COST OF PRODUCING HOGS IN IOWA AND ILLINOIS 5 
The hog market at this time is usually lower than during September 
and most hog producers feel that they need the advantage of a high 
fall market to compensate them for the greater care required at 
farrowing time and the risk of heavy losses before weaning. The 
farmers who raise early spring pigs usually try to market the packer 
sows early before the heavy run of sows in late June and July. 
The late spring pigs are farrowed during April, May, and June. 
The favorable weather at this time reduces the labor required to 
care for them and less expensive equipment is necessary. Many of 
these pigs are farrowed on pasture in movable types of houses and 
around straw stacks. These pigs are usually fed a growing ration 
during the summer instead of ase full fed. A pig averaging about 
125 pounds on September 15 is the aim of these hog producers, as 
such pigs are well adapted for hogging down corn. As late spring 
pigs usually reach this weight when corn is maturing they are more 
desirable for hogging down corn, a very important factor in their 
favor, for this practice saves the farmer the labor of harvesting the 
corn and eliminates the rehandling necessary to feed it to the hogs. 
A large portion of the corn crop can be fed to these pigs before they 
become too heavy. They are marketed during the winter packing 
season from December to March. The brood sows farrowing late 
spring pigs are usually sold in August or September after the heavy 
runs of packer sows. 
Early spring pigs are usually sold on a higher market than late 
spring pigs. Any advantage arising through the possibility of getting 
early spring pigs to a higher market than pigs farrowed later in the 
spring may, however, be offset by a higher cost of these early pigs. 
The difference in the cost of the two when they reach market may 
be enough to make the later pigs, marketed through necessity after 
the vie aes months, more profitable than those reaching the high 
market. 
The number of pigs weaned per sow is a large factor influencing the 
cost of production. Larger litters from late spring farrowings should 
be possible, because of the more favorable weather. The amount of 
labor necessary at farrowing time, although this demand for labor 
may conflict with field work in the spring, should be less for late pigs 
than early pigs. The late spring pigs consume the corn crop soon 
after it is matured. The early spring pigs consume the old crop 
during the summer. Thus the corn crop is marketed about six to 
nine months earlier through late spring pigs than through early 
spring pigs. Shrinkage and other costs of holding grain and condi- 
tions of supply and demand make the average value of corn fed to 
early spring pigs higher than the value of corn fed to late spring 
pigs. Late pigs save labor by hogging down corn, whereas early 
igs must be about ready for market by the time the corn is matured. 
he late pigs have a greater risk of loss from cholera and influenza 
than early pigs, since the late pigs are fed out during the winter 
months. 
TWO LITTERS PER YEAR 
If fall pigs are raised they are usually combined with early spring 
pigs. The spring pigs are weaned when about 8 weeks old and the 
sows bred to farrow in August and September. Some farmers 
succeed in breeding the sows for fall pigs before the spring pigs are 
