A survey of swine production health problems and health maintenance expenditures

Swine producers in the Missouri Mail-In-Record program provided information on herd health problems, death losses and health maintenance expenditures in their swine herd for the years 1978 and 1979. Swine health problems and death losses dampen profits for swine producers. During the study period approximately one-third of all pigs raised by Missouri Mail-In-Record swine panel producers were affected by health problems. It is important for swine producers to keep health problems under control. Important health problems for swine producers were scours, pneumonia, salmonellosis, TGE, and influenza. Important death causal factors were crushing or trauma, scours, lack of milk, and pneumonia. Health problems and death losses were most severe during the first quarter of the year. The major swine health expenditure was for services which were farmer administered. On a relative basis smaller producers depended more on veterinarians for seervices than did larger producers. Also, producers that had more than one type of production technology (pasture, confinement, etc.) tended to have larger animal health expenditure levels.