Surging sow production prompts change

Walk onto a modern hog farm and it is typical to find climate-controlled farrowing houses filled with hardworking sows nursing litters of 12 or more piglets. That scene, says Kansas State University swine specialist Mike Tokach, is quite different from two decades ago. Tokach notes that sizeable growth in litter sizes has elevated sow input needs and created demand for new information. “We used to wean 8-9 pigs per litter,” he said in a university news release. “As an industry, we have increased the number weaned across the United States by over three pigs per litter on average, which brings along a big change in the milk production needed to support that entire litter.” To determine how to achieve adequate milk production, researchers at K-State have conducted numerous studies on supplying sows with the correct nutrient intake, Tokach said. Their work will be presented during the annual K-State Swine Day Nov. 21. “One aspect evaluated in our research was the best type of feeder d