Ear Notching Article

For those of you that may want to know a little more about ear-notching or need a little practice, please visit this link below:

http://www.thejudgingconnection.com/pdfs/Reading_Ear_Notches.pdf

And as always, if you have any questions about ear-notching or something else, please feel free to contact me.

Another great educational page--check it out!

Be sure to check out this site, as it includes interactive games to test users ability to identify swine breeds, cuts of meats, and parts of the pig.

Link to the site is: http://www.ca.uky.edu/agripedia/AGMANIA/Interactive/

Swine Breeds Page

Here is an interesting webpage dedicated to the various swine breeds. Check it out at the link below:

http://www.wiu.edu/users/mfjpc/hogs.htm

Vaccinations---What your pig should have

From time to time, we have people who ask what shots the breeders should have given the pigs before they are sold. This should also be a reference point for those of you that buy your pigs. This is what we vaccinate our little pigs for:

IPD for newborn pigs and revaccinate again at 7 days. (IPD stands for Iron, Penicillin, & Draxin)

Circovirus vaccine-a must have! I would strongly suggest avoiding buying pigs that were not vaccinated for this.

DectomaxWormer-to be given at least once by the breeder and revaccinate again at 150 lbs.
(please remember 1 cc per 75 lbs and withdrawal times of 18-25 days).

Mycoplasma Pneumonia shot

Rhinitis/Eryispelas/Flusure/Bordetella protection

If you have any questions on any of these vaccinations, please let me know.

Thanks,
Adam

WLBA SPRING PREVIEW SHOW INFORMATION-JEFFERSON, WI

Attached please find the link for the WLBA Spring Preview Show in Jefferson, WI.

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/animalscience/youthlivestock/documents/2008SPRINGPREVIEWSHOW.pdf

New Scholarship Posted for 1st and 2nd year exhibtors

We've added a new scholarship, which is being sponsored by the UW-Madision Saddle and Sirloin Club. More details are below:

2008 Swine Project Award UW-Madison Saddle and Sirlion Club
This award is offered to 4-H and FFA members in their 1st or 2nd year of showing swine. The scholarship awards are to be used for expenses related to the recipient’s swine project. To be eligible, the applicant must be 9-18 years old and a Wisconsin resident. A committee of Saddle & Sirloin members and advisors will select five recipients based on their applications. Entry forms are available each spring. Deadline is April 25th.

Website to be down a few hours this weekend

FYI..Our website will be down for a few hours this weekend, as we are switching over to a new server. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience.

2008 Showpig Clinics-Schedule and Information

Some of you have asked what will be some good show pig clinics to attend this year. I will be presenting at the following clinics this year:

3/1/08 Brown County Extension Office-Green Bay, Wisconsin (9-11 am)..if you missed this clinic, please let me know and I'll provide you with information that was presented.

4/26/2008 Central Wisconsin Co-op Show pig Clinic-Stratford, Wisconsin. This clinic will be for the following counties: Wood, Marathon, Clark, Lincoln, Taylor, and surronding counties. If intersted in this clinic, please contact me and I'll refer you to the event organizer.

7/10/2008 Brown County Swine Workshop-Green Bay, Wisconsin. Location and Time to be announced. Purpose of this clinic is to present information on getting your pigs ready for the show, making sure they are at the proper weight, how to show your pigs, showmanship practice, showmanship questions, dicussion on a few scenarios that may occur at the fair, question and answer session, and more!

If you are interested in a clinic for your county or 4H club this year, please contact me for and we'll work to get a clinic in your county.

Coming Soon: More Educational Articles to be added!

Be sure to watch the website in the coming days for additional educational articles under the show pig guide page. Ryan Harrell, who owns www.thejudgingconnection.com, has done a tremendous job of capturing the best livestock educational articles all under his site. We'll be posting a few of Ryan's show pig related articles on our site as well (under the show pig guide page). For those of you that show steers and lambs, be sure to check out The Judging Connection for articles as well for some very informative articles.

Special thanks to Ryan for allowing us to post his articles on his website. Be watching for the articles in the coming days on this website!

300+ pigs on the ground

Just a quick update...we have over 300 pigs on the ground. To date, we have had 33 litters and expect a few more litters before the end of the month. Our sows & gilts have been averaging about 12-13 live pigs per litter.

Litters are looking great. Those that have visited have been impressed! If you would like to visit, be sure to let me know.

Thanks to those that have purchased and visited so far this spring. We look forward to working with you and helping you to achieve success!

Leaning Silo-check out the pictures!

