Pickup trucks and trailers, Campers, too.

Monday, July 16, 2001

Pickup trucks and trailers, Campers, too.

People rushing here and there. Many on the telephone, others sitting on the benches talking animatedly.

The snorts and squeals of hogs, the slap of sticks on hind sides and the auctioneers staccato voice all echoing from the open windows at Crane Pavilion on the Mower County Fairgrounds.

It wasn’t the National Barrow Show, but it was the next best thing to happen to Austin in July.

The 2001 Berkshire Summer Type Conference concluded its three-day run Saturday at the fairgrounds in southwest Austin.

Merrill Smith, American Berkshire Association breed secretary, was a happy man at Saturday’s Type Conference-ending Berkshire auction in historic Crane Pavilion.

"We had a great show. Everyone was real pleased with the reception and treatment we received in Austin. In particular, the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau was an immense help in putting on the show," Smith said.

Mention Berkshires and Smith speaks with the fervor of a television evangelist.

"We’ve got 3,400 litters registered already this year and we expect to top the 6,000 mark by the end of the year. This will be the biggest year yet for Berkshires," Smith said.

What is the reason for the surge in the breed’s popularity?

"It’s all about meat quality and exporting to Japan," he said.

While the Berkshire is still the fourth largest breed among the eight crossbred breeds, it has developed a strong niche market in Japan, where a premium of $10 to $12 per hundred weight is paid.

"We’ve got four packers who say they want more hogs every day," Smith said. "We see nothing but positive for the future of the Berkshire breed."

The Japanese export market is expected to remain strong, according to Smith, who said the Japanese loyalty for the Berkshire breed is strong.

The American Berkshire Association hopes to start a domestic program in the United States, but Smith said, thus far, development of that market has been "slow-going" at best.

The breed association secretary said small producers are getting into the Berkshire business with 100 to 200 sows.

"They believe it’s profitable and worth their time," Smith said.

Dr. Jerry Hawton, a University of Minnesota College of Agriculture professor, was the show’s judge Friday and he liked what he saw.

"I was very, very impressed with the quality of the pigs I saw," Hawton said. "There was quality from the top to the bottom among the bred gilts and the breeding boars showed excellent productivity, muscle and leanness."

"The junior gilts were a deep class with some exceptionally fine females," he said.

Dan Baker of Lafayette, Ind., auctioned the Berkshires Saturday morning. Baker came to Austin from a Yorkshire breed association show and auction, where he sold a Yorkshire boar for $200,000.

On Saturday, Baker helped exhibitors earn top dollar for their bred gilts, junior gilts and boars.

Auction sales results

The 13 bred gilts sold for $6,225 or an average of $478 per hog.

Thirty-three boars brought $24,100 or an average of $730 per hog.

Eleven junior gilts sold for $3,600 or an average of $327 per hog and 44 open gilts sold for $14,575 or an average of $297 per hog.

In all, Baker auctioned a Berkshire sale that saw 101 head bring a total of $48,500.

Breed association secretary Smith said the totals compared favorably to last year’s Summer Type Conference.

The top-selling hog was a bred gilt that brought a price of $3,750. Hi Pint Genetics of Chrisman, Ill. bought the grand champion boar exhibited by Mapes Family Berkshires, Unionville Center, Ohio.

In the Type Conference’s showmanship contest, Billy Schomberg of LaCrosse, Wis., won the novice division; Sam Hess of Batesville, Ark., won the intermediate division; and Lane Innerst of Red Lion, Pa., won the senior division.

Throughout the three-days of the Type Conference, several producers and friends of the swine industry were honored.

Arlie Cornbower, New Freedom, Pa., received the Premier Exhibitor award. Elkton’s Myron Dammann and Triple M Farms, Inc., received the Reserve Premier Exhibitor award.

The association also honored Larry Rasch and Lynn Selke, both of Hormel Foods Corporation, for their efforts with the National Barrow Show and their assistance in promoting the work of the American Berkshire Association.

Distinguished service awards, the highest honor the association can bestow, went to Bill Schomberg of LaCrosse, Wis., and Bob Zeisneiss, Colo, Iowa.

Polly Hindmond, Maysville, Mo., and Rodney Goodwin, Des Moines, Iowa, were elected to the association’s board of directors and Ken Schaffner of West Union, Ill., was re-elected to another term on the board of directors.

Other results

Top placings from Friday’s Type Conference show included:

Joe McKenna, Capron, Ill., grand and reserve champion bred gilts.

Mapes Family Berkshires, Unionville Center, Ohio, grand champion boar and Iowa State University Teaching Farm, Ames, Iowa, reserve champion.

Adam Jay Conover, Baxter, Iowa, grand champion junior gilt, and Travis M. Brink, Carlyle, Ill., reserve champion.

ISU Teaching Farm, Ames, Iowa, grand champion open gilt, and Mapes Family Berkshires, Unionville Center, Ill., reserve champion.

Call Lee Bonorden at 434-2232 or e-mail him at lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com.