Information Transfer In The Illinois Swine Industry: How Producers are Informed of New Technologies

Introduction

In order to maintain the competitiveness of the Illinois swine industry, producers need rapid access to emerging technologies. Identifying and adopting the new technologies allows the Illinois swine sector to be profitable. The objective of this survey was to examine how information transfer of new technological advances occurs between university scientists and pork producers.

The questionnaire was designed to determine two things: (a) where producers from various swine operations obtain their information about new technologies; and (b) how aggressively they implement these advances.

The subjects of this survey were swine producers primarily from Illinois but also from neighboring states as well as people in other professions such as swine veterinarians, sales managers and sales representatives. The survey was mailed to more than 300 swine producers, swine veterinarians, sales managers, and sales representatives. They were asked to return the survey in a pre-stamped, pre addressed envelope. A total of 127 usable surveys were returned.

The survey consisted of ten easy-to-answer questions. The first three questions were designed to allow the individuals to categorize themselves by size of the operation, type of the operation, and relationship to operation (Table I-II). Question four asked how many slaughter hogs and feeder pigs were sold annually and the number of sows housed on the farm (Table IV). These numbers were used to determine what producers consider a small, medium, large and corporate enterprise. The tables at the end of this paper show those results. Table I shows the average number of animals for each category as well as the percentage of producers falling into those categories. Table II shows the variation in maximum and minimum numbers (that is, the range) of hogs based on the way respondents classified their operations.

In question one, producers could categorize their operations as: (a) small, independent producer; (b) large swine enterprise; (c) corporation; and (d) other. The "other" category consisted of veterinarians, medium sized producers, contract feeders, sales representatives, suppliers, and 4-H project members.

After establishing categories for the producers, a series of questions was asked to determine how they are informed of new technologies and how they pursue them. The questions included:

5. Do you own or use a personal/farm computer?
6. How are you informed of new technologies within the pork industry?
7. Before implementing a new technology in your enterprise, what aspects do you consider and evaluate the most?
8. Once you are aware of a new technology which could impact your operation, how do you pursue information about it?

In questions 6,7, and 8, several choices were given, and individuals were allowed to choose all that applied to their operation.

One-hundred and fourteen respondents (89.7%) indicated that they owned or used a computer, while only thirteen respondents (10.3%) said they did not (Table V).

When asked how they were informed of new technologies, 89.7% of small producers indicated that they used popular publications such as Hogs Today, National Hog Farmer, and Pork Press, as did 100% of both medium and large producers and 80% of corporate enterprises.

Another popular information source was representatives from various feed companies, breed associations, and so forth. They were used by 71.3% of small producers and 80% of both medium and large producers. However, only 40% of the corporate respondents favored representatives.

Cooperative Extension newsletters were used by 60% of small, medium, and large producers but only 20% of corporate enterprises.

These three forms of information were used the most by respondents to the survey. Among the communication pathways used the least by producers were the Internet and e-mail. Only 12.6% of small producers, 20% of medium producers, and 30% of large producers used the Internet, and only 5.7% of small producers used electronic-mail.

After discovering a new technology, the respondents were asked to tell us how they pursued further information. Overwhelmingly, the individuals indicated that they discussed the new technology with a current user of that technology. This approach was used by 94.1% of small producers, 100% of medium producers, 90% of large producers, and 80% of corporations.

Results also showed that university specialists were called on by only approximately 40% of small and medium producers as well as corporations while 60% of large producers pursued information from them.

Once again, the Internet was used very little by respondents to pursue information. Only 8.2% of small producers and 20% of medium producers indicated that they used the Internet and none of the large producers or corporations claimed to use it.

When considering the implementation of new technology into an operation, producers look at profitability more than any other factor. It is contemplated by 97.7% of small producers, 90% of large producers, and 100% of all medium producers and corporations.

In addition to profitability, labor was another important factor to consider. Labor was taken into account by 65.5% of small producers, 100% of medium producers, and 90% of large producers while only 40% of corporations considered labor as a factor to implementing new technology.

Among the factors of least concern to the respondents were marketing, waste, and odor. These three factors were considered heavily by medium producers but did not have a great impact on other operations. Marketing was considered by 80% of medium producers, waste by 60%, and odor by 80%. However, only 24.1% of small producers and 20% of both large producers and corporations indicated marketing as a concern. Waste was taken into account by only 21.8% of small producers and 40% of both large producers and corporations. Finally, odor caused a concern for 19.5% of small producers and 40% of both large producers and corporations.

The research showed that today's swine producers are using less technology to gain information and are relying more and more on private sector based programs. It seems that the Internet and electronic-mail are of less use to producers than other sources. The survey did show that producers have access to on-farm computers, but they do not use them as a source of information. The respondents indicated that they rely on popular publications, corporate representatives, Extension newsletters, and current users of new technologies to discover and pursue new advances within the swine industry.

It also seems that producers rely less on university specialists as an information source. This causes concern as to whether university specialists are using an effective method of transferring information to producers. How can they be more successful in targeting swine producers throughout the state?

It seems that expanding on the methods of information transfer that work best for producers is a start. New technologies and advances in research made at the University of Illinois can not be taken full advantage of if they do not reach the people who use them most. This could potentially lead to the development of a popular publication by the university that reaches swine producers and outlines progress made at the University of Illinois to improve the industry across the state.

Considerations might also be made to work more closely with Extension staff to incorporate this information into their newsletters, since they also seem to be a popular source of information. However, each of these requires extra time and money that are often not readily available. Nevertheless, the problem of ineffective transfer of information between university specialists and swine producers does exist a and should be addressed in the future.