FARMER FOCUS: Pig price rise relieves some pressure
My heart goes out to those farmers who have lost livestock through the terrible snowfall in the east of the province. I hope they get compensated for the immeasurable hardship they’ve suffered.
My troubles with my compressor now sound small in comparison, but at the time seemed never ending. At the start of the month a new piston head was needed. When this arrived it was larger than the previous one. I decided to install it anyhow and made it fit. Then, the motor burned out, as it wasn’t big enough for the head. So I needed a new motor.
I got that working and then the head started to make a noise. So I had to take it off again and send it away to get it checked under the warranty. Apparently there was nothing wrong. But when I fitted it again, I found a pressure release valve was leaking.
A complete new compressor would have saved much wasted time and money. Nevertheless, we are now up and running again. I suspect lots of you who have any amount of machinery have ran into this dilema of replace or repair many times.
It is with much relief I see DAPP pig price rising. And let’s hope there is room for more to come, to cover the unprecedented feed cost we have had to swallow in the past year or more.
Andrew McCrea farms a 740-sow birth-to-bacon business and 150 beef cattle on 37ha. He is a DARD Focus Farmer and was 2010 Farmers Weekly Pig Farmer of the Year
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