Hogs Housing - Facilities

From Storm Ruin to 'Barn Hero': How Partnership and Family Fuel This Indiana Pig Farm

Fri, 15 May 2026 13:05:32 GMT

When the barn alarm screeches in the middle of the night, every pig farmer feels an ache deep in his gut. There was no way Kameron Donaldson could have prepared for what he saw back in 2013 when the sheriff deputy drove him up to the site of his new finishing barn.

With power lines snapping like firecrackers on the Fourth of July, he was grateful for the officer who came upon the scene after a devastating windstorm flattened his livelihood. With the patrol car’s lights beaming on the scene, all Donaldson could see were shards of glass, twisted metal and splintered wood.

All he could think was, “This is bad.” His quad buildings were in ruins.

Through the pouring rain and striking lightning, he knew he had to act fast to get the pigs moved to a better location.

“One half of one building was basically gone – no roof or even lumber on one end,” Donaldson recalls. “The other building just collapsed and basically laid down on the gates. The unbelievable part is that, of the 8,000 50-lb. pigs in the buildings, only 20 died during the storm from debris falling on them.”

(Kameron Donaldson)

A Convoy of Support

Overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to describe how Donaldson felt the next morning as the sun rose over the wreckage and revealed the true damage. But he says it wasn’t because of the cleanup and hard decisions ahead. It was because of the convoy of pig farmers, neighbors and friends who showed up with bolt cutters, trailers and food.

As a contract grower for Dykhuis Farms, Donaldson was relieved that his barn supervisor was focused on finding spaces for the pigs so he could concentrate on getting pigs out of the buildings.

“We needed to move approximately 16 semi loads of pigs to new locations until the buildings could be repaired,” he says. “In the building that collapsed, the gates had to be cut because they were pinched by the ceiling that lay on top of them. Men were literally crawling on their hands and knees to move these pigs out of the pens.”

Some people moved debris. Others loaded pigs onto trailers. Some even hooked up the barn watering system to a firetruck so the pigs could drink.

“The support of our community meant so much to our family,” he says. “Everyone understood that this was a serious situation and did anything they could to help.”

The support the Donaldsons received after the storm is unforgettable. He says that is something he appreciates about being a contract grower — knowing you have a support team who is willing to help and solve problems alongside you whatever they may be.

(Kameron Donaldson)

The Power of Partnership

This crisis solidified Donaldson’s trust in Dykhuis Farms and the partnership model he uses today. He knows he is able to do more with the support Dykhuis Farms provides than if he were raising hogs independently.

Growing up on a grain and pig farming operation in Miami County, Ind., Donaldson was no stranger to the challenges of raising livestock. In 1996, his family exited the hog business. A few years later, he married his high school sweetheart, Hayley, who also grew up on a pig farm. It came as no surprise when the young couple decided contract finishing hogs would be a wise way to use some empty barns and bring in a little extra income so they could return to the farm full time.

A friend introduced them to Dykhuis Farms of Holland, Mich., and said they were a great group to work for, Donaldson recalls.

“Once I met the president at the time, Bob Dykhuis, I knew that was the direction I wanted to go,” he says. “They are a faith- and family-based farm operation. They were easy to connect with and that was important to me as I was getting my start. I’ve been with them ever since and never regretted it.”

In addition to great health and technical support, Dykhuis Farms offers an incentive opportunity for growers who maintain a daily log of data and performance records. Examples range from recording barn temperatures to vaccinations to death loss.

“They keep numbers on virtually everything they can keep numbers on,” he says. “When you have a good group, and you’ve done your paperwork, you may receive a certain dollar amount per head bonus.”

One of the advantages of feeding hogs for a company is the number of people you meet along the way, Donaldson says. Whether it’s truck drivers other hog growers, he says it opens up your world to opportunities you never knew were possible.

(Don Green)

That incentive to reach high standards is motivating, he says. It feels good to be affirmed for doing exceptional work in the barn. He focuses attention on indicators of barn performance, including ventilation, feed and water systems, to make sure the pig has the best environment possible.

“I appreciate that they are open about numbers and share those across the company,” Donaldson points out. “It allows you to compare and see where you sit with other growers. That’s important for me to be at the top. If we are a little weak in an area, I focus on that pretty hard.”

The Discipline of Daily Care

Although many things have changed since he started feeding hogs 19 years ago, like technology and finishing weights, the most important things are still the most important things.

“A successful contract grower needs to be observant,” he says. “You need to slow down enough to take a good look at the pigs and observe them. How are they feeling? Good growers can go in a barn and get a sense real quick if something’s off.”

He says it starts with a passion to want the pigs to do well because it’s the right thing to do for the pig. But it also makes his job easier, too.

“Being a contract grower takes a lot of hard work,” Donaldson adds. “Success doesn’t happen overnight. It takes many years of doing the work, day in and day out, before you get your expenses covered. But even when you are starting to make a little money, you must always think about reinvesting because the barn is going to need maintenance.”

The Donaldson farm consists of pigs, corn, soybeans and wheat and is staffed mostly by Donaldson, Hayley and their son, Keagan. They also have two daughters, Kendra and Kayden, who put in hours in the barn when needed. His father, now 68, still works on his own farm every day and helps with the grain side of Donaldson’s farm.

“We load out most of our own pigs ourselves,” Donaldson says. “We have hired help to come in to do the sorting and the washing of the barns, but on the day-to-day chore stuff, it’s myself and family members.”

Working alongside his son, Keegan, on the farm is a privilege, Donaldson says.

(Don Green)

Working with family members means a lot to Donaldson, who views it as a great opportunity to teach his children and pass on values.

“They always say, “A family that prays together stays together.’ But a family that sells pigs together? Now that’s a challenge,” Donaldson laughs. “I’ve learned to be more patient. If our kids see that I can get it done without a forceful nature, and it’s just as effective or even quicker, they may take that approach the next time, too.”

One of his expectations in the barn is observance.

“Use all your senses when you’re in there,” Donaldson says. “Use your eyes to look for potential feeder adjustments, pig problems and things like that. Keep your ears open. Can you hear a pig breathing hard? Use every sense you can to be observant. When you do that, you’ll be able to make sure the pigs are in the best environment for growth possible.”

Securing the Future

Hayley works on the farm with her husband every day. From loading pigs to driving the tractor to handling the farm’s paperwork, Donaldson says she can do it all.

“Working with your spouse can have its challenges, and that’s mostly my fault,” he says. “There’s not much of a buffer zone. If something’s not going well when I come in for lunch, she’s the person who gets an earful.”

(Don Green)

However, their joint desire to see the farm succeed and provide opportunities for future generations to be on the farm aligns their purpose and helps cover the daily stresses of farm life. It’s also why they’ve prioritized succession planning.

“We wanted to have something in place as our operation grew,” he says. “Once we started that process, that encouraged my dad to do the same. My dad thought you had to have every detail worked out. And that’s just not true when it comes to succession planning.”

The first step is starting with something, Donaldson says. He reached out to an attorney who specializes in farm succession plans to help devise a strategy for the future of their farm business.

“Even though we knew our lawyer, she still wanted to spend time talking to us to understand the ‘heartbeat’ of our family,” he says. “She wanted to understand each family member’s role on and off the farm.”

Once his dad realized the process wasn’t that difficult, and he could make changes to the plan along the way, he softened to the idea and went through the process to set up his own trust for his farming operation.

“He has peace now knowing that the land he owns will continue, and whether it’s me or my son, we will rent off of the trust and continue to farm his land,” Donaldson says.

A True Barn Hero

Donaldson’s stewardship of the animals and the environment is noteworthy. His desire to be more efficient and make the pigs’ lives the best possible is one of the reasons why Caton Howard, a fieldman for Dykhuis Farms, calls Donaldson a barn hero.

“Kameron always does things the right way and in a timely manner, which can be a struggle with contract growers,” Howard says. “He cares for the pigs daily like they are his own and keeps his facilities in pristine condition. He also maintains the barns like they are brand new.”

Kameron and Hayley Donaldson wouldn’t be where they are today without the examples their fathers set for them to work hard and prioritize animal care.

(Don Green)

In addition, the family’s decision to do all their own loading is becoming a bit of a rarity, Howard says. He believes this shows their determination to be the best and provide the best care for the pigs.

“I really enjoy working with Kameron and cherish the conversations we have about pigs,” Howard says. “He helps motivate me to always strive to do better every day.”

Jason Klein, manager at Dykhuis Farms, says many obstacles in the pork business can be overcome by simply executing the basics really well day after day. He believes Donaldson represents a guy who does this well.

“Everything on the site works like it’s supposed to, and chores are done every day like they are supposed to be done,” Klein says. “There is never any drama or surprises with Kameron Donaldson. He owns and manages all his responsibilities really well. He takes pride in what he does. It’s obvious every time I talk with him that he’s truly glad to be a farmer.

Donaldson recognizes his success is not his alone, and without his team, including his family and the crew at Dykhuis Farms, he wouldn’t be where he is today. He is proud to be called a barn hero.

“We want to keep doing a good job for Dykhuis Farms and make sure the finished product is in line with what they started,” Donaldson says.

Hayley believes this is possible because of her husband’s superpower – making things happen.

“He’s good at doing a lot of things,” she says. “He pays great attention to detail. If something needs done, we all rally around him and do what he says we need to do.”

This system works well for the Donaldson family.

“It’s a good life,” he says. “Farming is hard to get into, but if you have an opportunity to work with somebody who is already in operation, go for it. There are always farmers looking for people willing to work on a farm, especially on the animal side. I don’t think people realize how many opportunities may be out there with farmers who don’t have a succession plan or children wanting to take over the farming operation. It takes some time to find, but it’s worth it.”

Is PRRS Air Filtration Worth the Cost? New 16-Year Study Results

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:45:28 GMT

New, highly virulent strains of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) are popping up around the country, proving that even “isolated” areas are no longer safe from aerosol transmission. A single PRRS break can cost a 5,000-head sow farm $5 million. Recent research proves filtration isn’t just a biosecurity measure; it’s a financial risk-management tool.

The Data: A 16-Year Deep Dive

A University of Minnesota Department of Veterinary Population Medicine study shows that farms with commercial air filtration systems experience a significantly lower risk of PRRS outbreaks compared to unfiltered operations:

● Negative pressure filtered farms: 51% lower risk of PRRSV outbreak.
● Positive pressure filtered farms: 58% lower risk of PRRSV outbreak.

“While air filtration methods combined with biosecurity measures have demonstrated effectiveness in preventing PRRSV introductions, this study is the first to comprehensively address the impact of different ventilation pressure types while controlling for regional pig density which is a main risk factor for disease occurrence,” says Dr. Cesar Corzo of the University of Minnesota.

This longitudinal study analyzed 16 years of data from 413 sow farms participating in the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project (MSHMP), representing more than 1.5 million sows. By accounting for herd size and the number of pigs within a 35-kilometer radius, the research provides the most accurate picture to date of how filtration stands up against regional disease pressure.

The Secret Weapon: How Filters Trap Viruses

Producers often mistake air filters for simple sieves, but capturing a virus requires more than just “small holes.” According to Rob Langenhorst, technical sales manager for AAF International, filters rely on four sophisticated physical principles:

Straining: Trapping particles larger than the space between fibers (dust, hair, insects).
Impaction: Heavy particles that can’t “make the turn” around a fiber and crash into it.
Interception: Medium particles that “brush” against a fiber and become snagged.
Diffusion: The zigzag movement of tiny particles (like viruses) that causes them to eventually bump into a fiber and stick.

The MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) rating tells how well these four forces work together. The swine industry is moving toward MERV 16 as the gold standard, Langenhorst says.

“MERV 14 gave us higher airflow but didn’t give us the protection,” he adds. “MERV 16 is the best of both worlds. They’re getting higher protection without compromising the airflow needed for ventilation.”

Making the Case to the Bank Manager

Paul Sennett, chief operating officer for AAF Americas, says the University of Minnesota Study provides the “missing link” for producers seeking capital for barn upgrades.

“The University of Minnesota report tells them the expense is sensible,” Sennett says. “However, the University of Minnesota also tells the bank manager that the investment is sensible. Now the producer has some evidence that they can take in front of the bank manager and say, ‘I need a couple of million dollars to do this, but here is the economic case.’ It’s a piece of science that demonstrates filtration is a financially sound investment to this situation.”

Fighting the ‘Wolves of Disease’ in the Nursery

As biosecurity tightens at the sow farm, the industry is shifting its focus to the nursery. Langenhorst notes a significant uptick in nursery filtration investment to protect the “clean” pigs coming out of filtered sow units.

“Maybe you spent X dollars filtering your sow farm and you have this beautiful, 21-day-old pig that’s nice and healthy,” he says. “You put it through the most strenuous day of its life at weaning, put it on a truck and take it to who knows where, commingle it with other pigs, and basically turn it out to the ‘wolves of disease.’”

Filtering the nursery protects the investment made at the sow farm. It allows the piglet’s immune system to strengthen before it moves on to the finishing barn, Langenhorst says.

The Human Element

Ultimately, cleaner air isn’t just about porcine health, it’s about the people in the barns.

“Productivity improves when things are cleaner,” Sennett says.

Beyond the pigs, filtered air supports the mental and physical health of the workforce. Preventing disease outbreaks and subsequent depopulation events is a key factor in employee retention and morale.

As new strains like PRRS 1-10-4 L1C.5.35 continue to strike previously “safe” areas in Ohio and Indiana , the mentality of the industry is shifting. “Producers who thought they were far enough away from the Midwest are realizing they aren’t,” Langenhorst concludes. “Now, they can’t build or remodel fast enough to get filtration in.”

5 Million-Strong Coalition Urges Congress to Fix Prop 12 in Farm Bill

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:27:33 GMT

With 5 million members between them, the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation led a coalition urging Congress to provide regulatory certainty for farmers across the country forced to comply with California Proposition 12.

