Top Tech Takeaways from 5 Pork Industry Leaders

The U.S. pork industry has access to lots of technology, but some argue there’s been little adoption of technology on the farm. With the current labor challenges facing the swine and pork processing plant industries, how can technology adoption make a difference? Farm Journal’s PORK asked five pork industry leaders to share their perspectives on how they are using technology on the farm and how it’s making a difference.

Brandi Burton, DVM – Suidae Health & Production, Pork Elite, LLC
Algona, Iowa

Q. What technology has had the greatest impact on your farm in the past year and why?
A.

LeeO is an individual animal tracking system designed for paperless data collection in “real time” in the commercial pork supply chain. Utilizing a radio frequency identification (RFID), LeeO scans tags and records individual animal weights and other key data quickly using a proprietary LeeO Reader and Bluetooth technology that links to an app that can be downloaded on handheld devices. This system was implemented the past year on a 2,500-head farrow-to-finish commercial system. All pigs are individually identified with a tag and weighed at birth and at weaning. Using this system, we are able to track all production activities and extract records with that information. This would include inseminations, pregnancy checks, farrowing, treatment, weights, mortalities and reasons of death, sex, and much more. This data is available in real-time since the mobile devices have internet access, and therefore, data can be assessed whenever it is necessary from any location. This provides a tremendous opportunity for objective and quick decision making. It also allows in depth oversight of the production and health of all of those animals. We have not only used this technology for basic production records but also to do field-based research trials as well as on-farm investigations.

Q. What is the greatest benefit of incorporating more technology on the farm?
A. Advancing technologies in the swine industry allow farmers, caretakers, supervisors and veterinarians be more involved and connected than ever before. We are able to collect an immense amount of data, and as a result of that, we can and will continue to answer questions we weren’t able to before. In the end, we are always looking at ways to better care for pigs and these technologies are able to help us make objective decisions in real time that not only will benefit the pigs but the farmer as well.

Q. How does technology affect how you do your job day-in and day-out on the farm?
A. As a veterinarian, technology allows me to stay connected with my clients when I am not able to be on farm. I can use the information from these various technologies and understand what is going on in the barn without being there. We can also assess trends in health and production in a much more efficient manner, and then we are able to use that information to help guide health and business decisions. I am able to provide a better service to my clients and their pigs when I am able to catch health challenges in the very beginning, and these technologies have really helped me identify early opportunities where I am able to make the biggest differences.

Acacia Hagan, Two Mile Pork
Monroe City, Missouri

Q. What technology has had the greatest impact on your farm in the past year and why?
A.

This past year we have begun using the Farmera app. Farmera is compatible with our smart phones and offers us the ability to enter treatments, mortalities, barn temperatures or any comments we have daily. Each manager and employee has this app, so everyone is seeing real time data of what is happening in each barn. Our veterinarians are also on the app, so when we call with questions about sick pigs, they already have access to the history of those pigs to help make a more informed decision. Farmera has the ability to track the age of the pigs, so at the click of a button the logistics team is able to see exactly how many pigs are in a barn and what age they are, making scheduling more efficient.

Q. What is the greatest benefit of incorporating more technology on the farm?
A. I am sure efficiency is the greatest benefit. Since everyone has the information in their pocket, we have been able to diagnose pigs more quickly and effectively. Also, logistics has gained efficiency. Lastly, most noticeable is our data entry is now streamlined with less room for errors. Currently, our veterinarians have access to Farmera. If we see the need in the future, we have the ability to add consultants from anywhere to the app. This would allow us to get a wider range of opinions without risking pig health by having people come into the barns, and consultants can get a good view of what is happening without having to travel.

Q. How does technology affect how you do your job day-in and day-out on the farm?
A. One feature of Farmera that has not been mentioned is the cough monitors that have been installed in a few of our barns. These SoundTalks monitors are checking the level of noise in the barn 24/7 and communicating with us if the level spikes or falls. Each monitor has color-coded lights and the information from them is automatically put into the Farmera app. Since coughing is hard for a caretaker to measure, these monitors have helped us validate what we are hearing and if it is less than or greater than the level of coughing detected the day before. We have one example where a group of wean pigs were getting sick, the caretaker noticed a drop in water consumption (based off a meter in his barn) at the same time the cough monitors were alerting him and everyone else on the app that the level of coughing was spiking. These pigs were treated according to the veterinarian’s recommendations and as water consumption came up, the cough monitors noted a fall in the level of cough. As an industry we know that a fall in water consumption typically means sick pigs, but we have other barns that do not have individual water meters, so these cough sensors in those barns are helping us to identify sick pigs.

