OK, so it’s not exactly how I remember boot camp from my days in the Air Force, but our good friends at PIC give out a lot of excellent information in their one-day seminars to help hog farm managers (without anyone making you drop and give them 20 push-ups!).

I recently attended the session they put on in Danville, Indiana, videotaping the speakers for later use.

During the program, entitled “Best Cost Production – Key to Success,” much of the focus was on how to optimize pig operations to make sure farmers are getting the most out of every dollar they put into it.

In between sessions, I caught up with Casey Neill, a PIC nutritionist who talked about reducing sow herd feed costs and nutrition programs that maximize performance. He told me that with today’s tight margins, no one can afford to spend too much without getting any more performance.

“With high feed costs you need to know exactly what kind of nutrient specs are in those diets,” said Neill.

He went on to tell me that overfeeding just a half pound too much to sows could cost a producer an extra $50 per sow. He believes the tips the producers get here could make the difference between operating in the red or counting your profits from the black.

“I think everybody can get at least one good idea to help save some money on their operations.”

I’ll have more to post, but in the meantime, you can listen to my conversation with Casey.