The coalition of nearly 400 agricultural groups sent a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), detailing robust arguments opposing the extraterritorial state law.

“The massive problems caused by Prop 12 cannot be solved via regulation or executive order—it is solely Congress’ authority and responsibility to provide a solution, as noted in the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision,” the coalition says. “Prop 12 has created uncertainty across rural America, especially on small and medium-sized farms, as they have less financial ability to retrofit barns to comply with the restrictive law.”

NPPC points out that there is significant bipartisan willingness to fix Prop 12.

Trump administration Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said, “[Proposition 12] is not just affecting California. It’s affecting multitudes of other states, multitudes of other parts of the ag community, including our hog family farms.”
Biden administration Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said, “California’s Proposition 12 is not a narrow issue, nor is it a regional one. It goes to the heart of whether farmers across the country can operate under consistent, responsible, science-based standards—or be subject to a shifting patchwork of mandates they cannot control and cannot afford. When I served as Secretary of Agriculture the Supreme Court of the United States made clear, resolving these interstate challenges is the responsibility of Congress. I encouraged Congress to act then, and I am again encouraging Congress to act now. The farm bill presents a clear and immediate opportunity to provide that certainty and uphold the principles that have long sustained American agriculture and the affordability of our food supply.”

Prop 12 and similar laws do not improve animal welfare and lack scientific evidence, NPPC adds.

The American Veterinary Medical Association said, “the arbitrary housing requirements in Prop 12 do not objectively improve animal welfare and may unintentionally cause harm.”
Prop 12 sets the stage for an unworkable 50-state patchwork of laws.
A proposal in Oklahoma would increase housing requirements beyond Prop 12. This means that pork producers nationwide, regardless of whether they have converted to be Prop 12-compliant, would yet again be out of compliance to access another state market.

It’s undeniable that farmers’ costs to house their animals are increasing, NPPC says.

Multiple university studies show that constructing new, Prop 12-compliant barns can cost 25% to 40% more per sow than other housing styles, not including the estimated 15% higher operating costs per pig caused by reduced productivity.

Prop 12 is responsible for declining food affordability as grocery story pork prices are skyrocketing, NPPC reports.

North Dakota State University economists found that since Prop 12 was implemented, prices for covered products in California have increased nearly 20% on average.
Prop 12 leads to pork industry consolidation, as smaller farms close their doors because of the regulatory burdens and high costs of complying with Prop 12.
AFBF economists analyzed the impact of state laws on interstate commerce in a recent Market Intel . According to a study by the University of California’s Gianni Foundation, the impact of the higher prices on people’s pork purchases, with California’s share of consumption falling from 10% of all U.S. pork to 8% when Proposition 12 took full effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Ultimately, consumers pay the bill for the disruption caused by these laws. Farmers are price-takers, not price-makers, the Market Intel report says. A farmer who has invested in complying with laws like Proposition 12 is at the mercy of a packer to pay a premium for a product they can sell in Massachusetts or California - though even that premium may not cover the farmer’s costs. When packers pay farmers more, they likely pass that cost on to retailers, who then charge shoppers more for pork.

This coalition, representing more than 5 million Americans, urges passage of the 2026 House Farm Bill to “protect everyone’s freedom to farm while also allowing states to act independently by allowing laws that regulate practices and impact commerce within their borders.”

A full House floor vote is expected for late April/early May.

From Products to Systems: Elizabeth Beeler on the Evolution of Swine Ventilation

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:10:49 GMT

Elizabeth Beeler is not your typical engineer. In fact, her husband jokes that she’s probably the most talkative engineer he’s ever met. With a passion for math, science and solving problems, she’s found the perfect role as vice president of sales for Double L Group based in Dyersville, Iowa.

“When you’re a young kid and people ask you what you want to do someday, it’s a little overwhelming,” Beeler says. “I was really good at science and math, so I chose the engineering route because it was easy. I knew I wanted to stay tied to agriculture because this is an industry that’s really about the people. In my mind, that connection makes our industry unique.”

Growing up on a 200-head farrowing-to-finish operation in eastern Iowa, Beeler obtained her agricultural engineering degree at Iowa State University. She then found a great opportunity to tie her passion for animal agriculture and engineering into a rewarding career at Double L Group, a company that provides ventilation equipment into agricultural facilities across the U.S.

For the past 10 years, she’s served in both engineering and sales roles for the company. She says the best part of her job is working with great people.

“People make the difference,” Beeler says. “I enjoy interacting with farmers and people connected to agriculture in some way. There’s just a level of integrity and passion in our industry that makes it stand out from the rest.”

Read on to learn more about her career with Double L Group – from her business philosophy to her views on the future of the U.S. pork industry.

What is your why?

At Double L, we want to make the product work in the customer’s environment. When you think of ventilation, it’s very directly tied to animal health and the facility’s operating expense. When you manage ventilation well, you can get good results. But when it’s managed or designed poorly, that isn’t the case. We do our best to help farmers, growers and integrators design and have the right product so they can raise animals more efficiently. This allows them to focus on other important things like genetics and feed – they don’t have to worry about respiratory issues or utilizing too much LP.

Describe a typical day on the job for you.

My days are very relationship driven. I am constantly interacting with our sales team, integrators, growers, Extension specialists and anyone who’s moving air through a facility. I am either on the phone or at job sites. Although every day looks very different, it comes down to a lot of problem solving.

How does your company help and work with its customers?

We start by understanding our customers’ needs and challenges. That often begins through an email, a phone call or a meeting, and eventually results in designing and building the ventilation package that will address their need. Double L is uniquely nimble through our manufacturing in Iowa and the ability to provide custom designs as needed. That is very important in ag facilities because they’re not cookie-cutter layouts. A facility in Iowa might be very different than a facility layout in a different state, and the equipment to service it looks different, too. We believe custom solutions are also important. We need to understand what customers need, and then how we fit into that from an equipment and product standpoint.

How has the business changed since you started?

Our company was formed 53 years ago. When I started, we were pretty much an inlet company, focused solely on swine equipment. As a business, we could see our customers getting more vertically integrated. Compound that with a knowledge vacuum as people with decades of experience retire from our industry, Double L knew customers wanted fewer vendors to provide more products. Instead of calling 10 vendors to get equipment to build a farm, they wanted to call half that many. Knowing that need from our customers, we’ve really built out our product line. We’ve had a very strategic focus to develop and launch quality products that include exhaust fans and the full ventilation package. In the past 10 years, we’ve launched and commercialized over 20 products. We’ve gone from selling products to selling systems, which is a better model that provides more value for our customers.

What concerns do you have about the swine industry?

One thing I think about a lot, especially as an equipment company and interacting with builders as frequently as I do, is the cost to replace the existing asset base. It’s a concern. If you talk to integrators or growers, building facilities today is different than building facilities 10 years ago. Every industry is like that over the expanse of time, but it’s increasingly challenging for pig farmers now. So, what’s our industry doing? We are continually taking what we have and remodeling to make it work. There are limitations to that at some point. When I interact with farmers and integrators, they know they need to replace or upgrade existing assets. Servicing that debt load or making that cash flow isn’t as easy as 10 years ago.

What are the greatest opportunities in the swine industry today?

Pork has a very good opportunity to play a bigger role in protein consumption. We have a good product, and there are a lot of opportunities that come with that. If I look at some of the other proteins on the market like beef, it takes a long time to increase the supply. People only desire to eat so much chicken. Pork has a real role to play in future protein demand

Who inspires you?

My parents have modeled what hard work looks like early on and often when I was a kid. I still take inspiration from that daily. I also have professional mentors who are further along in life than I am that I admire, too. From their careers to their marriages to their families, they model what it looks like to operate with integrity. How they approach work and life inspires me.

What is your business philosophy?

Double L’s business philosophy is to make the product work in the customer’s environment. I know that sounds simple to describe, but it can be tough to execute because ventilation is both a science and an art. Approaches on how to design facilities have changed over the years. Our philosophy is we need to put in the work to provide products that fit each environment. We also focus on treating people the way we want to be treated and that you reap what you sow. If you do those three things, good business comes as a byproduct naturally.

What will the business look like 20 years from now?

The swine industry is going to evolve both in terms of technology and adoption of AI to become more efficient. We have some big problems to solve today like labor, production challenges and the high cost of assets. Becoming more efficient will help us in that area. Over the next 20 years, we will be focusing on technologies coming to market that will be smarter in ways that provide the industry with more data and allow us to use that data more to make decisions. We’re still going to be raising pigs and bringing them to market, but the facilities to achieve that result, the labor associated with it, and the production to do it will look different than it does now.

If you could go back and do something different in your career, what would it be and why?

I would take more measured risks earlier on. Sometimes you get paralysis by analysis. You focus on all the information instead of taking action. The rate of growth on learning through doing is exponential. I tell my team all the time to fight fear with facts. If you don’t know why you’re anxious or not making a decision, find the facts, review, decide and move on. If you discover that was the wrong decision five minutes later because you now have different information, guess what? You can pivot and make a better decision. I wish I had told myself that 10 years ago.

What advice do you have for someone who might like to do what you do someday?

Opportunities will present themselves – lean into them. If you’re a little uncomfortable or you get that nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach, that’s when you should lean in, not out. Our industry needs young people to enter it. One of the biggest concerns I have is making sure we’re bringing in good, competent people to help us achieve our goals. Our industry needs more great young people.

AI in Pork Production: Turning Barn Data into Faster, Better Decisions

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 03:16:45 GMT

By Aidan Connolly, AgriTech Capital & Camila Ulloa, Purdue University

Pork production has always been a business of timing. Breeding schedules, feed deliveries, pig flow, ventilation adjustments and marketing decisions must all happen at the right moment. When those decisions are coordinated well, the system runs smoothly. When they are delayed or disconnected, small problems can quickly become expensive ones.

Today the pace of decision-making in pork production is accelerating. Labor shortages, volatile feed prices, disease pressures and unpredictable markets are forcing producers to operate with greater precision than ever before. Recent industry analyses also show that hog prices have experienced significant swings due to supply chain disruptions, disease outbreaks and export demand shifts. Artificial intelligence is emerging as a tool that can help producers turn operational data into faster and better decisions.

AI is often described as futuristic technology. In reality, it is simply a new way of using information. Modern pig farms already generate enormous amounts of operational data: feed intake, water consumption, barn temperatures, growth rates, mortality and processing weights. The challenge is not collecting the data; it is turning it into decisions quickly enough to matter.

Artificial intelligence helps solve that problem by identifying patterns across multiple data streams simultaneously. Instead of reviewing reports after problems occur, AI systems can detect early signals and recommend adjustments while outcomes are still manageable. For pork producers, the shift is subtle but important. Management moves from reacting to events toward anticipating them.

Why Pig Production Generates So Much Data

Modern swine production generates data at nearly every stage of the production cycle. Large production systems manage breeding farms, nurseries, finishing barns, feed mills and processing plants across multiple locations. Each stage produces its own set of measurements and records. Environmental controllers track temperature and ventilation inside barns. Feed systems record feed usage. Weigh scales monitor growth performance. Health treatments and vaccination programs add additional records, while processing plants provide feedback on carcass weight and yield. Individually, these datasets are useful. But they often remain isolated within separate software systems or management processes.

Nutrition, ventilation, breeding and marketing decisions all depend on different types of information. Yet these decisions influence one another across the production cycle, and the data needed to coordinate them is rarely analyzed together.

Rather than analyzing each issue separately, AI systems evaluate how multiple variables interact across the production system. In practice, this means artificial intelligence can help producers understand how:

changes in feed formulation influence growth curves and marketing weights
ventilation and temperature patterns affect feed intake and animal health
ingredient variability impacts finishing performance
health signals in barns influence downstream processing schedules

When these relationships become visible earlier, producers can adjust sooner.

From Observation to Prediction

Traditionally, good pig managers relied heavily on observation. Experienced producers could walk through a barn and quickly recognize when pigs were uncomfortable or when something in the environment was not quite right. Artificial intelligence does not replace this expertise. Instead, it extends it. Sensors track feed intake and water consumption continuously. Environmental systems monitor temperature and airflow. Cameras and sound sensors detect changes in activity levels or coughing patterns. When analyzed together, these signals provide a clearer picture of herd health and barn performance.

The result is earlier intervention. Health issues can be detected sooner, reducing treatment costs and mortality. Environmental adjustments can also be made earlier to prevent heat stress or growth setbacks. Predictive insights also improve planning, helping producers schedule marketings more accurately and coordinate better with processors. In this way, AI does not change the fundamentals of pig farming. It simply allows producers to see patterns sooner and respond faster.

The Bullet Train Moment for Pork Production

Transformational technologies rarely succeed on technology alone. They require changes in the systems around them. A useful comparison comes from transportation history. When Japan introduced the Shinkansen bullet train in the 1960s, the breakthrough was not simply building a faster train. The entire railway network had to be redesigned. Tracks were rebuilt, signaling systems upgraded and operating procedures rewritten. Without those changes, the train would never have achieved its famous speed.

In our recent white paper on AI in agri-food we describe how artificial intelligence presents a similar moment for agriculture. Installing AI software without adjusting how decisions are made is like placing a bullet train on old railway tracks. The technology may be powerful, but the surrounding system limits its impact. For pig producers, the key challenge is not simply adopting digital tools. It is reorganizing how information flows across the operation.

Turning Information Into Better Decisions

In a previous column in Farm Journal’s PORK titled “ Smarter Pigs, Smarter Farms: How AI and ChatGPT Are Re-Wiring Swine Production ,” I introduced the DRIVE framework as a practical guide for pork producers interested in experimenting with artificial intelligence. That article explains the steps in detail. The principle remains simple: artificial intelligence creates value when it helps producers connect information that already exists across barns, feed mills, health records and marketing plans.

