Scott Jeckel offers advice for future pork producers
FARM BUSINESS
For the pork producing industry, you've gone from a young industry to a mature industry that has consolidated dramatically. When people had 20 or 100 hogs, the top twenty producers now raise probably 50 or 60 million hogs. It's not a small business, it's very capital intensive.
LIVESTOCK
Would get pigs at three weeks old and raise them to be around 280 pounds, roughly.
ECONOMY
As an industry, created contractual obligations to markets and plants. Created their own mess with producers and banks. They don't react to the market and this has become a problem with profitability and long term viability. Compared it to the poulty industry.