Oct 22, 2007 - 04:00:47 CDT
EDMORE (AP) - A new pig farrowing business has sent out its first shipment."About 1,800 piglets (a week) for the first few months," said Paul Ivesdal, the interim director of the North Dakota Sow Center LLP farrowing operation. After a few months, he said, the numbers will pick up to around 2,400 a week.
The pigs headed to northwestern Iowa, to gain weight before they are sold for slaughter.
"Some of them will be going directly into a feeder barn and some will be going into nurseries until they reach the 40- to 50-pound range," Ivesdal said.
The farrowing operation has been coming together well and the odor is not as bad as feared, Ivesdal said.
"Is it unbearable? No," he said. "They talk about not being able to have your windows open or be out in your yard. Well, it's never been as bad as when you smell a city lagoon in the spring or driving into Grand Forks with the Simplot (potato processing plant) or the (American Crystal Sugar) beet plant (in East Grand Forks, Minn.)."
The farrowing operation started last spring and the sows were bred over the spring and summer.
North Dakota Sow Centers LLP raised $12.5 million in startup funds for the business near Edmore and one planned near Bottineau. The company aims to raise pigs from birth to 14 pounds, then ship them to a plant in Remsen, Iowa.
Organizers had proposed a 21,000-hog finishing facility. The Ramsey County Planning Commission denied a permit for that last year, so Ivesdal and others scaled down their plans.
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