The Next Stage of Pig Farming

The swine industry has repeatedly adapted to new technologies. Genetic improvements, precision feeding systems and modern ventilation controls have reshaped production over the past several decades. Artificial intelligence represents the next stage of that evolution. But the real transformation will not come from algorithms alone. It will come from producers who rethink how information moves through their operations and how decisions are made across breeding farms, nurseries and finishing barns.

In railways, the bullet train succeeded because the entire infrastructure evolved around it. In pork production, artificial intelligence offers a similar opportunity. The farms that move fastest will not simply install new software, they will redesign their decision systems so information works together across the entire operation. Because in modern pig farming, the ability to learn quickly may become just as important as the size of the herd.

Aidan Connolly, President, AgriTech Capital, is described by Forbes as ‘a food/feed/farm futurologist’ He is the author of the book ‘The Future of Agriculture’, now in 4 languages, and a recent white paper on AI in Agri-Food systems. Camila Ulloa is a market research analyst, with a master’s in agricultural economics from Purdue University. Her work combines industry analysis and applied research on innovation, sustainability, and emerging trends across agriculture and food systems.

2026 Common Swine Industry Audit Updates: What Pork Producers Need to Know

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:48:04 GMT

Nobody gets excited when an auditor pulls into the driveway, but in an era of increasing retail pressure and global scrutiny, the Common Swine Industry Audit (CSIA) is evolving from a simple checklist into a pork producer’s most powerful shield.

The CSIA task force’s 2026 updates are the most significant overhaul in a decade, shifting from looking for flaws to benchmarking positive welfare outcomes. By aligning with international standards and providing rigorous third-party verification of on-farm care, these science-based revisions are securing the industry’s ‘freedom to operate’ and ensuring U.S. pork remains a trusted, high-quality staple in the global supply chain.

Securing ‘Freedom to Operate’

The CSIA is a tool for third-party verification, not just internal training, explains Stephanie Wetter, National Pork Board’s director of animal welfare. It provides the credible data needed to justify pork’s place in the global supply chain and protects the industry’s right to operate by meeting international standards.

“CSIA does not teach. It does not train. It is third party auditing, verifying what you’re doing on farm,” Wetter says. “This helps to protect the ‘freedom to operate’ by giving us that credible third-party voice to demonstrate how our pigs are being cared for before these requirements are dictated to us by others.”

She’s quick to add that she understands people don’t get excited about having an audit done on their farm.

“It’s not necessarily fun to think about having someone come in and basically give your farm a test,” she says. “But the CSIA is not designed to focus on your flaws, and especially with the changes in positive welfare language. This is a way to brag about the good care and production that our producers are doing on farm.”

The CSIA is an industry-led effort that gives customers and packers confidence in their suppliers and helps justify keeping those farms in their supply chain because they have that third-party verification.

“There will always be opportunities to improve,” Wetter says. “It’s just the nature of agriculture and production, and especially in an industry that is committed to continuous improvement. The CSIA helps keep those conversations focused on outcomes, learning and progress, rather than focusing on punishment or one-off issues.”

From a system perspective, Brooke Kitting, senior veterinarian at Seaboard Foods, appreciates the feedback loop the CSIA provides. While it does identify things done well, it also identifies areas that could be improved. She says having this formalized audit tool to help them deliver that feedback has helped the CSIA to become a core part of their program.

What’s Changing in the Audit

The 2026 updates to the CSIA include both revisions and clarifications to audit standards and individual questions. Key updates include:

Animal Sampling: The animal sampling protocol was updated following recommendations from published validation research. The revised method is designed to detect at least a 0.5% occurrence at a 95% confidence level, improving data accuracy and consistency while maintaining practicality for on-farm use.
Animal Benchmarking Question Language: Benchmarking questions were reframed to report positive welfare indicators—such as the percentage of animals walking well or in good condition—reflecting a shift toward recognizing positive affective states while maintaining transparency about welfare concerns.
Animal Handling: Additional questions were added to capture a broader range of observed animal handling behaviors. All handling must now be performed in accordance with the site’s written Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The section also includes expanded criteria for evaluating handling during transport, with added emphasis on space allowance during loading and unloading.

Kitting appreciates that the “Five Domains” of animal welfare are now being incorporated into the framework of the CSIA. The domains include nutrition, environment, health, behavioral interactions and mental state. This comprehensive framework ensures the audit tool is a true reflection of modern production.

Why ISO Compliance Clicks

The work the CSIA task force is doing to continue to improve the CSIA has a trickle-down effect to support producers’ ‘freedom to operate’ and protect their own supply chain domestically and internationally, Wetter says. In her role at National Pork Board, she interacts with all of the big retailers and food service brands.

“When we start talking about resources like PQA, PQA-plus site assessment, TQA and CSIA (which are all aligned), USDA has granted ISO compliance with all these programs,” Wetter says. “This means they are in line with the World Organization of Animal Health’s international animal welfare standards. When we start talking to our supply chain and they start hearing those words, that clicks with them.”

Coming from a production background, Wetter knows producers don’t always see that other end of these programs they participate in.

“Your participation is so incredibly valuable and meaningful to the other end of the supply chain,” Wetter says. “This is why we want them to continue to use and support these different programs.”

Kitting says it’s incredibly valuable to the Seaboard Foods system that the standards for care and pre-harvest pork safety are well defined, and everyone “sings the same song.”

“As you look at other species in the barnyard, it may not necessarily be replicated in other areas,” Kitting says. “We are incredibly fortunate in the swine industry to have all these programs that sing the same song and dance for us to follow.”

3 Emerging Technologies That Could Transform Modern Swine Operations

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 22:28:14 GMT

Traditional swine management still depends heavily on caretakers making rapid, subjective assessments of pig health and performance across large populations of pigs, says David Rosero, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. However, outdated processes often delay early detection of diseases, limit timely targeted interventions, and result in inefficient production systems.

Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) tools, such as computer vision and automated environmental and biological sensors, are becoming increasingly important tools as swine management shifts from labor-intensive, manual tasks to automated, digitally enabled systems.

“Despite the rapid development of new PLF technologies, adoption in swine barns remains slow, primarily because swine producers are uncertain about their accuracy, reliability and economic value,” Rosero said at the American Association of Swine Veterinarians Annual Meeting.

Here are three emerging PLF technologies that Rosero and his team at Iowa State University believe offer a transformative opportunity to modernize swine operations.

1. Wearable sensors to monitor pig activity

Today’s technological advancements enable the clustering of multiple sensors into compact, innovative devices for pigs, Rosero says. Previous research has demonstrated this concept using a Bluetooth-enabled electronic sensor board that can record body and ambient temperatures, head tilt, movement and vocalizations, all integrated into an ear-tag form factor. The sensor cluster is now remarkably small and lightweight making it practical for the use in pigs at various stages of their lives, he adds.

“Wearable sensors have also demonstrated strong potential for early detection of infectious diseases,” he adds.

For example, one study evaluated a real-time monitoring system that combined an accelerometer and a thermometer within an ear tag, demonstrating that the model could distinguish between healthy and infected pigs with African swine fever (using an attenuated strain) one to two days before clinical signs became evident.

“Despite these promising results, important limitations remain for the large-scale implementation of ear-tag sensors,” Rosero says. “Costs of assembling electronic sensor boards remains high for commercial operations.”

Computer Vision is an emerging scientific field that seeks to automate tasks beyond the capacity of the human visual system, Rosero says. It integrates edge computing and artificial intelligence systems that extract and process information from images automatically using relatively low-cost equipment. Applications of computer vision technologies include assisting humans in identifying tasks, detecting events from visual surveillance, and analyzing medical images, among others.

“Traditionally, counting pigs at different production phases has been a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, often carried out alongside activities such as weaning, vaccination or sorting,” he says. “Because swine facilities house large numbers of animals, manual counts are frequently inaccurate, which can negatively affect feed and supply planning, health protocols, and marketing accuracy. New computer vision systems provide a superior solution for identifying, tracking and counting animals.”

It is true that the use of cameras in field conditions presents challenges due to variable lighting, diverse backgrounds and occlusion from pen structures. However, researchers have developed robust computer vision methods capable of overcoming these limitations with high accuracy, Rosero points out.

3. Computer Vision to estimate the body weight of pigs

Continuous and automatic monitoring of pig growth performance can provide producers with valuable insights into system efficiency, herd health status and marketing readiness, Rosero explains. In practice, however, caretakers rely on only a few traditional methods, including direct weighing with scales, body tape measurements such as heart girth or flank-to-flank measurements, and visual estimates made by trained technicians.

“The application of computer vision for body-weight estimation has demonstrated strong accuracy in research settings and is now being evaluated within commercial production systems,” he says.

A previous study conducted a direct comparison of methods using 91 individually weighed pigs in a university setting. Results showed that a walk-across scale achieved 98.2% accuracy (with six pigs unregistered), human visual estimation reached only 88.2%, and the PigVision computer-vision system achieved 96.6% accuracy. Researchers noted that PigVision was the least labor-intensive approach and provided continuous weight data throughout the growing period, although it required routine maintenance.

A novel computer vision-based system (Swine Sense Hub Camera) capable of estimating individual body weight of pigs and identifying them through ‘codeflex’ tags to was evaluated in a commercial research finishing barn in Indiana from June to November of 2025. The mean (± standard deviation) absolute percent error (MAPE) was 2.39% (± 2.31%) for Turn 1 and 2.58% (± 2.38%) for Turn 2. Concordance correlation coefficients were measured to evaluate the agreement between the camera and scale weights. Substantial agreement between weights was observed at the individual level in both turns, with estimates of 0.98 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.975-0.983) in Turn 1 and 0.99 (CI: 0.988-0.991) in Turn 2. Excellent agreement was identified at the pen-level, with correlations of >0.99 for both turns, showing high accuracy of predicting weights, Rosero says.

“Collectively, these findings demonstrate that computer vision can achieve high accuracy while reducing labor requirements,” he says. “Moreover, these studies highlight the need for standardized evaluation protocols to validate the accuracy and reliability of new technologies across diverse production and farm settings.”

The Challenge for Adoption

Rosero says the industry needs a standardized technology evaluation process. One study identified 83 commercially available PLF technologies for pigs; however, despite the large number of devices available for swine producers, only 14% had been evaluated in scientific validation studies.

“The limited number of validated systems is concerning, as rigorous evaluation is a critical step toward commercial adoption,” Rosero says. “Field-based assessments generate essential information on accuracy, reliability and return on investment, along with practical considerations such as barn connectivity, integration with existing controllers, staff training requirements and concerns about data ownership and privacy.”

Rosero believes that for digital tools to provide meaningful value in commercial swine systems, they must consistently capture, process and report data as intended. Scientific evaluation is critical to ensure emerging PLF tools are suitable across production systems, housing environments, growth phases and genetic lines.

To address this knowledge gap, Rosero and his colleagues Sarah Phelps and Nathan Vander Werff at Iowa State University, are developing standardized evaluation tools to assess the accuracy and reliability of emerging digital technologies for commercial swine barns. These science-based assessments are designed to inform technology adoption decisions and enhance swine producers’ confidence in PLF innovations, Rosero says.

“Establishing standardized technology evaluation processes, along with technology testing centers, will be crucial to reducing adoption risk, generating independent performance evidence, and building producer confidence,” he says. “As the swine industry moves toward a more digital, data-driven future, the strategic integration of validated PLF tools will be critical for enhancing animal health, improving labor efficiency, strengthening farm decision-making, and ultimately driving greater profitability across commercial systems.”

New Program Links Livestock Barn Monitoring to Risk Reduction

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 21:27:36 GMT

A new joint program is rewarding livestock customers who invest in barn monitoring and proactive risk reduction. The program, led by Distynct and Pledge Insurance Advisors, recognizes the role that continuous monitoring plays in reducing the risk of catastrophic livestock losses and improving long-term operational resilience.

“This program reflects our focus on risk management and loss prevention,” says James Tesdall, vice president – agency principal at Pledge Insurance Advisors. “Distynct has earned trust across the industry, with adoption among many of the leading swine production companies in the United States. Its ability to scale reliable, 24/7 monitoring across large, complex operations gives us confidence that this technology can meaningfully support better risk management.”

According to the companies, customers who install a Distynct Barn Alarm system in the program may be eligible for two separate benefits: a policy credit on qualifying, non-admitted property and casualty policies, written through the exclusive ABS Farm & Ranch Program, and a manufacturer-funded hardware rebate from Distynct on the Distynct Barn Alarm hardware.

Distynct Barn Alarms provide continual monitoring of barn conditions and alert customers when critical issues arise, the company says. Improved monitoring and faster response can reduce loss exposure, a factor Pledge Insurance Advisors considers when evaluating risk and coverage.

The Distynct hardware rebate is funded by Distynct and applies to newly installed and qualifying alarm hardware only. Ongoing monitoring and subscription services are not discounted under the program, maintaining a focus on system reliability, service quality and long-term performance.

“Better monitoring reduces risk — but only if the right questions can actually be asked and answered,” says BJ Brugman, CEO of Distynct. “Distynct was built as an open platform that lets anyone ask questions of the barn using a nearly limitless set of deployable sensors. In this case, the insurance industry cares about simple, critical questions: Do you have power? Is the temperature staying in range? Is water available? And just as importantly, are you going to get notified reliably if any of those conditions change? When those questions can be answered consistently and at scale, risk goes down. This program is the first to recognize that outcome — lower risk through better, more comprehensive monitoring.”

The program is designed to be channel-neutral, the companies say. Learn more about enrollment and verification requirements here .

Can Cloud-Based Cameras Solve the Compliance Puzzle in Barns?

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:21:22 GMT

Growing up on her family’s 500-head farrow-to-finish sow farm in Illinois, Jacqueline Springer understands and appreciates the importance of biosecurity and the challenge of maintaining consistent day-to-day compliance.

