Stock Marketing: Just Your Type

Everyone is guilty of it – skimming ads for pictures. But have you ever noticed an ad because of a clever headline? Chances are, if you did, you read it in its entirety. Wouldn’t it be nice if your ads could pack such a punch that they would stop readers in their tracks? With these quick headline writing tricks, your ad can have “stopping power.”

•  Name a benefit – Bigger litters. Bigger profits.


•  Tell them how sorry they’ll be if they don’t use your genetics, product or service – “I wonder what the champion drive is like,” said someone who didn’t buy from ACME Showpigs.


• Make like Snapple, and throw out some facts – Over the last decade, we’ve farrowed more than 500 litters, and this is our best one yet.


• Call-out to your target audience – No place is as nerve-wracking as ringside – buy your kids the best.


• Make it newsworthy – At last, we found the boar we spent years looking for.


• Command their attention – Find your seat at the ACME Showpig Sale.


• Ask a question – Who will be the first person you call when you grab the banner?


• Write, then repeat – Champion at WPX. Champion at NSS. Champion at NBS. Sensing a pattern?


• Play with words – Big belted girls make my rockin’ world go round.


• Metaphors, similes and analogies – oh my – Think of us as a stock market worth investing in.

I hope these examples inspire you to have a little fun writing your next headline. A simple sentence could determine the direction of your ad, and help create a concept that will cause readers to take notice. 

If you’re not feeling creative, the Seedstock EDGE staff will be happy to help you come up with a great headline – all you have to do is ask. 

For those who are itching to publish your Fall Classic success, remember Seedstock EDGE ad copy is due Nov. 29.  As always, give the friendly folks of the Marketing & Communications Department a call to help with your marketing needs.

 Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

- Katie

NSR Updates and Deadlines for Gilt Ownership

I'd first like to thank everyone for making this year's Fall Classic a tremendous success. A great set of weanling and breeding hogs were well received by a huge crowd. Hats off to the breeders and buyers that make this such a great atmosphere each year. Also, a special thanks to the Empire FFA Chapter, Iowa State University Swine Interest Group, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Dr. Mike Tripp and of course Mike, Donna, Lyndol and the Stephens County Fair Staff for their hard work towards this event.

I also wanted to drop a quick reminder to those exhibiting pedigreed barrows and gilts through the winter and spring months of 2013. Many of these pedigreed events have ownership deadlines in the very near future. The ownership deadline for gilts exhibiting at the Junior Breeding Gilt Shows in San Antonio and Houston  is December 1, 2012. All gilts must be recorded and transferred by December 1st for both of these events.

Be sure to have all of your information done in advance to avoid potential issues. Best of luck to all those that purchased pigs at this year's Fall Classic. On behalf of everyone at the National Swine Registry, have a great Thanksgiving and be sure to enjoy your time with family and friends!

Pedigree Portal: NSR Sire Requirements

When recording your pigs, please keep in mind the National Swine Registry has requirements for all purebred sires. These standards help maintain the integrity of the breeds and ensure that proper DNA specifications have been met on sires.

If you artificially inseminated your sow with purchased semen, you will need to contact the boar stud where you obtained the semen and request an AI certificate before recording your litter. To submit the request, the stud will need to have your 2-4 letter Herdmark. If you have not been set up with a Herdmark yet, please contact the National Swine Registry. Once you request this, the boar stud will issue your AI certificate directly to the NSR. When you turn in the litter registration application, NSR will use your Herdmark to match the AI certificate with the litter. 

When requesting an AI certificate, please remember to ask the boar stud for the sire’s registration number and ear notch. You will need this information to record your litter. The use of AI certificates helps ensure that litters are being recorded out of the correct sires. Also, since the boar stud is required to provide a ship date from when they sold the semen to the breeder, it helps ensure litters are being recorded with the accurate farrowing dates.   

If you use your own boar for breeding within your herd, you will need to make sure he meets the proper DNA sire requirements. The NSR requires all sires to have a DNA card banked, and all sires used must test negative for the Stress gene. To do this, simply order a DNA card from the NSR and fill out the boar’s ear notch and registration number on the card. You may use blood or semen as DNA samples. After putting blood or semen on the blotter card, let it dry for 24 hours and send the card back to NSR. You can find more information by visiting the DNA sire requirement page of our website.

Following these requirements helps ensure the integrity of the Yorkshire, Hampshire, Landrace, and Duroc breeds.

 If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

 Good luck to all of you headed to the Fall Classic!

 

Whitney Hosier
Hampshire/Landrace/DNA Secretary

America’s Best Genetics – Animal Farming Ukraine

The National Swine Registry just completed a trade mission to the Animal Farming Ukraine show in Kiev. With respect to other countries, Ukraine is not a large swine producer, but in recent years there has been a fair amount of investment in new technology for the Ukrainian swine industry, particularly in genetics. Because of this, the National Swine Registry and its exporting members have focused on creating market share within the genetics market. Unfortunately, at this time there is not an established protocol for live swine between the U.S. and Ukraine; however, close to 3,000 doses of frozen semen have been purchased from Swine Genetics International and shipped to Ukraine in the last few years.

 

During the show, officials from the U.S. Embassy in Kiev stopped by to discuss the current constraints on live animal exports to Ukraine. Overall the meeting was promising and hopefully there will be movement towards a resolution in the near future. The FAS staff in Kiev has been very helpful in the establishment of the semen protocol and progress towards a live animal protocol. If a protocol is established, there are some great opportunities for U.S. purebred genetics in Ukraine.

Pictured (l to r): Dr. Justin Fix, V.P. of Global Technical Service, National Swine Registry; Mr. Tony Clayton, President, Clayton Agri-Marketing, Inc.; Mr. Randall Hager, Attaché, Foreign Agricultural Service; Mr. Vladimir Getman, Director, Promagro; Mr. Alexander Tarassevych, Agricultural Specialist, Foreign Agricultural Service.