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Timeless
Stockmanship never goes out of style
by Mark Meurer
As my mother opened my great grandmother’s tattered journal, the pages came alive with a young woman’s hopes, dreams and aspirations. Mixed in with the obituaries, wedding announcements and faded pictures, a treasure was found.
Newspaper stories that headlined, “Ashton Breeder Sells Pig to Italian Government,” “Ashton Bred Hog Wins In Chicago” and “Ashton Hogs Win At County Fairs” fell from the pages.
These clippings from the 1920s mean little to the reader of today’s Seedstock EDGE magazine. However, these stories about my great grandfather’s hogs are the heritage of my family and the reason I work in the purebred swine business.
Not alone, hundreds of breeders share the same stories of trophies, ribbons, plaques and awards from days gone by. Certainly, these dusty, ragged pieces of heritage are the foundation for much of today’s purebred swine industry.
My mother tells me of a time when hog breeders from across the Midwest would gather at my great grandfather’s home. While children tried to sleep on the third floor of the colossal, whitewashed, Pennsylvania Dutch farmhouse, persistent chatter from the dining room could be heard until the wee hours of the morning. These gathered men were not discussing politics, religion or sports.
Huddled over a massive walnut table, these men were passing pedigrees and breeding hogs in their minds. These men were stockmen, and their livelihoods depended on their ability to make the next generation better.
Some things never change.
As I travel the Midwest singing the virtues of purebred breeding stock available through the UltraCROSS Swine Breeding Solutions program, I am constantly reminded of the stockmanship that embodies the membership of the National Swine Registry.
I recently stopped by the home of a customer to check the status of his new boars. This producer used corporate genetics for years. However, his first set of purebred boars left quite an impression.
“These are the best boars we have ever purchased,” he proudly stated.
I reminded him that these boars were bred to be excellent.
His pleasure was the result of someone combining the arts of science and stockmanship . His pleasure was the result of someone putting thought into breeding hogs, not multiplying them like Cheerios at the General Mills factory.
Unbelievably, the competition forgot the stockmanship ingredient long ago.
Another example of successful stockmanship comes from a customer who routinely buys boars through the UltraCROSS program to produce market hogs and replacement females.
During a recent visit, this customer commented, “This is the best set of hogs I have ever raised.”
As we gazed at hundreds of thrifty feeder pigs, I was reminded that this producer’s pleasure was again the result of someone combining the arts of science and stockmanship .
To further solidify UltraCROSS Swine Breeding Solutions and the National Swine Registry as the leaders in animal stockmanship , Rick Pfortmiller and I are excited to announce the introduction of UltraSELECT 101.
This program is a multimedia, classroom-type training module designed to enhance the UltraCROSS program by teaching the basics of stockmanship and selection.
We’ve found that many producers and production personnel simply do not have the training needed to successfully select grandparent females or replacement females within a closed herd system.
However, once producers have learned and implemented the UltraSELECT 101 program, they can become better stockman and more-proficient managers of their in-house breeding programs.
Granted, they may not huddle around the table passing pedigrees until daybreak, but they will definitely be better stockmen after putting UltraCROSS and the UltraSELECT 101 programs into practice.
Simply stated, these two programs are carrying on the traditions of breeding better hogs by encouraging better stockmanship even in today’s commercial environment.
I once heard a philosopher say, “There are two types of people in the world; those who work hard, and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group, there is less competition.”
As we work hard as an association, let’s keep the issues of good stockmanship and honest pedigrees in the forefront of all we do.
If we continue to work hard and share the message of good hogs and good stockmanship , without question, we will get the credit we deserve from a commercial swine industry looking for answers.