To explore better ways to provide objective, actionable feedback to producers and farm employees at the farm level, Springer, a veterinary student at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, set up a study to evaluate how continuous monitoring and targeted feedback could influence behavior. She discovered that camera-based monitoring, when paired with targeted feedback, can drive meaningful and sustained improvements in biosecurity compliance.

Cameras and Compliance

“Traditional biosecurity monitoring relies heavily on periodic onsite inspections by veterinarians or production managers,” she explained at the 2026 American Association of Swine Veterinarians Annual Meeting. “While these visits provide valuable assessments, they capture only snapshots of farm operations during inspection windows, potentially missing violations between visits.”

In addition, the “announced” nature of many inspections often leads to temporary compliance improvements that may not reflect day-to-day practices, she adds. Not to mention these visits take time and labor required, which are always a premium at any operation.

“Cloud-based security camera systems have created new opportunities for continuous biosecurity monitoring,” Springer says. “These systems provide objective surveillance of critical control points where biosecurity protocols are most crucial. Motion-triggered recording allows efficient review by focusing human attention on periods of activity rather than hours of empty facilities.”

Still, questions remain about the thoroughness of footage review, consistency of violation detection and whether identified violations lead to meaningful improvements in farm practices.

Objective Feedback Works

Springer evaluated camera-based biosecurity monitoring in two commercial 6,000-head sow farms. Over two 28-day periods, before and after a targeted management intervention, she reviewed motion-triggered footage from five critical access points.

“I compared my findings to those of the third-party auditing service reviewing the same footage to evaluate detection consistency,” Springer explains. “I also assessed whether feedback reduced violations and documented the time and resources required to implement this approach in a commercial setting.”

For six to eight hours per day, Springer monitored these two sites. She admits this exceeds what most production veterinarians could dedicate while maintaining other responsibilities.

However, several approaches could improve scalability: intensive review periods (one week per quarter) rather than daily comprehensive review, distributed video review among multiple personnel with coordinated standards, integration of artificial intelligence-powered violation detection to automatically flag potential violations for verification, or sampling protocols using random selection of time periods or locations.

“Integration of AI systems could provide real-time alerts rather than retrospective review, enabling immediate intervention,” Springer notes. “Additionally, integration of camera monitoring data with other production data could provide comprehensive insights into biosecurity effectiveness and its relationship to herd health outcomes.”

During the 28-day baseline period, she documented 245 total violations across both farms. Following a management intervention, violations in the 28-day post-intervention period declined to 69 total violations.

“After a single data-driven intervention, violations decreased by 71.8% across both farm,” she says. “This suggests that objective feedback, not just written protocols, plays a critical role in changing day-to-day behavior.”

Springer believes this research provides producers with a data-driven approach to identifying compliance gaps at critical control points, such as employee entry, live animal load-out areas and supply entry zones.

Does It Add Up?

Economic considerations for implementing camera-based monitoring systems include both initial and ongoing costs. Installation costs for cameras and Wi-Fi infrastructure on 6,000-head sow farms range from $10,000 to $12,000. Ongoing expenses for maintenance, camera system access and weekly third-party auditing services based on the standardized training protocol cost approximately $1,150 per month, or $13,000 to $14,000 annually per farm.

“These costs must be weighed against the potential financial impact of disease outbreaks,” she says.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) alone costs the U.S. swine industry $1.2 billion annually[JS1.1], so Springer says even preventing a single disease introduction could justify the monitoring investment for a production system over several years.

“By addressing these gaps early, producers can reduce the risk of disease introduction and spread,” she says. “Preventing a single outbreak, such as PRRSV, could justify the investment in monitoring for multiple years, making biosecurity not only a herd health priority but also a sound economic strategy.”

This project highlights a shift from periodic, reactive audits to continuous, proactive compliance monitoring. As technology advances, particularly with the integration of artificial intelligence-assisted review, Springer believes camera-based monitoring could become a scalable tool that strengthens biosecurity culture across the swine industry.

“Ultimately, protecting herd health starts with consistent daily behaviors, and this research reinforces the value of measurable feedback in achieving that consistency,” she says.

Springer says study limitations included the camera outage demonstrating that monitoring is only effective when cameras function reliably, requiring prioritized maintenance and rapid repair protocols. Protocol refinements during baseline monitoring improved relevance but complicated interpretation of baseline results. The learning curve for monitoring personnel should be anticipated when implementing these systems. Farm-specific violation patterns support the value of individualized feedback and training rather than generic systemwide interventions.

Iowa State Experts Release New Publication on Swine Water Line Management

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 18:39:09 GMT

In a recent survey of Midwest production sites, only 20% of farms regularly implemented a water line cleaning standard operating procedure (SOP), says Ashley Englin, swine field specialist with Iowa State Extension and Outreach, in a release.

Standardized protocols can help producers improve animal health and performance by reducing biofilms and ensuring animals regularly have access to high quality water.

“Water is a physiological need for pigs, regulating growth, temperature control, and overall behavioral needs,” says Gabi Doughan with the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. “Without regular cleaning and disinfection, biofilms can accumulate within water line systems and impact health, production, and water-administered medication.”

A new publication from the Iowa Pork Industry Center at Iowa State University is available to help producers evaluate water quality and manage water line systems in swine barns. “ Water Line System Management for Swine Production ” is available for download at no cost from the ISU Extension Store.

Producers will find step-by-step instructions for cleaning and disinfecting water systems and water sample collection protocol within the publication, the release says. Water quality assessments should evaluate the physical, chemical and microbiological characteristics of water by testing pH, trace minerals and coliforms at minimum. These samples should be collected at least once per year.

“Water lines are one of the main routes for antimicrobial and vaccine administration” Doughan says. “By improving water quality and water line maintenance, producers can more effectively treat their livestock, resulting in less days off feed and reduced production costs.”

In addition, the guide includes protocols for water medication administration and explains how water quality can affect medication efficacy. There are also instructions for how to set up and calibrate flow-activated pump, piston and diaphragm medicators.

Several authors contributed to this publication in addition to Doughan and Englin. They include Chris Rademacher and Locke Karriker with the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University and Becca Walthart, former master’s student with the Swine Medicine Education Center at Iowa State University.

Why Illinois Pork’s New President Never Stops Asking Questions

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 16:43:43 GMT

For sixth-generation farmer Katie Brown, the swine industry has never been just another career path; it’s been home. Her earliest memories took place in the sow barn, watching how things worked and asking way too many questions. It’s that curiosity that has shaped her journey and helped her become the newest president of the Illinois Pork Producers Association.

Brown headed off to the University of Illinois with dreams of becoming a veterinarian. She applied, was accepted, and fully expected that would be her path. But then she met Jim Pettigrew, professor of animal sciences, and “caught the research bug.”

“I loved digging into data, asking better questions and figuring out how small changes could make meaningful improvements in pig performance and system efficiency,” Brown says. “Once research grabbed my attention, I started exploring what other career paths in the swine industry might look like if I didn’t go to vet school. The more I explored, the more I realized there was an entirely different way I could contribute to the industry: one that blended science, production and practical application.”

When her official acceptance to vet school arrived, she had a big decision to make. After a lot of thought, she said no to vet school and chose to pursue graduate school under the leadership of Mike Ellis instead.

Her master’s research, conducted in Maschhoff barns, gave her the opportunity to experience a large, integrated production system.

“I didn’t just run trials, I learned how the whole system worked,” Brown says. “When I graduated, I had multiple job offers, but I knew I wanted to stay with The Maschhoffs. The research department offered the perfect balance of applied science and real-world production, along with the chance to collaborate directly with production partners on large-scale field research.”

As her family grew, she transitioned into taking on more of the operational side of the research department. She says it allowed her to leverage both her facility management background and her research experience, working alongside some of the best people in the industry.

“One thing I truly value about The Maschhoffs is their belief in developing people,” Brown says. “They invest in professional growth and provide the flexibility needed to balance work and family life.”

(Provided by Katie Brown)

In the fall of 2022, she and her husband had the opportunity to purchase and manage her family’s hog operation. They had recently begun grain farming full time in 2017, so adding the hog operation allowed them to further diversify.

“It gave me ‘skin in the game’ in a very real way,” Brown adds. “Since then, we’ve learned how to balance running the farm, raising our family and giving back to our community. We are active in our church and our children’s school, and we both serve in roles that allow us to invest in the communities that support us.”

Although serving as president is an honor, she says it’s also a responsibility she takes seriously. My goal is simple: support producers, protect our ability to farm and position Illinois pork for long-term strength.

“At the core of it all, I’m still that curious kid from the sow farm, just with a few more responsibilities and a lot more appreciation for the people who make this industry what it is,” Brown says.

Farm Journal’s PORK caught up with Brown after the IPPA’s annual meeting.

Why did you decide to step up to this challenge?

I’ll be honest, it wasn’t because I suddenly had extra time. I’m a mom of two very active boys, involved in our farm, our business, our church and our community and this industry never slows down. There isn’t a “convenient” season to step into leadership. But I chose to step up because what we do matters. The decisions being made right now in policy, in regulation, in public perception directly affect my family and the families I work alongside every day. I see firsthand what farmers carry. I see the hours, the pressure, the financial risk, the emotional weight. If I’m not willing to take time to speak on behalf of those producers, then what are we doing? I stepped up because I believe leadership is about service, especially when it’s inconvenient. And our industry deserves leaders who are willing to lean in, not wait for the “right” time.

What kind of leader is IPPA getting?

I grew up in this industry and understand it from the ground up. I’m not coming into this role from the outside or from theory. I’m a farm kid who was raised in the barns, who built a career in research and production, and who now has ownership alongside my husband. I understand the pride in what we do, but I also understand the pressure. As a practical, direct, solutions-oriented and yes, a little stubborn, person, I ask a lot of questions. I want to understand not just what we’re doing, but why we’re doing it and whether there’s a better way. That curiosity has followed me from growing up on a sow farm, to the research barn, to managing our own operation. I don’t quit easily. If something is challenging, whether it’s a production issue, a research question or a policy hurdle, my instinct isn’t to step back, it’s to lean in. I like solving problems. I like improving systems. I like finding ways to make things work better for the people doing the hard work every day.

What do you see as your most important role as president?

I don’t see leadership as a spotlight, I see it as responsibility. My goal is to be steady, accessible and dependable. I want producers to know they can call, ask hard questions and get a straight answer. If I don’t know something, I’ll work to find it. At the end of the day, I want to be a leader people can count on, someone who understands both the opportunity and the weight of this responsibility, and who approaches it with humility, work ethic and a commitment to serve.

What motivates you every day?

I’m motivated by progress. That might mean improving pig performance in a barn, strengthening communication among producers or helping position our industry for the long term. I want to leave things better than I found them. On a personal level, my kids are a daily motivator. They see the early mornings, the late nights and the hard conversations. I want them to understand that leadership isn’t about recognition, it’s about service, resilience and integrity. I want them to see that when something matters, you show up, even when you’re busy, even when it’s hard.

If you could only accomplish one thing this year, what would it be and why?

If I could accomplish one thing this year, it would be strengthening trust and clarity between producers and the people making decisions that affect them, whether that’s legislators, regulators or consumers. Too often, policies are shaped by people who don’t fully understand modern pork production. I would like to see us do a better job of proactively telling our story, inviting dialogue and ensuring that Illinois producers have a seat at the table before decisions are finalized, not after. When producers feel heard and understood, it changes everything. It reduces frustration, improves outcomes and protects our ability to farm for the next generation. If we can build stronger relationships and clearer communication channels this year, that foundation will pay dividends far beyond a single term.

What are some of the victories of the 2025 the industry can celebrate?

The past year hasn’t been without challenges, but there are real victories worth recognizing. We’ve seen improved hog prices compared to the depths of the previous downturn, which has provided some much-needed breathing room for producers who have been operating on razor-thin or negative margins. Financial stability, even incremental improvement, matters. It allows farms to reinvest, maintain facilities and plan beyond just surviving the next month. We’ve also seen progress on labor. An increase in TN visa approvals has helped bring stability to farms that rely on a skilled and committed workforce. Access to reliable labor is critical in an industry that operates 24/7, 365 days a year. When barns are properly staffed, animal care, employee morale and overall performance all benefit. Technology adoption continues to be another bright spot. From precision livestock tools and data integration systems to improvements in ventilation, feeding and health monitoring, producers are embracing innovation to drive efficiency and animal care forward. Illinois producers are not standing still, they are investing, adapting and modernizing. And maybe the biggest victory is resilience. Despite regulatory pressures, market volatility and continued public scrutiny, producers have stayed focused. They’ve continued to improve, collaborate and support one another. That steady, solutions-focused mindset is something our industry can absolutely celebrate.

Why are you optimistic about the future of the swine industry in Illinois?

Illinois has the fundamentals. We have a strong grain base, access to transportation and processing, and producers who are willing to adapt. I’ve seen firsthand through my work in research and production how quickly our industry can implement innovation when it makes sense economically and practically. That combination of science and real-world application is powerful. The core of Illinois pork production, family farms committed to doing things the right way, remains steady. I’m optimistic because our producers are resilient, innovative and deeply invested. And when you combine that with a generation that’s paying attention, I believe the future is not just sustainable, it’s strong.

What do you like to do for fun?

Most of my fun revolves around my kids. They keep us moving, whether it’s sports, school activities or just life on the farm. I genuinely love being part of what they’re involved in and watching them learn and grow. Outside of that, I love to cook, especially cooking for other people. There’s something special about gathering friends or family around a table and feeding them well. It’s my way of slowing down and connecting. I also enjoy fishing and hunting with my boys. My ideal day would be spent on the water with my family, no rush, just time together. Then coming home to clean and cook what we caught. For me, that’s about as good as it gets: family, food and being outdoors.

6,000 Pigs Killed in Massive Fire at Ohio Hog Farm

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 19:07:35 GMT

A fire at an Ohio hog farm located about 25 miles southwest of Columbus resulted in the loss of 6,000 pigs, says Chief Brian Bennington of the City of London Fire Department.

