Unused modern hog barn non hog usage

[Guest]

Some good ideas there. Wouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. Look at diverse income streams. Saffron, garlic, ginseng for example.

[mcfarms]

Couldnt seed today because of the conditions so I called him and we went and looked at it, slanted floors not cement dividers, 10 ft ceilings 4 ft concrete stem walls with 6 ft walls 32000 square foot building I couldnt even begin to image the cost to jack it up to use it for other things and with that slanted floor and the drains under it I shudder to think what the cement redo would cost these things are purpose built and that purpose was hog and theres another issue. The inlaws built the facility on one of their unoccupied quarters so this thing is sitting with a lagoon all by itself with a feed bin and a well building and genset . I suppose it makes sense to keep that hog lagoon tucked back away from the road and not have a home near it, but I told him any thing he did in there in the way of aquaculture or counter culture was going to need some pretty good security and monitoring if no one was going to be onsite 24/7. I really have no background in the hog thing so thats all I could leave him with. Said he should contact people in the different types of industries that are using repurposed facilities like these and see if any of these are successful enough they need more space and try to lease this to them. otherwise I told him to keep his day job. Because there was a reason it has been sitting empty for 6 years.

[farmaholic]

How about mushrooms? With emphasis on eating local, mushrooms might be a good opportunity.

When I was just starting farming and "diversication" was the buzz word I talked to our local ag-rep about a mushroom growing op.......of course I'm a bit of an invertebrate, thats why metaphorically today I'm only a peanut farmer!

...."Mushrooms More Than Ever", is it too late?

[farmaholic]

Combining two thoughts, I always thought of hog furrow to finishing a boom and bust cyclical business that my account says triggers Agristability payments. My accountant said he had a client that raised hog breeding stock that was more stable.

[farmaholic]

Who's money built this barn? Why build it and not use it for it's intended purpose? Is it a function of cauterizing the bleeding of cash in hog production if it has become that unprofitable again?

[ajl]

Who's money built this barn? Why build it and not use it for it's intended purpose? Is it a function of cauterizing the bleeding of cash in hog production if it has become that unprofitable again?

Hog industry buyout program. I know of facilities standing empty due to that program. Know of two families: one that wanted to quit hogs so put in a lower bid to the buyout program and another that was not planning to quit but put in a higher bid anyways. Both were accepted and have been out of hogs for a number of years. The first guys had the newer facilities.

[mcfarms]

Im not sure , we didnt get too deep into that stuff. Just know they are not interested in being hog producers. The generation that did it are old now and the younger ones kinda don't seem to want to go back into the lifestyle handcuffs that can come with animal agriculture.

[Braveheart]

Im not sure , we didnt get too deep into that stuff. Just know they are not interested in being hog producers. The generation that did it are old now and the younger ones kinda don't seem to want to go back into the lifestyle handcuffs that can come with animal agriculture.

Wise decision with no hog experience. I have a diploma in hog production from the University of Gielph and had a hog barn for 18 years (ended by a tragic fire).

I can tell you that no other business separates good managers from bad faster than a confinement hog barn.

[jamesb]

I dunno, with the way things are going in China with the ASF, hog prices could get crazy some say. It is going to be a major challenge to keep it out, but if we can I think demand for pork is going to get a lot better. I have read recently that a large portion of the entire Chinese hog numbers are infected. Supposedly the numbers killed so far equate to the number of the entire US inventory. As China is so secretive things are very uncertain but this looks to have global implications.
https://www.producer.com/2019/04/african-swine-fever-to-upend-markets/

[Braveheart]

I dunno, with the way things are going in China with the ASF, hog prices could get crazy some say. It is going to be a major challenge to keep it out, but if we can I think demand for pork is going to get a lot better. I have read recently that a large portion of the entire Chinese hog numbers are infected. Supposedly the numbers killed so far equate to the number of the entire US inventory. As China is so secretive things are very uncertain but this looks to have global implications.
https://www.producer.com/2019/04/african-swine-fever-to-upend-markets/

China is already converting empty hag facilities to poultry production. Substituting proteins. The good news is they'll start need energy and protein sources for chickens. Hopefully peck through a pile of corn and soy.