Purchasing technology is a major investment for any pork operation. From robotic power washers to cameras, there’s a lot to consider when it comes time to making purchases for your barn. That’s why Shaun McGinn, chief operating officer at Carthage System Professional Swine Management LLC, says to begin with the end in mind.
“What do you want to live with?” McGinn asks. “Pig flow, pig counter, bin technology, tag readers and cameras all have costs.”
Of course, nobody wants to invest in technology that won’t result in a financial gain.
“Ultimately, you want to earn a return on every technology component you add to the barn,” says Caleb Shull, director of research and innovation for The Maschhoffs.
The return on the technology investment depends on several factors:
- Who is providing the labor (barn owner, third party, owner of pigs)?
- Who owns the barn and is paying for the technology (owner of pigs or contract grower)?
- How does the technology improve profitability (reduction in mortality, reduction in labor)?
Prioritize Your Problems
When it comes to making the tough purchasing decisions, Suzanne Leonard, assistant professor and Extension specialist at North Carolina State University, recommends producers start by prioritizing.
“Decide what problem you would like to tackle first. Maybe it is high prewean mortality, low nursery feed efficiency or a job task that you dislike performing. Determine how much value you place on solving, or reducing, the problem to decide how much money you’re willing to invest in a technology to address it,” she says.
Then, evaluate the technologies. Compare what the technology claims to do versus what it actually measures or records, and evaluate how closely those two are related, she suggests.
“Be sure you are comfortable with the lifespan of the technology, level of customer and technical support, and regular maintenance that needs to be performed. Reach out to third-party evaluators, such as other producers with the technology and universities, to learn of their firsthand experiences with the tech,” Leonard says.
Focus on the End Goal
It’s also valuable to determine who will be using the technology. Will your team accept and readily use it? If so, how will you evaluate if it is successful or not in your system?
For Brian Strobel, USA business development coordinator for Gestal/Jyga Technologies, technology should replace mundane, daily activities such as feeding.
“To me, the end game is having the data to prove our daily animal care (according to our expected eating and drinking patterns) in case anyone ever questions our care,” Strobel says. “Technology allows us to have the data to prove it. For our red-list animals (those who don’t eat as we expect), it is up to the farm to give those animals personal care, which we call ‘managing by exception.’”
Regardless of what technology you add to the barn, some jobs are best handled by people, Strobel adds.
“I don’t want to automate day one piglet care, because I want a person making decisions on each piglet’s care and getting them to a teat,” he says. “I wish we could automate moving sows down the aisle, but that remains manual for opening doors, gates and moving them along if they stop.”
Be Realistic
No matter how good the technology is, some level of maintenance, updates or occasional user interaction will always be needed, Leonard points out.
“Be realistic about what technology can do and its limitations. Give yourself time to adjust to the new system before evaluating its true value,” she says.
Find out the lifespan of the technology, Shull recommends.
“Producers need to know what opportunity there is for improvement with the technology,” he says. “For example, don’t implement a mortality reduction technology in a barn with 1% mortality.”
Don’t Get Left Behind
As technologies in the barn continue to grow and improve, Strobel says it’s important to be open-minded.
“The main thing is to decide we’re burning our bridges and not going back. This is 2024 — everyone has a smartphone. We didn’t have these 20 years ago. We need to adapt in order to be sustainable,” Strobel says. “The same is true about vehicles. Most of us aren’t driving 1980s vehicles. We trust the technology in the newer vehicles. We should all be open to knowing what’s current to make us better.”
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