Which of the following swine operations farrows out and then sells the piglets weaned?

The farrow-to-finish operation is a comprehensive swine production system that encompasses the entire lifecycle of pigs, starting with breeding and leading through the stages of farrowing (giving birth) to the market phase. This type of operation breeds sows that give birth to piglets, raises those piglets until weaning, and then may continue to raise them until they reach market weight.

In this context, farrow-to-finish operations uniquely focus on producing piglets and managing all subsequent phases of their growth. This involves nursing the piglets until they are weaned and then continuing to grow them until they are ready for sale, either for breeding or for meat production.

The other types of operations do not encompass this full cycle. Feeder-to-finish operations generally involve purchasing weaned pigs and raising them to market weight, meaning they do not participate in the farrowing process. Purebred operations focus primarily on breeding and may sell breeding stock or weaned pigs but are not typically involved in finishing the pigs themselves. Finishing operations take already weaned pigs and grow them until they reach market weight, again excluding the farrowing aspect.

Thus, the farrow-to-finish operation is characterized by its complete management of the production cycle from