Leaning Silo---check out the link below:



http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=U0&Date=20080318&Category=GPG01&ArtNo=803180805&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1

2008 Wisconsin State Fair Market Swine Identification Sites Announced

If you are showing at the Wisconsin State Fair this year, please visit the link to find a suitable identification site, along with the necessary information that you willl need to know.

http://www.wistatefair.com/home/wsfp/pdfs/2008/ag/2008%20Wisconsin%20State%20Fair%20Market%20Swine%20Check%20In%20Sites%20Anno….pdf

New Classes and Rule Updates for the 2008 Junior Swine show at Wisconsin State Fair

Wisconsin State Fair announces exciting new updates for the 2008 Junior Swine Shows.

Two new programs are being implemented in the Junior Performance Barrow
class and the Junior Bred and Owned Barrow Class.
The Junior Performance Barrow class is open to all junior exhibitors. Final
placing will be a combination of performance 70% (lean gain) and live judging 30%.
Barrows must weigh 60 lbs and under at initial check-ins on April 19th or 26th. Lean
gain will be calculated using starting weight and scan data collected at the Fair. $2,000 in
prize money will be awarded to the top entries.

The Junior Bred and Owned Barrow Class is open to purebred barrows only. To
be eligible to show in this class, the dam of the barrow must have been recorded in the
exhibitor’s name at the time of breeding. Bred and Owned barrows will show in a
separate class and compete for over $600 in prizes and awards.
Barrows will be identified by DNA and will be issued an official Wisconsin State
Fair ear tag at regional check-in sites on April 19th or 26th.

New for 2008, there are no maximum weight requirements for the junior show barrows as part of the identification process. Also new for 2008, no ultra-sound scanning, lean gain calculations or a carcass contest. The junior barrow shows will remain terminal. In addition, all
Crossbred breeding gilts will show by weight.

Wisconsin State Fair Schedule For Open and Junior Show

Swine Shows-WISCONSIN STATE FAIR

Open Breeding
July 30 Arrival - Berkshire, Chester White, Hereford, Poland China, Spots, Tamworth
July 30-Aug 1 Berkshire, Chester White, Hereford, Poland China, Spots, Tamworth Shows
August 1 Release
August 2 Arrival - Crossbred Classic, Duroc, Hampshire, Landrace and Yorkshire
August 2 - 3 Crossbred Classic, Duroc, Hampshire, Landrace and Yorkshire Shows followed
by Sale of Champions
August 3 Release


Junior Swine
August 4 Arrival - Junior Swine entries in place by noon
August 5 Showmanship, Performance Barrows, Bred & Owned Barrows, Light and
Heavyweight Market Barrow Shows
August 6 Continue market barrow show followed by Governor’s Blue Ribbon Livestock
Auction
August 7 Breeding Stock show and release of all junior swine

A Letter for all of our customers!

February 20, 2008

Dear Friends,

I hope this letter finds you and your family well. I’m sure most of you can’t wait for the cold and snow to disappear for good and for the nice, warm weather to move in! As you may know, to date, we have had over 70 inches of snow in northeastern Wisconsin, which is a record for one of the snowiest winters ever! I have even a better record to inform you of and that is the winning record that our showpig program has yielded in the last few years. In the past four years alone, Riemer Showpigs has had pigs either as a class winner or champion at over 30 counties in Wisconsin or you can say Riemer Showpigs has had winners in over half of the state! We have one group of people to thank and that is you! Without your hard work and commitment, along with your continued support and confidence in our program, none of this would have been possible. For that, thank you! I look forward to helping each one of you continue to experience success with your swine project!

Now onto 2008. Its been a busy year so far and we are right the middle of farrowing season. To date, we have had over 20 sows farrow and we expect another 20 sows to farrow until the beginning of April. The pigs that we have on the ground now are looking super! Lots of little pigs with all of the good traits-muscle, bone, excellent structure and correctness, and plenty of look! We expect this crop of pigs to once again be extremely competitive and to live up to our expectations!

If you haven’t done so yet, I would encourage you to visit our recently updated website. The site has been given a face lift and new features have been added. One of the new features include THE BLOG, where you will find me posting articles, holding discussions about certain topics, posting information, and having future communication posted on it. I am excited about this feature and be sure to look for my postings on THE BLOG very soon! For those of you that like music, we have added a music player on our website, allowing you to use this music player for free at anytime.

I also wanted to inform you of the WPA scholarship, which is a $50 scholarship that the Wisconsin Pork Association sponsors every spring. The complete document is on my website and I would strongly encourage each of you to fill this out and return it to the Wisconsin Pork Association by March 15, 2008 (which is the deadline for the scholarship). The link is: http://www.riemershowpigs.com/scholarships.htm

I look forward to working with each of you again this spring. In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns; please do not hesitate to contact me!

Most Respectfully,

Adam

920-418-3820 or email: riemershowpigs@hotmail.com

www.riemershowpigs.com

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