Modern Trends in Swine Production (1961)

More from the Prelinger Archive. Modern Trends in Swine Production (1961), a Jam Handy Picture, charts the state of the art in hog farming in the early 1960s. At the time, the shift to farrowing crates was what was modern. Funny, then, that forty years later this confinement system is increasingly under attack. The film, however, does also show the now almost quaint "pasture system" in its effort to model the best practices of the time. Your host and narrator is Bernard Ebbing, a "swine specialist" at the Waterloo, Iowa, Swine Evaluation Station. The film is sponsored by United States Steel, which explains all the talk about the water tanks, self-feeders, farrowing crates, etc., which are all built out of steel. You can watch this excellent introduction to hog farming here. Remember, as Ebbing notes, "The job you do in breeding, farrowing, feeding and management is reflected in the tonnage and quality of pork you market!"