Firefighters were called to the scene at 11:45 a.m. after a fire broke out at Fine Oak Farms in London, Ohio. As the crews arrived, Bennington observed a large column of smoke visible from a distance and notified dispatch to upgrade the incident to a working commercial structure fire, requesting additional resources.

Two of five large agricultural buildings were “heavily involved in fire” as firefighters arrived, Bennington says. Multiple fire departments arrived on scene to assist with efforts to stop the fire. In total, the farm housed about 7,500 head.

(Courtesy: City of London Fire Dept.)

“Firefighters faced extremely challenging conditions throughout the incident,” the report says. “Sustained winds of approximately 20 miles per hour, with gusts reaching up to 35 miles per hour, significantly accelerated fire spread and complicated suppression efforts. These high winds made it extremely difficult to contain forward fire progression and created rapidly changing fire behavior conditions across the large agricultural complex.”

Crews worked long hours to bring the fire under control. Extensive water-shuttle operations were required due to rural water-supply limitations in the area, the report notes.

Although no people were hurt in the fire, it did result in the loss of an estimated 6,000 hogs and a significant portion of the agricultural structures were destroyed.

The fire is currently under investigation by the Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office to determine the cause and origin. At this time, Bennington says there is no suspicion of arson and no ongoing threat to the general public.

3 Easy Ways to Improve Your Bottom Line This Winter

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 14:47:49 GMT

Managing temperature, humidity and airflow in swine barns during the cold winter months can be quite the balancing act. Ventilation must be maintained properly to avoid animal health concerns, decreased feed efficiency and even mortality.

Improper ventilation management can lead to buildup of gases such as ammonia and carbon dioxide, increased humidity and temperature issues. Not only does this impact health, but the effects of overventilation can be costly, too.

As the district sales manager for AP in Iowa and Minnesota, Pat Lawler offers 3 simple tips to help producers keep this intricate balance in check for the good of their animals and their bottom line.

1. Make sure controller settings and sensors are in proper order.

Especially in the winter months with smaller pigs, humidity sensors will help mitigate humidity buildup and manage proper ventilation. Lawler says sensors work symbiotically with heating and ventilation equipment to maintain air quality while remaining efficient.

“We always stress not overtightening your controller settings during the winter months,” Lawler adds. “We want to balance the flow of fresh air coming in and the amount of heat we are putting into the barn to remain in the thermoneutral zone. The key is finding the balance between airflow and heat.”

2. Double-check your calculations.

Lawler says that growers sometimes will set their ventilation controls based on the barn space rather than the specific animals inside that barn.

“With modern technology and controls, we now have the capability to ventilate CFM per pig and based on the animal age as well,” he says. “As that pig goes through the growth cycle, we need to adjust for not only animal age, but for potential population changes in each room as well, while ensuring our ventilation is changing accordingly.”

3. Perform routine maintenance.

Attention to detail is everything. Lawler encourages producers not to overlook the little things. From adjusting ceiling inlets to cleaning fan blades and shutters, it’s the routine maintenance that often has the greatest impact.

“Coming into winter, adjust or calibrate your ceiling inlets—especially actuated ceiling inlets,” Lawler says. “That may mean walking the barn and making adjustments as cold weather sets in. As for minimum ventilation or variable-speed fans, clean fan blades and shutters to ensure air is flowing properly and components aren’t sticking open or shut.”

Remember, during the winter months, dirty fans often move far less air than you would expect, he points out.

Keep pigs healthy and maintain operational efficiency by managing ventilation systems through controls, monitoring and seasonal maintenance. Lawler says the impact of proper ventilation, especially in the winter months, cannot be overstated.

“The goal isn’t to simply add heat or move air in isolation, but to strike the right balance between airflow and heat to maintain air quality without driving unnecessary energy costs,” he says. “When ventilation is managed correctly, producers protect pig health while also controlling heating expenses and overall efficiency.”

Anything That Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong in the Winter

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 18:29:02 GMT

Winter weather requires constant vigilance to maintain pig health and barn infrastructure. After all, Murphy’s Law that “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong,” is almost always true in the dead of winter.

“During the first real cold of the year, there is always a heater that doesn’t kick on or a water line that freezes up,” said Adam Annegers, sow production manager at JBS, during the recent State of the Pork Industry Report . “Things just happen during that first cold snap.”

Freezing Failures

For Randy Kuker, director of swine production for The Equity, the biggest challenge his team faced during the recent snowstorm occurred on an empty site as it started to fill with pigs.

“You try to take all the precautions and do the right things,” Kuker says. “We were starting up a feed line that had some frozen ice in it, then the PVC snapped. Now we had to try to repair a PVC line in the cold temperatures – that’s not fun.”

When the snow starts to fall, Kuker encourages producers to make sure they clear snow away from tunnel curtains to prevent gaps and check pit fans for drifts to ensure proper airflow. Additionally, monitoring snow load on roofs is essential to prevent structural collapse.

(National Pork Board and the Pork Checkoff)

“Winter brings a lot of challenges and keeps you on your toes, and that’s just outside the barn,” Kuker says. “That doesn’t even take into account inside the barn.”

Production Priorities

Inside the barn, ventilation is key to managing humidity and preventing disease, he says. Producers should monitor probe temperatures to ensure they are not in front of inlets, which causes heaters to run longer than necessary. Minimum fan speeds must be set correctly to balance heat retention with air quality.

Ventilation, feed and water quality are important every day to keep pigs performing well, emphasizes Brad Eckberg, account executive at MTech Systems.

To maximize profits, consider increasing breed targets by 5% to 10% during the fourth quarter to ensure full-crate utilization for high-value summer markets, Eckberg adds. Focus on body condition and parity distribution to maintain high farrowing rates.

Stress and Survival

Eckberg reminds producers that cold stress is a potential trigger for disease. During transport, cold stress increases mortality. What can producers do to protect pigs from cold stress during transport?

Start by making sure that trailers have adequate bedding and closed sides.

“We need to make sure that we’ve got the sides closed up enough that the route is safe,” says Cara Haden, DVM, director of animal welfare and biosecurity with Pipestone. “We need to make sure we’re not going to get stuck en route, that we’re moving loads if we need to off of these days that are so cold, or where there’s a chance that we’re going to get stuck in a snowstorm and not make it to the barn.”

Cold stress creates significant implications.

“If pigs get cold stress and then things like drafting or heater issues arise, that can trigger more issues,” Haden says. “If you get the pigs to the barn and your heater goes out for a couple hours in this type of cold, we need to make sure we’re responding quickly, because that can impact the health of a pig, too.”

“If pigs get cold stress and then things like drafting or heater issues arise, that can trigger more issues.”

Cara Haden, DVM

What’s Your Backup Plan?

She says it’s also important to note Scott Dee’s snowball experiment proved that porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) love blowing snow.

“They can move in blowing snow. They can move on vehicles that are covered in snow,” Haden says. “This time of year, we need to be super diligent.”

But ice makes diligence more challenging, she adds.

“When we go to disinfect a chute, trailer or a truck, disinfectants need to dry in order to function appropriately,” Haden says. “We need to make sure we’re either getting those in a warm enough environment that we can dry, that we’re adding propylene glycol along with our disinfectants, and ultimately are getting things as clean as they need to be.”

Create a backup plan, she advises.

“If your lines freeze and you’re supposed to be disinfecting a chute or a trailer, what will you do?” Haden asks. “There are products like ChloroSorb, which is a dry powder that we can use. We’ve got to have those plans in place so that we don’t end up having dirty trucks or dirty trailers going down the road because of some sort of freezing issue.”

Watch or listen to their entire discussion that delves into the impact of winter on your operation, wean pig health and nutrition tips, and conversations taking place at trade shows and more in the Farm Journal’s PORK State of the Pork Industry Report .

Chairman Thompson’s Farm Bill 2.0 Includes Federal Fix for Prop 12

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 22:22:12 GMT

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson’s (R-PA) Farm Bill 2.0 includes a federal fix to the “massive issues caused by the impending and disastrous patchwork of state laws spurred by California Proposition 12,” National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) said.

The House Agriculture Committee released the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 on Feb. 13. The text includes clarification that states and local governments cannot impose, directly or indirectly, as a condition for sale or consumption, a condition or standard on the production of covered livestock unless the livestock is physically located within such state or local government. In addition, the text:

Provides clarity to national markets by ensuring producers must only comply with applicable production standards imposed by their own state or local government.
Protects producers from having to comply with a patchwork of state-by-state regulations.
Protects the rights of states and local governments to establish standards as they deem necessary, but only for those raising covered livestock within their own borders.
Only covers production (excluding domestic animals raised for the primary purpose of egg production), and does not include the movement, harvesting or further processing of covered livestock.

“America’s pork producers thank Chairman Thompson for continuing to take bold steps once again to protect our livelihoods from an unsustainable patchwork of state laws,” said NPPC President Duane Stateler, an Ohio pork producer. “We implore the full House Agriculture Committee to stand up for the American farmer, preserve states’ rights and help keep pork affordable for the American consumers.”

Prop 12 Problems

NPPC said Chairman Thompson and other leaders in D.C. remain dedicated to protecting producers’ freedom to farm by finding a solution to Prop 12. NPPC detailed the following problems that continue to plague Americans because of Prop 12:

Tramples on states’ rights
“Prop 12 sets a precedent that undermines the foundation of interstate commerce, allowing a single state to dictate how food is produced across the country—even when that food is produced outside its borders,” NPPC said. “Fixing Prop 12 protects the rights of states by allowing each the exclusive right to regulate how livestock are produced within their borders.”
- In passing Prop 12, California violated Congress’ exclusive constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce. Congressional action to fix this is rooted in Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution: “The Congress shall have the power … To regulate commerce … among the several states” (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3).
A patchwork of regulations
“Prop 12 sets the stage for a patchwork of 50 state laws, dictating different versions of animal housing laws, which all producers—no matter the state they farm in— must comply with if they want to sell their pork to all consumers,” NPPC said.
- NPPC Vice President and Ohio pork producer Pat Hord, who has retrofitted his barns to be Prop 12-compliant, has told Congress that compliance does not future-proof farmers from more financial burdens if patchwork laws are not addressed.
  
  “Whatever I do today could need to be changed when a new state decides they want a different housing standard,” Hord said. “These are expensive changes, and some farmers may exit the business amid this uncertainty, which increases consolidation.”
Industry consolidation
“Prop 12 leads to industry consolidation, potentially crushing small and medium-sized farms,” NPPC said. “While even large farms cannot sustain ongoing changes to sow housing laws, they are more likely to be able to afford the initial changes mandated by Prop 12. Contrarily, smaller and independent producers often cannot. This means fewer family farms and reduced competition across the industry.”
- In the first quarter of 2025, NPPC reports that 12% of small pork operations ( less than 500 sows) exited the market or shifted production away from breeding due to compliance costs and uncertainty, according to USDA.
Ignores the experts
“Prop 12 ignores expert veterinary advice and chips away at sound veterinary options,” NPPC wrote. “The American Veterinary Medical Association says Prop 12 does ‘not objectively improve animal welfare and may unintentionally cause harm.’”
- The housing requirement established by Prop 12 is arbitrary, lacks a scientific or animal welfare foundation, and disregards the expertise of producers and veterinarians whose professional responsibility is to safeguard animal health, NPPC said.
Raises prices for consumers
“Prop 12 makes pork less affordable at the grocery store,” NPPC pointed out. “The latest data shows increased retail prices in California are still more than 20% higher than before Prop 12 took effect.”
Trade issues
“Prop 12 causes problems with trading partners,” NPPC explained. “Under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, for example, states are not permitted to create non-tariff barriers to trade.”

A Modern Bill for Modern Challenges

“This bill provides modern policies for modern challenges and is shaped by years of listening to the needs of farmers, ranchers, and rural Americans,” Thompson said. “The farm bill affects our entire country, regardless of whether you live on a farm, and I look forward to seeing my colleagues in Congress work together to get this critical legislation across the finish line.”

Thompson said a new farm bill is long overdue, and the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 is an important step forward in providing certainty to farmers, ranchers and rural communities.

“We made historic agricultural investments last summer in the Working Families Tax Cuts (H.R. 1), but there are many key policy components that remain to be addressed,” Thompson said. “With that in mind, the House Committee on Agriculture will begin marking up a new farm bill February 23.”

House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (MN-02) said review of the legislative text is ongoing.

“Based on what I know, the Republican farm bill fails to meet the moment facing farmers and working people,” Craig said. “Farmers need Congress to act swiftly to end inflationary tariffs, stabilize trade relationships, expand domestic market opportunities like year-round E15 and help lower input costs. The Republican majority instead chose to ignore Democratic priorities and focus on pushing a shell of a farm bill with poison pills that complicates if not derails chances of getting anything done.”

A fix for Prop 12 is backed by nearly 1,000 agriculture groups across more than 40 states, including the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) praised efforts by Thompson and the House Agriculture Committee to put together a farm bill that will bring greater certainty to producers at a difficult time.

“Dairy farmers look forward to working with House members and senators as this legislation makes its way through Congress, and we pledge our support in crafting the best legislation possible,” NMPF said.

The House Committee on Agriculture will begin marking up a new farm bill Feb. 23, Thompson said.

Better, Not Bigger: How Pork Producers are Navigating 2026’s Toughest Hurdles

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 20:43:37 GMT

Health, labor and high input costs are high on pork producers’ list of challenges heading into 2026.

For Bethany Heitkamp, a veterinarian at Cooper Farms, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is causing a lot of problems and continues to get worse and worse over the years.

“We’ve worked on PRRSV for 40 years, trying to implement vaccines and different strategies,” Heitkamp says. “It always seems to find a work around for us and really plagues the health of our pigs.”

Health is always a big challenge, says Jarred Black, director of transportation for Hancock Pork LLC.