Ryan Klocke, NexGen Ag Supply
Templeton, Iowa

Q. What technology has had the greatest impact on your farm in the past year and why?
A. The most impact on my farm would be the installation and upgrades to my hog barns with Skov’s production management system. This consists of a camera pig weighing system called “ProGrow,” electronic feed weighing and their farm management system called “Farm Online.” The reason it has had the most impact is having good reliable data at your fingertips in real time to make fast and accurate management decisions. Along with streamlining day to day tasks with some of the automation that the system provides.

Q. What is the greatest benefit of incorporating more technology on the farm?
A. To me, the greatest benefit in technology is to become better and more efficient at what we do. This in turn will increase productivity and make us more profitable.

Q. How does technology affect how you do your job day-in and day-out on the farm?
A. The technology that I have incorporated allows me to make quicker, more educated management decisions in my barns by having good reliable data at my fingertips.

Walt Laut, Jayce Mountain Pork
Fredericktown, Missouri

Q. What technology has had the greatest impact on your farm in the past year and why?
A. Although we haven’t added any notable new technology in the past year, we have been taking time to gain more from our existing technology and production software that we’ve added over the last several years. We’ve known there is additional, useful information to be gained by utilizing some of the features in our controllers and reports in our software.

Q. What is the greatest benefit of incorporating more technology on the farm?
A. Once things are working correctly, technology can save time and labor. It can also monitor, adjust and alert us for conditions in the barns 24 hours a day – even when the crew is gone. We can gain useful and timely information in order to respond quickly which is crucial for production.

Q. How does technology affect how you do your job day-in and day-out on the farm?
A. I really believe technology has made us better and given us the ability to be more precise, efficient and better producers. It affects every area of our lives and the hog operation is no different. But it comes with an obligation to maintain, update, monitor and watch for newer and better options on the market.

José A Santiago, Tosh Pork, LLC
Henry, Tennessee

Q. What technology has had the greatest impact on your farm in the past year and why?
A.

We have used Smart Guard, Smart Counting by Romaine and started working on pig flow. We are always looking to find ways to make employee jobs easier and keep them motivated to do better with less work. Pig farming is a lot of work, and it’s not very easy either. Today’s generation needs motivation to come to work and be consistent. We need to flex and learn to evolve to our upcoming generation if we want to keep farms staffed and production where it needs to be. With new technology, we hope to make jobs more attractive to today’s work force. Also, the labor pool is very active in technology. When we are interviewing candidates, they are shocked on no cell phones in farms and for them that’s a deal breaker. With Pig Flow, they have a phone and it gives them a normal life feel. They can communicate within the farm and have that feeling or normalcy in the barn.

Q. What is the greatest benefit of incorporating more technology on the farm?
A. Job attraction and job satisfaction. Helping employees find easier ways to communicate and complete tasks will always have an upper hand in production. Happy people equal happy pigs. When employees are engaged and happy, you are more profitable. When they have the proper tools and you are giving them your trust with state-of-the-art technology, they feel welcomed, entitled and understand the urgency to do a great job. We can have the best technology in the world on our farms. But at the end of the day, it’s all about the people working with it that makes the technology worth it.

Q. How does technology affect how you do your job day-in and day-out on the farm?
A. Technology gives us an extra tool to do day-to-day tasks. Our employees see that the company is investing in their daily workloads to help them have an easier day and that helps the work-life balance.

We will be uniting together June 7-13 for PORK Week across all of our Farm Journal platforms to elevate the important role the pork industry plays in feeding the world. Share your stories and post photos on social media using #PORKWeek21 to help us honor the pork industry. From “AgDay TV” to “AgriTalk” to “U.S. Farm Report” to PorkBusiness.com and everything in between, tune in and join us as we acknowledge the most noble profession there is: feeding people.

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