Nalivka, president of Oregon-based Sterling Marketing, explained in the article.

In Iowa, he expects slaughter capacity to increase an additional 6 percent this year when another plant is operational in the state.

“The thinking is that the ‘wealth effect’ on demand will be more than sufficient to gobble up all that meat – despite the big supplies,” Dan Norcini, Chicago Mercantile Exchange livestock futures trader, said in the article.

Last year, pork producers made an average of $21 per head on hogs sold to packers, compared to $5 the previous year, Nalivka said in the article.

Video: Swine Industry Advances: Biodigesters Lower Emissions and Increase Profits

Analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG emissions) in the Canadian swine sector found that CH4 emissions from manure were the largest contributor to the overall emissions, followed by emissions from energy use and crop production.

This innovative project, "Improving Swine Manure-Digestate Management Practices Towards Carbon Neutrality With Net Zero Emission Concepts," from Dr. Rajinikanth Rajagopal, under Swine Cluster 4, seeks to develop strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

While the management of manure can be very demanding and expensive for swine operations, it can also be viewed as an opportunity for GHG mitigation, as manure storage is an emission source built and managed by swine producers. Moreover, the majority of CH4 emissions from manure occur during a short period of time in the summer, which can potentially be mitigated with targeted intervention.

In tandem with understanding baseline emissions, Dr. Rajagopal's work focuses on evaluating emission mitigation options. Manure additives have the potential of reducing manure methane emissions. Additives can be deployed relatively quickly, enabling near-term emission reductions while biodigesters are being built. Furthermore, additives can be a long-term solution at farms where biogas is not feasible (e.g., when it’s too far from a central digester). Similarly, after biodigestion, additives can also be used to further reduce emissions from storage to minimize the carbon intensity of the bioenergy.