“One thing we are focusing on now, in light of the severity of the PRRSV circulating in this part of the country, is to go back and reevaluate our biosecurity protocols,” Black says. “We break them all down to ensure we’ve got the basics covered.”

Winter conditions complicate some processes such as disinfecting and drying facilities, he adds. When labor is limited, that just compounds the issues.

Labor is one of Brad Heimerl’s top concerns. He serves as senior manager for procurement with Bob Evans Farms.

“Our No. 1 goal is to take care of the pig, and to do that effectively, we need good people who understand our business and show up every day to do the best job they possibly can,” Heimerl says. “We’re definitely seeing support to find ways to make get people on the farm. We try to educate and show off opportunities when they are young in hopes of getting people to come back from college to be a part of an operation.”

As a contract grower in Ohio, Nathan Schroeder says profitability and weathering high input costs is difficult now.

“We are on a fixed payment schedule,” Schroeder points out. “One thing that we can’t really control is the input costs. Between propane and rising utilities, just the normal day-to-day usage of materials in the barn has skyrocketed. We sell and supply some motors and hog barn supplies to local farmers, and the price is just a crazy number. It makes everything very tight.”

One of the best ways to tackle these challenges on your swine operation is to borrow ideas and strategies from others. Four industry leaders and producers share some of their best practices and lessons learned at the Ohio Pork Congress.

What is one way you are growing your operation to be better – not necessarily bigger?

Black: Our company is really focusing on the farm level and growing in areas where it makes sense – where there’s not a super dense population of other hogs. However, keeping that community aspect and focus alive is important to us. Farmers are part of the community, and we want to do what’s right for both the environment while supporting local communities in rural America.

Heimerl: When it comes to sustainable growth, we look toward ways of becoming more transparent to our consumer base. Obviously, we listen to the consumers and want to be transparent. We talk about that word a lot, but many are trying to do that and be more present in the conversations.

Heitkamp: We’ve worked on growth in a couple of different areas. The first one is sustainability. Cooper Farms is approximately 95% landfill free. We also have some alternative energy sources that our contract growers work with such as solar panels. We also put in wind turbines at our cooked meats plant. We are finding ways to use alternative energy sources to try to grow sustainably.

Schroeder: We’re in some tight times, especially on the row crop farming side of things. The hog side has been improving. Being a contracted grower, I am set in my price structures, but we still try to look to every little thing we can do. In our hog barns, instead of hiring people to fix some things, we are looking at how can we figure this out on our own? on the farming, on the row crop side of things, you know, you got to find ways to pinch pennies right now. It’s so hard to, I mean, you know, a new finishing barn, you’ll probably have eight to $900,000 into it’s hard to build right now. So finding unique ways to maintain what you have, and we’re looking at that on our farm as a way of growing.

Have you found any success in reducing costs in the barns lately?

Black: It’s wintertime. It’s cold. Barns are burning a lot of propane, depending on the size of the pig that you mght have in the barn. Evaluate your ventilation systems. Make sure everything’s running at its optimal level. Don’t burn your fans too much or run your fans too hard. It’s a good time to get out and look at the new technology and equipment out there to see if it might be time for an upgrade to a more efficient system.

Heimerl: One of the things I focus on is feed. Sometimes we overlook that, but being more efficient in our feed and making sure we have it rationed properly is important. We want them to be as healthy as possible. To do that, make sure they’re eating the best. Pigs get a perception of being fed garbage, but that perception is quite the opposite. We want to make sure the pigs are in the best health they possibly can to be the most efficient for us. Focusing on your nutrition program is huge. There are a lot of inputs that are very volatile in the price point market, and being able to make sure that you’re focused on that helps a lot.

Heitkamp: In addition to finding ways to reduce costs on the farm, we’re looking for the healthiest animal that we can produce and the most efficient animal that we can produce so they use less water per pound of bacon and require less feed per pound of bacon.

Schroeder: The biggest thing we have found to reduce energy costs is taking time to go through the barn and looking at your ventilation. Make sure your fans are cleaned off. That extra dust and that extra weight on it is astronomical how much more usage of utilities that uses. Take some time and look at your maintenance on your barns, and that can help you out, probably tenfold more you’d ever thought.

What is one thing you wish you had done differently in the first 24 hours after a PRRS outbreak?

Black: In the first 24 hours after a disease break occurs, it’s critical to get on-farm care started and get aggressive with treatments on the individual pig level. Use the access to the amazing veterinary services that we have here in the state, and the information that we get from the pork industry as a whole to be able to aggressively try and get ahead of a PRRS outbreak as best we can. I think it’s important to look after your workers as well because it’s a very difficult time that they’re going through. Obviously, animal care and health is top of mind, but we have to always keep our farmers in that equation as well.

Heimerl: When it comes to a PRRS break, or any outbreak for that matter, communication is huge in the first 24 hours. We’re always thinking about our operation and how are we going to mitigate this? What does our future look like? We’re also worried about our neighbors – pigs that are close by and where that could spread to in the area. Don’t forget transportation and your trucks, as they are just as compromised. Being able to have conversations with your neighbors and being transparent as a collective organization is important. We try to do our best at communicating those issues, but there’s always room to improve.

Heitkamp: In the first 24 hours after a PRRS break, you need to get your team together on farm and explain what’s happening and what their expectations are going forward. It’s going to take a while for the virus to work through the farm, so just having an expectation of what will happen over the next few days, the next weeks, the next months, is important in order to get the team prepared for what they’re going to see on farm. I think another important thing to do in the first 24 hours is getting your outbreak investigation prepared. Basically that is getting all your touch points on the farm organized and all the information about visitors and transportation recorded before that information disappears.

Schroeder: One thing I wish we would have done after an outbreak is be a little more proactive as soon as we heard that information to make sure neighboring barns got that information, too. We always make an attempt to tell everybody, and through the integrators, they do a pretty good job of informing others. We need to make a better effort of letting everybody know that, ‘Hey, we’re sick right now. Let’s watch where we’re all driving so we’re not driving by this barn.’ Every little bit counts as this PRRS virus moves around the

The ‘Lift and Shift’: Managing Pigs and People Through Winter Disease Pressure

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 16:20:07 GMT

It’s that time of the year where you brace yourself for the worst when the phone rings, says Adam Annegers, sow production manager at JBS, during the recent State of the Pork Industry Report.

“I call it the lift and shift,” Annegers says. “You can have your schedule all lined out, and then the phone rings and redirects you. Winter means being flexible because diseases thrive in this weather.”

Raising pigs in southeast Iowa comes with its fair share of health challenges and 2026 is no different. Now is a critically important time to make sure you provide needed support to your team, he says.

“At the onset of a health challenge in the sow barn, there’s not always a lot we can do to have a better outcome for the piglets,” Annegers points out. “It’s difficult on the teams. Focus on keeping your team motivated to get through difficult times knowing that at some point, disease pressure will lessen. Then, they can get back to raising a lot of good, healthy pigs again.”

This time of the year is always challenging, but he’s optimistic about what’s ahead.

“Pig prices are through the roof right now,” Annegers says. “Saving every pig and raising every pig that we can is important right now. Working with your teams to control what they can control helps. It’s time to be a big cheerleader.”

When PRRS Doesn’t Look Like PRRS

Randy Kuker, director of swine production for The Equity, had a strange incident occur in a barn recently.

“We had a group showing some clinical signs – it actually looked like a strep was going on,” Kuker explains. “We’re about 12 weeks on feed, which is rather late for us to be seeing signs of strep, but I had pigs down, kind of paddling, red, puffy eyes, all the classic symptoms. It also looked like maybe a late myco lameness issue.”

His team saw enough issues going on that they took some tissue samples and those samples came back positive for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS).

“This was surprising to me, considering most of the pigs (if we got to them soon enough and treated them) responded to antibiotics fairly well,” Kuker says. “We had minimal death loss, but it came back as PRRS 1-12-2, a strain which I hadn’t seen in our area at all.”

They ran some antibiotics in the water and administered some antibiotics by injection. Over the course of a few weeks, they lost 0.75% to 1% of their pigs.

“It really wasn’t terrible, but it keeps us humble, knowing this virus can change and do different things than we least expect,” he says.

They also experienced an outbreak late last fall where they saw pigs with purple ears, Kuker adds. The mortalities had purple bellies which automatically made their team think it looked like Actinobacillus suis (A. suis). But it came back PRRS positive.

“I’m glad we’ve got a lot of good veterinarians out there who can give us some recommendations on what to do,” he says “I just wish we could find a way to eliminate it. But don’t see that coming anytime soon.”

PRRS Isn’t Going to Let Up

Cara Haden, DVM, director of animal welfare and biosecurity with Pipestone, says the Bob Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project has been a super helpful tool to see where the industry is at as a whole.

“Right now, cumulative incidence of PRRS as of January 21, is 8.2% which is actually pretty low,” Haden says “But I think it’s important to note that we often see two peaks every year. It looks like we’re maybe through that fall-winter peak, but there is the expectation that we will see a spring-summer peak again in 2026. If we follow the pattern of the last couple years, we’re going to see more PRRS this year than what we’ve seen so far.”

The number of PRRS strains continues to cause heartache across the pork industry.

“We’re getting more information about PRRS Lineage 1C strains being incredibly devastating and very virulent, seeing significant clinical signs with this particular virus family,” she says. “We’re also getting more information about increased shedding times and this virus being more difficult to eliminate from sow farms. These viruses are sticking around in the pig longer, which I think is super frustrating.”

Control What You Can Control

Fortunately the U.S. pork industry is entering a time where it may be possible to spend a little more money to help prevent disease breaks.

“We can’t always control the fact that pigs might break with a lateral PRRS introduction at some point during the growing period, but we can make sure that they don’t break with ileitis,” Haden says. “We can make sure they don’t break with salmonella or that they don’t break with circovirus.”

Trying to pinch pennies on vaccines by partial dosing or foregoing them all together is a dangerous game.

“I’m seeing a lot more freedom from producers to do the things that veterinarians would love to see them do all the time,” Haden says.

Be sure to record it and keep 12 months of documentation of vaccination treatments as required for PQA site assessments, says Brad Eckberg, account executive at MTech Systems.

“Then use that information to ultimately determine how it is working for you,” Eckberg says. “I’m a big fan of learning from successes and failures. Use the data you are keeping to help with decision making, maybe even for future changes in the protocols.”

Watch or listen to their entire discussion that delves into the impact of winter on your operation, wean pig health and nutrition tips, and conversations taking place at trade shows and more in the Farm Journal’s PORK State of the Pork Industry Report.

6 Little Ways to Make Your Farm a Place Employees Love

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 18:21:22 GMT

High turnover is expensive, but a strong culture is a low-cost investment. Moving from a “task-oriented” mindset to a “people-oriented” one doesn’t require a massive budget—it requires intentionality. Here are six small adjustments that can make your farm a place where employees truly want to be.

1. Lead from the Front

Character isn’t just about what you say, it’s about what you’re willing to do. “The character we model may seem small, but when I saw my boss (the owner) unloading the truck on my first day on the job, it stuck with me,” says Melanie Langley, people care director at Fine Swine, LLC. When the leadership is willing to get their hands dirty, it sets a tone of mutual respect for the entire team.

2. Audit the “Shower-In” Experience

For a new hire, the shower-in process can be the most intimidating part of the job. “Make that first impression count,” urges Kevin Stuckey, sow farm manager for Cooper Farms. “Is the shower hot? Does it have good pressure? Is it clean? We take these things for granted, but for an employee, those details define their daily dignity.”

3. Don’t Skimp on the Basics

Small upgrades in the breakroom and locker room pay massive dividends in morale. “Spend a little more on better soap and shampoo,” suggests Matthew Rooda, CEO of SwineTech. “Replace towels often. If you can see through your towels, that’s a problem. Employees might not ask for better amenities, but they will certainly notice—and appreciate—them.”

4. Build a Connection Beyond the Barn

Intentionality starts with a conversation. “Stop and talk to your people,” Langley says. “Learn who they are and what’s going on in their lives. Even if there is a language barrier, find a way to connect. A little effort to understand the person behind the task goes a long way.”

5. The “New Boot” Rule

Starting a new job in someone else’s used gear is a morale-killer. “I believe every employee should get a brand-new pair of boots on day one,” Stuckey says. Providing fresh, high-quality gear sends a clear message: We are invested in your comfort and your success.

6. Celebrate the Milestones

In an industry where retention is a challenge, longevity should be a big deal. “Celebrate your team’s work anniversaries and personal milestones,” Langley says. Recognizing the people who stay creates an environment where loyalty is valued and seen.

Hog Slat Launches New Airflow Solution for Pig Farmers

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:49:39 GMT

A new solution is available for producers to deliver airflow in the barn. Hog Slat is launching its AirStorm Pro fan line, engineered to deliver consistent airflow in the demanding environments of modern swine production, the company says in a release.

This product is powered by the innovative Omni-EC direct drive motor, which combines advanced motor technology with premium components to deliver powerful airflow, exceptional reliability and precise control, Hog Slat says.

“For decades, the swine industry has depended on traditional induction motors that slow down under heat, wind resistance or fluctuating loads — often reducing airflow during critical moments,” Hog Slat says. “AirStorm Pro eliminates this compromise. Its Omni‑EC motor continuously monitors speed and thermal conditions in real time, automatically adjusting torque to maintain target RPM across a wide operating range.”

Producers can incorporate Omni‑EC technology without replacing their entire ventilation system, the company explains. Retrofit kits are available to make upgrading straightforward and cost-effective.

“Better airflow means more consistent temperatures, reduced stress and better pig performance,” says Ross Thompson, Hog Slat Ventilation director. “ECM motors give us the ability to fine‑tune ventilation like never before — delivering the optimal amount of airflow, exactly when it’s needed.”

Producers can see this new product at the South Dakota Pork Congress, Iowa Pork Congress, IPPE, Ohio Pork Congress, Minnesota Pork Congress, Missouri Pork Expo and the Michigan Pork Congress. Learn more here.

