Saturday, September 21, 2013

Hogs Uses & Caring For Their Waste

By Lianne Derocco


Hog farming is considered to be a huge business in the United States and each year millions of hogs are produced for consumption. Pork is one of the most popular forms of meat. People do love pork and there are a countless of different dishes that can be made with it. Let us discuss some general information about hogs and pigs.

A single market hog can provide more than 350 servings of pork and contrary to the popular belief, hogs are not only used as food products. Today, hog insulin is used to create treatments for diabetes. This is because pork insulin by nature is structurally closer to human insulin. For more than 40 years, the heart valves of hogs are used and implanted into humans. Some medicines are created with the help of many hog by-products such as cholesterol drugs, cortisteroids and much more.

China and sometimes glass is made with the help with of dried hog bones, so if you have heard the words "bone china," that is where that term originates. Pigskin clothing and shoes can be produced using pig leather or rather pig skin. A hog's glycerin and its fatty acids are ingredients in the production of plastics and rubber, as well as weed killers and some types of insecticides. Items such as paint, crayons and even chalk contain parts of hogs, and even some chewing gum has hog or swine products. It is easy to see how profitable the hog industry can be, but before you plan on getting into swine farming, you need to learn many important facts about how to properly raise these animals and deal with their immense amounts of waste.

Animal waste should not be overlooked and it should be properly handled and disposed of. A huge part of running any hog farming operation whether big or small is swine manure management. On a daily basis, a 200-pound hog might produce about 15 pounds of manure. This manure is typically placed either in a waste lagoon or a waste pit. Such waste can also be used as fertilizer if treated properly and will be considered safe. You can use this if one is also raising different crops or you can always sell them to farmers for an extra profit.

However, there are quite a few typical issues associated with pig manure management and the waste in pits and lagoons are not always properly treated. They have a tendency to build-up sludge on the bottom of a pit or lagoon and this can lead to foaming, excessive odors and crusting at the top of your pit or lagoon. These can greatly affect not only your health but also the welfare of your livestock if it is not handled with care.

Natural products are readily available today that can be used as swine manure treatments. For example, we have products like Agra Sphere or Lagoon Agra Sphere that can be used regularly to prevent crusting and to liquefy sludge. These two products contain no toxic chemicals, only helpful types of bacteria that work to keep waste liquid and increase the nutrient value of manure. They can simplify the process of agricultural waste management immensely.




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