The Whole Hog: Facts About Hog Farming

By Lianne Derocco


Getting into the business of hog farming may be new to some people but it is in fact a common way of life for many people in the United States as well as in some other parts of the world who are into livestock-raising. More than 70,000 hog farms exist in the U.S. and the state of Iowa produces the most pork. About 120 million pigs are being raised and produced in the U.S. yearly and more than 19 million of these are from Iowa. So if these figures alone have already set off an interest for you; here are a few other tidbits about hog farming.

Commonly, hogs or pigs are known to be the source of food products such as ham or bacon. What we may not really know is that some of its non-edible parts are also being made into a variety of products. It might surprise you that products you use like your shampoo, paint, candles, gelatin and even medicines you take may contain components taken from pigs. What this ultimately tells us is that the pig is one of the highly popular livestock we raise in order to come up with several useful products as well as food.

As for hog farming, do not think that there is only one kind that exists - where hogs are being taken care of from birth up to the time it is ready for processing. Hog farming actually comes in different kinds where some farms concentrate only in taking care of newborn pigs and their business is to sell them right after being weaned. Other farms start raising hogs upon buying weaned pigs and make it their business to raise them to one day sell when they become ready for processing. Of course there are still hog farmers who keep a farm of pigs from birth up to processing.

What a hog farm typically needs is a deep pit system for waste containment or what we commonly call as waste lagoon. Just as these waste containment systems are essential in hog farms, problems such as crusting and sludge build-up need to be addressed as well in order to maintain a healthy place for your hogs. One other problem to deal with is "foaming" which in fact can be risky because it is flammable. Remember that part of the difficult work put into hog farming is being able to maintain healthy hogs and it can be secured through a clean and safe environment.

If you are looking for hog waste treatment solutions, perhaps you'd like to consider the ones which are naturally made and are sure to be effective in addressing your farm problems and preventing sludge or crusting. Agra Sphere and Lagoon Agra Sphere use only natural microbes of bacteria to eat away at solids in waste and liquefy the waste. This liquefied waste also typically will have less of an odor and attract fewer flies, as well as improving the nutrient value of the waste for use on crops.

Should there be crusting already, help is never too late where you simply need to use Activator Plus or the Lagoon Activator on your waste pit or lagoon. This product uses naturally occurring bacteria to eat away at the crust, liquefying the waste. Once the crust has been broken down, you should treat it consistently with the biodegradable Agra Spheres, for a total hog waste treatment solution.




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