New Oral Fluid Guidelines Offer Cost-Effective Disease Monitoring for Group-Housed Sows

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 15:13:28 GMT

Collect oral fluid samples from group-housed sows by hanging two cotton ropes per pen and allowing 60 to 90 minutes of sampling time to yield best results, suggests a recent study funded by the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) and led by Jeff Zimmerman at Iowa State University.

As more breeding herds shift to housing sows in groups, the need for validating practical and cost-effective disease surveillance protocols in this population is greater than ever.

Oral fluid sampling has become a popular way to monitor herd health because it’s non-invasive, cost-effective and efficient. It’s also simple and safe for caretakers to collect, according to a recent nationwide survey on oral fluid sampling in U.S. swine farms published in Pathogens .

Zimmerman’s oral fluids sampling study in group-housed sows set out to determine practicality and best practices for the swine industry.

What Did the Sows’ Behavior Reveal?

Researchers conducted the study on a 6,500-head commercial breed-to-wean sow farm. Oral fluids were collected using two ropes per pen for four consecutive days across the pens. Sow behavior towards the ropes was characterized by individually marking a sub-set of animals and a 90-minute video observation was recorded, the study shows.

Results revealed oral fluids can be routinely collected from group-housed gestating sows using cotton ropes, a process used successfully in growing pig populations. In all groups and on all sampling days, the volume of oral fluid collected during the study was more than adequate to conduct diagnostic tests.

Larger Animals Need Longer Sampling Time

However, experts caution that sampling time in group-housed sows should be extended to 60 to 90 minutes to maximize participation, a longer duration than what is suggested for growing pigs.

The longer sampling time is needed for sows due to their larger size and the fact that fewer sows can access the ropes at any given time when compared to growing pigs, the experts say. The use of two ropes per pen provides adequate access while reducing competition across sows. By combining the two ropes from a single pen before sending them to the lab, you can reduce costs and only pay for one test per pen.

The researchers note that this study showed diagnostic targets, such as a gene, protein or antibody whose presence or absence is used to detect disease, in the pen environment are transferred into pen-based oral fluid samples. This confirms previous report findings in a study conducted by Tarasiuk with finishing pigs .

This explains why pathogens not shed via the mouth (for example, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, a highly contagious coronavirus that causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration in pigs) are consistently detected in oral fluids.

As pigs explore their surroundings, diagnostic targets in the pen environment are picked up; as a result, these targets are deposited in the oral fluid sample and detected by diagnostic testing.

Detecting emerging diseases and monitoring herd health in group-housed sows can be done with ease through oral fluid collection, the researchers say.

Visit the SHIC website to learn more.

Smarter Pigs, Smarter Farms: How AI and ChatGPT are Re-Wiring Swine Production

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 18:46:20 GMT

Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant idea reserved for Silicon Valley—it’s a new nervous system for agriculture. For U.S. hog producers, it represents something bigger than technology; it’s a way to manage your pigs, feed and people with new precision. The future of pork is not about who has the most sows or barns. It’s about who learns and adapts the fastest.

From Gut Instinct to Prediction

For generations, the best farmers were those with a feel for their pigs, the ones who could walk through a barn and see which sow was off her feed or ready to farrow or pig behavior. Today, AI can help make those instincts measurable and remove the risks of human errors.

Every feeder sensor, camera or ventilation fan can feed data into models that “learn” from each litter and each season. Tools like ChatGPT make that data useful, turning barn notes, vet reports and spreadsheets into quick-answer insights.

Want to know which group of gilts gained fastest under a new ration? Or whether feed conversion is improving after a ventilation tweak? Ask ChatGPT, connect it to your farm data, and get a summary in seconds.

Pork weighing scales, microphones and cameras can turn weight, sounds and behavior into early warnings. AI models can now detect coughing patterns before clinical signs appear, or spot sows in heat based on posture and motion. For the producer, that means fewer missed breedings, earlier interventions and better pig comfort.

What AI Can Do on the Pig Farm—Right Now

AI is not science fiction; it’s already working in barns, feed mills and logistics. The most practical use cases today include:
• Feed optimization: Machine-learning programs analyze growth, weather, and ingredient prices to recommend the least-cost ration that still meets performance goals. Instead of fixed formulas, AI continually adjusts, saving dollars per ton.
• Health monitoring: Vision systems detect lameness, coughing, and even tail biting. One U.S. integrator has reported that an early-warning algorithm reduced mortality by 9 %. Another is using an ear sensor with a warning light to allow producers to identify problem pigs, immediately.
• Breeding management: Predictive tools combine parity, backfat, and temperature data to forecast farrowing success and optimize breeding windows.
• Barn automation: AI-enabled controllers adjust temperature, humidity, and ventilation in real time, responding to pig behavior rather than fixed setpoints.
• Business insights: ChatGPT-style assistants can summarize market reports, predict feed cost trends, and even draft Standard Operating Procedures or employee checklists—freeing managers from paperwork to focus on people and pigs.

Each of these tools starts small — one barn, one dataset — but they build fast. As my AI-in-agriculture survey of 40 experts demonstrated, “AI doesn’t substitute, it amplifies.” It scales farmer judgment across millions of data points.

People Plus Machines: A New Kind of Teamwork

Many farmers worry that AI means fewer jobs. The truth is subtler. Routine data entry and paperwork will shrink, but new roles are emerging, digital barn managers, AI-savvy nutritionists and veterinarians, and on-farm data stewards.

The best advisors, nutritionists, veterinarians, production supervisors, won’t be replaced; they’ll be augmented. Imagine your vet arriving on-farm already briefed by an AI which has summarized every case history of pigs on the farm and flagged unusual patterns in the last 30 days.

As one expert noted in our survey, “The best people will become better, but teams must upskill now to stay relevant.” The future belongs to “farmers who can code”—or at least, who can ask good questions of their digital co-pilot.

ChatGPT makes that accessible. You don’t need programing skills; you just need curiosity. The hog producer who experiments, asking ChatGPT to draft a pig-flow plan, prepare a proposal to file an environmental plan, or explain a spreadsheet formula, is already ahead of the game.

Five Steps to Get Started with AI on Your Farm

When I conducted a survey of 40 experts in AI and Food resulted in the ‘DRIVE’ acronym for what you need to do to move from theory to action:

Data: Clean up your data. AI runs on clean, structured information. Start digitizing feed deliveries, weights, and mortality logs. Even a basic spreadsheet is a start.

Run Pilots: Pick one problem. Choose a specific, high-value use case—detecting sick pigs sooner, forecasting feed needs, or improving gilt selection. Measure results.

Insiders: Or Insider experts, not just outsider consultants. Those surveyed didn’t say not to use consultants in the initial stages but suggested that building internal competency and experts in your pork production team is essential

VIPs: must participate. There is a tendency for the CEO, Boss or even senior management team to delegate responsibility for tech projects. AI is so essential everyone must understand what is happening and help implementation. As one person in my survey said “Don’t treat AI as an IT project. It’s a strategy shift.”

Execute Now. As Nike said in their adverts, “Just do it.” Don’t wait.

Will AI Change the Job of the Pig Producer?

Absolutely—for the better. Automation may take over repetitive chores, but judgment, empathy and local knowledge remain irreplaceable. AI can count pigs; it can’t feel if a pen “just doesn’t look right.”

A Leadership Moment

AI adoption isn’t a technician’s job, it’s a leadership responsibility. Whether you’re running 200 sows or 20,000, the question is no longer if AI will affect you, but how fast you’ll adapt.

Start small. Learn daily. Share results with your neighbors. Pig farmers are practical people; they won’t believe the hype until they see it work. But once they do, adoption will spread quickly—because efficiency, health and welfare all improve together.

One participant in our AI-in-Agrifood study said, “AI will not replace humans. But humans using AI will replace those who don’t.”

Bottom Line: It’s like Electricity
Treat AI like electricity—foundational, ubiquitous and non-optional. ChatGPT and similar tools are already becoming digital assistants for feed, health and finance decisions.

The next revolution in pork production won’t come from a new antibiotic or crate design—it will come from information. Every squeal, step and sip of water is data. When analyzed well, that data can tell you what your pigs need before they do.

The race is on. Don’t over-plan. Start acting and learning. Your pigs, your people and your profits will thank you.

20 Strategies to Reduce the Nitrogen Footprint of Pork Production

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 20:06:50 GMT

By Eduardo Beltranena and Mahmoud Sharara, North Carolina State University

Over three decades, the swine industry has substantially reduced phosphorus (P) excretion (30–60%). Nitrogen (N) is the current challenge in progress. Protein rich in N is the second most expensive dietary nutrient and a major contributor to ammonia (NH₃) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions. Some strategies are already being implemented but need expansion.

Feeding Strategies

1. Feed lower crude protein diets.
Balancing for amino acids (AA) reduces dietary protein cutting urinary N, the primary source of barn NH₃ volatilization.

2. Include crystalline AA.
Adding crystalline AA instead of protein meals lowers dietary protein while meeting growth needs, reducing deamination losses.

3. Formulate on digestible AA.
Formulating diets on standardized ileal digestibility improves AA utilization and lowers urinary N by 10–20%.

4. Shift N from urine to feces.
Adding soluble fiber (e.g., wheat bran, DDGS) feeds hindgut microbes that convert urea into microbial protein, reducing urinary N by 10–30%.

5. Feed slower-digestible proteins.
Protein in canola meal or pulses is digested more slowly, promoting microbial use and lowering urinary N by 5–15%.

6. Synchronize protein and starch digestion.
Matching protein and starch digestion rates improves nutrient utilization enhancing N retention.

7. Add proteases, prebiotics and resistant starch.
These enhance diet digestibility by young pigs and microbial N capture, cutting urinary N by 5–15%.

8. Match AA supply to growth.
Changing diets as often as barn feed bins fill, reduces protein oversupply and improves N utilization by 3–7%.

9. Adopt precision feeding.
Forthcoming automated feeders blend high and low diets to match the growth curve of individual pigs within pen reducing N excretion.

10. Promote gut health.
Minimizing weaning stress and enteric diseases promote gut stability and reduce N losses.

Manure Strategies

1. Separate feces from urine.
Barn V-belt separators sieve feces from urine preventing barn urea breakdown and NH₃ release.

2. Solid–liquid sludge separation.
Outdoor centrifuges, presses and settling basins reduce N losses when in-barn segregation isn’t feasible.

3. Add acids to manure.
Acidifying manure pits keeps N as ammonium (NH4), reducing barn NH₃ release that affect both workers and pigs.

4. Install manure tank or lagoon covers.
Covers limit gas exchange and allow methane capture or flaring.

5. Time manure applications.
Apply manure as close to crop peak N demand to improve nutrient uptake.

6. Improve crop manure placement.
Place manure on the most ideal spot for the crop to maximize plant nutrient uptake.

7. Incorporate manure promptly.
Inject or incorporate promptly manure spread on top to minimize surface losses and runoff.

8. Weather at time of application.
Avoid hot, windy or rainy days to prevent N volatilization and runoff.

9. Calibrate application equipment.
Proper nozzle selection and calibration ensure uniform N delivery and over application.

10. Analyze soil and manure.
Soil and manure testing and in-line sensors enable variable-rate application.

Together, improved feeding, manure handling and precision applications can substantially reduce ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions, lower nutrient losses and enhance manure’s value as a fertilizer shrinking the pork industry nitrogen footprint.

Ag Tech Startup Unveils Active Air Biosecurity System for Pigs and Poultry

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 20:12:13 GMT

Bazooka, a non-thermal plasma air disinfection system developed by KiposTech, creates “clean air bubbles” in an animal’s breathing zone. According to co-founder Raj Singh, this knocks down airborne pathogens, dust and ammonia exactly where animals inhale.

“Air quality is a profitability lever,” says co-founder Hema Ravindran. “Cleaner air creates healthier pigs, steadier gains and fewer surprises.”

KiposTech, a startup with operations in Pennsylvania and Delaware, is one of four finalists in the 2026 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge competing at the National Farm Bureau Convention on Jan. 11, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. The grand prize winner will receive $100,000 to help fund their business endeavors. The runner-up will win $25,000.

They recently received a $300,000 EDGE 2.0 Grant from Delaware Governor Matt Meyer and the Delaware Division of Small Business on Nov. 12.

The company is currently running pilot projects in poultry farms across Pennsylvania and with the University of Delaware. Their goal is to show that the same air-cleaning benefits apply to swine production as well, and they plan to begin those trials within the next year. By the end of 2026, they aim to make this system available for producers across poultry and swine.

“Across all livestock sectors, one problem stood out: air inside barns is the biggest blind spot in biosecurity,” Ravindran says.

Paired with KiposEye, their AI-driven air-quality monitoring platform, producers get real-time alerts and barn-level visibility into air health, stress events and ventilation performance, Singh explains.

KiposPro is a patent-pending “plasma bazooka” that uses ionized gas, to continuously eliminate airborne pathogens, dust and ammonia inside barns 24/7, without filters or chemicals, the co-dounders say.

(KiposTech)

“This isn’t a filter or a fan component,” Singh points out. “It’s active air biosecurity. Bazooka doesn’t just measure air. It fixes it. It actively cleans the pigs’ breathing zone, not the ceiling, not ducts, not a corner sensor, right where disease spreads.”

Pork producers battle constant pressure from porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, influenza, Mycoplasma, dust load and ammonia spikes, Ravindran adds.

“These problems hit pigs hard and cut into performance and profits,” she says. “Bazooka cleans the air pigs actually breathe, creating safer ‘clean air bubbles’ around each group.”

Ravindran says producers benefit from less pathogen movement through barns, stronger respiratory health, better feed intake and growth curves, fewer pulls and treatment days, a healthier environment for employees and more predictable close-outs.

Singh and Ravindran say it’s an honor to be chosen as a finalist in the 2026 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge.

