Supply of animals and livestock production considerations
· Current supply & demand considerations
· Beef cattle supply considerations
· Swine supply considerations
· It appears that, on each of the main islands in the Marianas (Guam, Rota, Saipan, and
· Click here to see a table of cattle production in the
Click here to see a table of pig production in the
§ While the accuracy of these figures is uncertain, informal discussions with producers in the islands during November-December 2010
indicate that these figures are “in the ballpark.
§
In particular, the figures for animals sold should be viewed with caution. The reliability of these figures is questionable (there are no known reporting mechanisms in place in the islands for tracking such sales); moreover, these figures should not be considered indicative of livestock that might be available for a slaughterhouse operation (for example, some may reflect animals sold from one producer to another).· USDA provides
a wealth of information regarding cattle production and beef consumption at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Cattle/
· All beef cattle produced in the
· Increasing beef production (i.e., increasing the herd size) on any island would depend on the availability of additional pastureland
and/or an increase in the stocking rate…the following link is to the
· Substantially
increasing the herd size of beef cattle on an island would require careful planning and implementation by individual producers and
coordination amongst producers, and would likely take 3 to 5 years.
· Of the four islands,
§ “In 1994 the Commonwealth and the U.S. Department of Defense signed a leaseback
agreement to allow the Tinian government to use a portion of the public lands leased to the military…Under the 1994 agreement the
CNMI government is only allowed to use the leaseback properties for agricultural and grazing purposes…The leaseback agreement has
since been amended, leaving only about 5,800 acres of land located in the middle of the Tinian covered by the agreement.” Refer
to: http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=43752
§ A large-scale
beef operation previously existed on
· For more information regarding options for improving pasturelands and forage quality and strategies for increasing herd size, contact
one of the team members of the
· Information regarding the cost of cattle production in a tropical island setting can be obtained from the report "Calculating the Cost of Production for a Cow-Calf Operation". by the University of Hawaii -- click here.
· A meat business in the islands intending to make pork products
will need to carefully evaluate all aspects of production and supply of pigs, as the reliability of supply will fundamentally affect
business risks. Several options for structuring the supply of pigs are discussed in the Business section.
· Pigs can be pastured or raised in confined feeding operations.
§ Most pig production
facilities in the
§ For example, if the pigs are fed using corn grain, the
amount of corn required would be 2,600 tons/year to support a slaughter rate of 60 pigs/day (assuming 240 days/year and 3.0 lbs/lb
feed conversion ratio). If 50% of this grain is locally produced, the net production land area required would be 650 acres (assuming
an estimated 2.0 tons/acre/year).
· Sources of information regarding pig production
and pork consumption:
§ USDA provides a wealth of information regarding pig production
and pork consumption at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/hogs/
§ Additional
information on the global pig industry, including information regarding feed can be found at: http://www.thepigsite.com/
§ Profitable Pork: Strategies for Hog Producers; Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program: http://www.sare.org/publications/hogs/profpork.pdf
· The following links provide additional information regarding pig production that may be useful for establishing or expanding piggeries
in the
§ Pork Chain Solutions: http://www.porkchain.com/
§ Hog Production Alternatives – Livestock Production Guide: http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/Hogs.html
§ Cost of Organic Pork Production: http://www.ipic.iastate.edu/reports/01swinereports/asl-1784B.pdf
§ Contract vs. Independent Pork Production: Does Financing Matter?: http://hub.ansc.purdue.edu/swine/swineday/sday99/18.pdf
§ The National Pork Producer Council is comprised of 43 affiliated state associations, which represent most of the country's 67,000
pork producers: www.nppc.org. The contact person for the state of
§ The Economics and Profit Potential of Hog Production: http://www.livestocktrail.uiuc.edu/porknet/paperDisplay.cfm?ContentID=42
§
§
§ Slaughterhouse feasibility report: http://www.uvm.edu/~susagctr/Documents/SlaughterhouseFINALREPORT.pdf
§
§
§ The Economic Importance of
the Iowa Pork Industry: http://www2.econ.iastate.edu/outreach/agriculture/AgImpactStudy/hogs/state.htm
§ Managing Pig Feed Costs in Niche Pork Production: http://www.ipic.iastate.edu/publications/Nichefeedcosts.pdf