Swine production in a county like Robeson definitely has both pros and cons. Without doubt, it provides a tremendous boost to the local agricultural economy and provides additional income for many farm families and their dependents. On the other hand, large hog farms are objectionable to many people who have established homes in the rural areas of the county instead of in close proximity to the many towns that are scattered throughout the county.

The swine industry in Robeson County has changed drastically during the past decade. Prior to 1990, virtually all hog producers in the county were independent operators. They grew hogs either in confinement buildings or in open pens and provided all the feed the hogs would consume. Once the hogs reached market size, they were transported to the slaughter plant or to a nearby buying station.

Today there are very few independent swine producers in the county. Virtually all hog producers are growing hogs under contract with one of the major swine integrators. The integrators provide the young hogs and all the feed they will eat. The farmers provide the large swine buildings, feeding and watering equipment, and the labor to care for the hogs until they reach market size. When they reach market size, the integrator takes the hogs to market, and the farmer is paid a certain amount for each pound of weight the hogs gained.

Although there are about 65 major hog producers in the county, Robeson County is far from being the largest hog producer in the state. We rank only 6th, but we do produce over $17 million worth of hogs each year.

There are several factors that have lead to the change in the way hogs are produced. The major factor is the need to meet the demands of consumers for specific quality characteristics. By developing specific breeding lines with less fat and larger percentages of lean meat, swine processors are better able to provide the quality of pork products that the consumers demand. In addition, processors are better able to develop and provide the specialty pork products that consumers prefer, such as precooked or specialty packaged products.

Another important factor is food safety. If the integrator has control of the animals from breeding to farrowing and throughout the growing period in addition to all aspects of processing and packaging, they can better manage the factors that might cause problems related to food safety and health risks.

The final factor is the ability to coordinate and trace the identity of market hog deliveries in order to satisfy pork quality and food safety requirements that are established by the government. Under the current production, processing, and marketing system, the integrators have constant control over their product and can modify their systems much more effectively and efficiently.

In addition to the method of producing hogs, there have been many improvements in the performance of the animals that are produced. Over the past 20 years, the nation's hog farms have produced 3 percent more pork per breeding animal.

In 1920, 75 percent of all farms in the nation raised hogs. Today, only 5 percent of the farms have hogs. There were more than one million hog farms in the United States in 1967, but today there are only 85,760 hog farms. Some of these farms are rather large, because 235 of them produce 52 percent of the hogs grown in the nation.

In addition to increasing demand for pork, we have been fortunate that we have increased our export of pork products during recent years. World trade in pork is increasing by about 8 percent each year. Last year the United States exported more than 6 percent of its total pork production.

We have the world's largest pork processor in our area. In addition to processing hogs, they also contract with farmers to grow the hogs. In fact, four of the six largest hog processors in the nation are also on the list of the largest producers in the nation. These packers own 25 percent of the nation's hogs. These four companies alone own and process 56.2 percent of the hogs that are grown each year.

Hog production is big business, not only here in Robeson County but throughout the nation. The demand for pork remains strong, and as long as it does, there will be a need for farmers to provide pork for our consumers.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 10/16/01