“We built KiposTech because producers deserve better tools to protect their herds,” she says. “Being named a finalist confirms that the industry sees the same need and is ready for new solutions in air biosecurity. This recognition energizes us to keep pushing forward and working closely with producers to make barns healthier, safer and more resilient.”

This is the 12^th year of the Ag Innovation Challenge, which was the first national business competition focused exclusively on rural entrepreneurs launching agriculture- and food-related businesses. Farm Bureau is offering $145,000 in start-up funds throughout the course of the competition.

Stop Airborne Spread of Pathogens on the Farm: Electrostatic Precipitator Offers Potential

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 15:01:45 GMT

An electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is effective in mitigating airborne spread of pathogens under farm conditions, a new study says. Montserrat Torremorell, department chair and professor of the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota, led this study evaluating the utility of an ESP to remove airborne particles from aerosols, including porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV).

The study, funded by the Swine Health Information Center Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program, in partnership with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research and Pork Checkoff, demonstrated high effectiveness, comparable to or slightly exceeding a MERV-16 filter, in removing airborne particles and over 99% removal of PRRSV.

According to SHIC, the study focused on assessing the detailed capabilities of the ESP system to remove airborne particles. When compared to the MERV-16, respected for high-efficiency filtration in controlled environments, the ESP prototype achieved similar or enhanced performance using its non-mechanical, electrostatic method.

“These results suggest potential opportunities for farms to shift to technologies that would be highly effective without the rapid pressure drop and replacement burden associated with using mechanical air filtration,” researchers report.

The Set-Up

A commercially available ESP was used and tested for its ability to collect airborne particles in the ASHRAE 52.2 wind tunnel in the UMN Department of Mechanical Engineering. Not only was the ESP assessed in a controlled laboratory setting to assess the particle collection efficiency but it also confirmed particle size distribution.

SHIC says the size distribution measurements were conducted using a Size Mobility Particle Scanner and Optical Particle Scanner, covering a particle range from 10 nm to 10 µm.

“After laboratory characterization of the ESP was completed, the ESP was installed within a wean-to-finish barn,” the researchers say. “The barn was mechanically ventilated and used air filtration in the inlets, which were located in the attic. To evaluate the ESP performance, the filter bank in one of the ventilation boxes was replaced with the ESP setup.”

To evaluate the ESP’s performance in capturing viruses in the field, PRRSV was aerosolized and introduced at the ESP inlet. Two trials were performed at a temperature of 59 °F with 47% relative humidity. The airflow rate was maintained at 1200 cfm. After collection, samples were analyzed for viable virus by titration and for viral RNA through PCR testing, the study says.

How Did it Work?

With an above 99% collection efficiency for particles greater than 1 µm, the ESP was determined to be highly effective. For particles less than 1 µm, collection efficiency varied by temperature, with higher efficiencies generally observed at lower temperatures.

The on-farm feasibility assessment using the ESP under field conditions included a cost comparison of purchasing, installing and operating the equipment compared to those of air filtration. Other considerations included operational sustainability as well as the upkeep and maintenance of the equipment, the researchers report. ESPs operate by electrically charging and collecting particles onto plates and must be regularly cleaned to maintain efficiency.

An economic analysis including assumptions on acquisition, installation, operation, maintenance and replacements costs for the ESP and filter systems, concluded that the ESP system had a $299,553 greater net present value over a 15-year period, resulting in approximately $0.25 additional cost per weaned pig, when compared to air filtration.

“This costing model is based on the assumptions around current technology,” the study says. “Future engineering advances may make this model more economically viable in the future.”

Scalability of the ESP for on-farm use involves moving the technology from laboratory- or pilot-scale units to systems capable of handling the significant air volumes necessary for large commercial farms. Experts say this requires robust engineering solutions that maintain high efficiency of ESP while operating continuously under real-world weather and climate variability.

“Overall, the ESP tested in this study was highly effective at removing airborne particles with collection efficiencies similar and marginally superior to those of a MERV-16 filter,” SHIC reports. “The path to commercialization and more broad scale use of ESP is dependent upon successfully resolving the complex logistical and engineering challenges of scalability, design integration, long-term maintenance, and cost-effectiveness for producers. Further commercial exploration is needed to fully optimize ESP designs and maintenance protocols for practical applications to improve biosecurity within commercial pig farms.”

Eyes on the Farm: Cameras, Audits and Training

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 16:37:37 GMT

Experienced veterinarians and swine producers can often pick up on certain clues to tell how well farm biosecurity protocols are being followed even if people’s actions are not recorded. Still, the fact is that cameras in pig production facilities have been dramatically helpful with procedural audits, both preventive and following disease outbreaks, to help track down verified and potential points of entry.

Recordings serve as a valuable witness to past actions, even if a producer installed the cameras to primarily be used in real time for daily training and security.

Humans Make Mistakes

A farm’s biosecurity is a system of barriers designed to reduce the risk of a novel pathogen infecting the pigs. These barriers include clearly defined clean-dirty lines (CDLs), limited transfer points (tightly controlled entry locations for people, animals and supplies, as well as live animal and mortality exits) and sanitation expectations that apply to everyone, such as showers, lunch entry, downtime and more.

I’m often asked where biosecurity infractions commonly occur. These most often occur anywhere there’s a CDL, as these are where there is potential for contamination from the “dirty” side of the farm into the “clean” side. Incidentally, my advice is to have as few of these points as practical on your farm. The most common places for infractions are the employee entry area, lunch or supply entry areas and the live-animal loadout area.

The first two rely on many individuals consistently following the rules, including personnel who do not routinely visit the farm, such as maintenance staff or visitors. Employee entry areas should be clearly marked, with shoe covers worn upon exiting vehicles, a bench in place for physical separation, showers and other precautions. Still, it only takes one person carrying a pathogen on their clothes or shoes to skip a step when entering the facility, to compromise the farm’s biosecurity. The same risk applies when supplies, lunch containers or other items are not properly disinfected.

Even the most conscientious worker might be preoccupied and forget a step at some point, or it could be a new person not yet fully trained or used to the routine. Regardless, this is where a camera mounted in the employee entry can help earn its keep.

Removing Guesswork

In many states, the law requires that a USDA-accredited veterinarian be on-site every 30 days to write a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection for livestock crossing state lines. Within Carthage Veterinary Service, our vets typically complete general biosecurity audits during these monthly site visits to help confirm the farm’s biosecurity and identify any areas of improvement.

I look for clues of breached biosecurity during my monthly visits — for instance, if shoes are too far from the bench in the people entry area for someone to have reasonably been able to get over the bench and into the “clean” side without their socks or bare feet touching the “dirty” floor, the person probably didn’t enter the farm following our procedures. Camera footage can help note these instances better, the same way it helps producers and farm managers improve biosecurity.

Cameras take much guesswork out of biosecurity management, letting us rely on impartial footage either in a casual review or in trying to follow a herd outbreak back to the pathogen’s source. Even cameras don’t guarantee we’ll always find a “smoking gun” for a disease outbreak. However, if they can help narrow down the origin to a potential practice, entry or vendor, the producer can address the infraction for future improvements.

Barriers to Improvements

The biggest impediment to adoption of biosecurity improvements is typically cost. Aside from that, even inexpensive physical or free behavioral changes can run into problems. I have found that common barriers to adoption/enforcement of protocols are usually lack of understanding or language differences.

Many swine farm workers are native Spanish speakers, and even those who understand some English will likely learn more if the rules are explained in their first language. We work closely with the Carthage System, which employs bilingual production managers where needed, to provide written instructions in both Spanish and English.

Lack of understanding is somewhat different, and can happen even in a common language. I believe in explaining why standard operating procedures (SOPs) should be followed; people deserve to know how following the rules helps them and the farm succeed. I usually approach this with the mindset of: “I understand doing this might add more time to your task, but this is why each step is important.”

Cameras are typically thought of as a corrective tool for mistakes, but there’s more to them. Being able to use your daily footage to pull out examples of adherence or extra effort and praise those employees where you can is quite beneficial. I suggest saving any camera footage of team members following proper SOPs to use as training materials for the future. With proper biosecurity protocols in place and proper compliance with SOPs, farms will be more biosecure and may see an increase in health and production.

Basic Zone SOPs

Every farm is different and requires its own biosecurity plan. Here’s some general advice to all producers: Clearly define the CDL at every entry and exit point and determine what practices are essential to maintaining a disease-free environment for your pigs.

People entry:
● CDL: The bench
● Watch for: (1) removing and leaving shoes on the dirty side before swinging feet over to the clean side without touching the dirty floor; (2) not allowing phones and coats past the bench to the clean side

Supply room entry:
● CDL: The door is always the CDL, but the room’s status changes
● Watch for: (1) when the room is being loaded with new supplies, it’s dirty. Recommendation is to fill the room and leave it closed for 7 days for a heated decontamination of potential pathogens; (2) when the room is being unloaded after the 7 days from the farm side, it is clean, as are its contents

Animal loadout:
● CDL: Door/truck interface
● Watch for: (1) pigs should not go back and forth across the CDL; (2) people should not cross the CDL and those on both sides should wear protective gear such as rubber gloves and Tyvek coveralls (or Tyvek-like material); (3) wash and disinfect the chute immediately after loading all pigs

Mortality removal:
● CDL: Exit door of mortality room
● Watch for: (1) sow and piglet mortalities should be removed without outside supplies or personnel touching the clean side; (2) all sow and piglet mortalities should be removed at the end of the day and not throughout the day; (3) do not also use room for supplies and equipment storage; (4) wash and disinfect the room immediately after mortality removal

Outdoor parking:
● CDL: Door of each vehicle
● Watch for: put on booties while exiting the vehicle and remove before re-entering vehicle

Cantinas Campaign Adds a Little Spice to Mexico Meat Promotions

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 15:32:17 GMT

Variety meats are popular in cantinas, or casual dining restaurants, in the central part of Mexico. That’s why the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) is finding creative ways to promote pork and beef variety meat items to bars and casual restaurants in Mexico as an affordable appetizer and snack option that will appeal to their customers.

“Variety meat exports provide critical returns for U.S. pork and beef producers, and Mexico is a leading destination for these products,” USMEF says.

USMEF’s marketing campaign, known as Cantina Vibes, has expanded to the northern part of the country because of the success in central Mexico. In northern Mexico, consumers are less familiar with variety meat dishes, but are attracted to the lower cost, high quality, U.S. pork and beef.

“When we talk about variety meats in pork, we talk about jowl, ears, brains, snout, stomach, etc. In beef, we are promoting small intestine, also liver and sweetbread,” says Rigoberto Treviño, trade manager for USMEF Mexico. “For example, with the pork snout, we are doing tacos, sopes, tostadas. So, it’s different cantina dishes with variety meat.”

Sweebread Taco

(USMEF)

Mexico is the leading volume destination for U.S. beef variety meat exports, totaling 124,000 metric tons last year. It is second only to China for pork variety meat exports, with shipments in 2024 topping 160,000 metric tons.

Treviño says U.S. pork and beef offer “really good quality” and amazing consistency. Plus, it is very affordable for the cantinas.

“Not all variety meats are affordable,” he points out. “I know that sweetbreads are a little bit more expensive. But the small intestine or pork stomach and pork snout are very affordable. You can have a pork jowl taco or a pork jowl sope with guacamole for about, a dollar. It’s very affordable, and it’s very important for those kinds of restaurants and casual dining.”

Will AI Revolutionize the U.S. Swine Industry?

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 20:33:34 GMT

The U.S. swine industry has long been a global leader in animal agriculture, providing a vital source of protein to millions. However, it is emerging from one of the toughest financial downturns in its history, driven by rising input costs, animal health challenges and persistent labor shortages.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently emerged as a powerful and transformative tool, offering innovative solutions to improve efficiency, animal welfare and profitability across all aspects of swine production.

Health Management Benefits

A significant application of AI in swine production is real-time health monitoring. Detecting illnesses like porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) or signs of feed refusal has relied on visual observation or delayed laboratory testing. Now, AI-powered systems use computer vision and sensor data to continuously monitor pigs, detecting subtle changes in behavior that signal distress or disease.

For example, AI algorithms can analyze pig movements, posture and vocalizations to spot early signs of illness before visible symptoms appear. These systems alert farm managers promptly for quick intervention. Early detection supports herd health and reduces reliance on antibiotics, leading to cost savings and more responsible antibiotic stewardship.

Precision Feeding and Nutritional Optimization

Feed costs represent one of the largest expenses in pork production, often accounting for 60% to 70% of total costs. AI-driven precision feeding systems tailor diets to each pig’s needs, considering genetics, weight, age, growth rate and health status. Smart feeders equipped with sensors collect real-time data to adjust feed composition and quantity.

This approach minimizes feed waste and ensures pigs receive the exact nutrients necessary for optimal growth, improving feed conversion ratios and lowering production costs. Furthermore, the detailed data generated by these systems helps nutritionists develop more sustainable feed formulations that reduce the environmental impact of swine farming without compromising performance or meat quality.

Labor Efficiency and Automation

Labor shortages continue to be a major challenge. AI-powered automation is bridging this gap by performing labor-intensive, repetitive or continuous monitoring tasks that previously required significant human effort. Robotic feeders and AI-guided cameras that monitor pig behavior and count animals are increasingly common on modern farms.

Computer vision technologies can detect behavioral anomalies such as decreased activity, limping or aggression, often missed during routine human checks. This not only enhances animal welfare but also alleviates the workload on farm staff, allowing them to focus on higher-level management and care, ultimately improving overall farm productivity.

A Look Ahead

For producers, the choice isn’t whether AI will matter; it’s how quickly they’ll adapt to use it as a competitive advantage. Those who invest in AI-driven solutions will be better positioned to meet the demands of a growing global population while maintaining high standards of animal welfare and environmental stewardship. AI will continue to shape the future of pork production as adoption grows.