Smart Farming - Pork Producers

5 Pig Farmers Share the Real ROI of Smart Barn Technology and Equipment

Wed, 20 May 2026 12:49:44 GMT

While apps have replaced paper records and smart controllers allow for remote adjustments, the fundamental work of pig care remains manual. For many contract growers, today’s technology offers a welcome sense of ‘peace of mind,’ but it has yet to provide the financial return or labor relief needed to offset the modern operational squeeze.

“Until there is a robot doing chores for me or a camera’s telling me if I even need to do chores, I’m not sure what could replace the daily tasks of a human in the barn,” says Jason Klein, a Michigan pig farmer.

Five contract growers weigh in on equipment and technology in the barn.

Top ROI Investments

“I think it comes standard now, but the water meters connected to the EDGE control system have helped us mitigate water waste from leaking or broken nipples. Being able to identify higher-than-normal water usage helps point us in the direction of an issue if we missed it while walking through the barn.” – Wyatt Clemens

“Smart controllers and alarms that I can operate from my phone have been amazing. Remote technology has been very helpful. I can set everything from my phone and monitor things at any time. It is very helpful when there is extreme weather and it allows you to make changes more quickly.” – Aaron Juergens

“We have been using AI (artificial intelligence) in many different applications in our operating systems and the business/farm, and accounting. AI is a huge timesaver on many applications, but it has been a big help on gathering information and putting together my 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year business plans for myself and lenders.” – Bryan Bennett

Equipment That’s Built to Last

“All our feeders and waters are stainless steel, wet/dry feeders. If the whole barn could be stainless, that would be great.” – Joe Kendrick

“I operate all major brands, and they have all held up well: AP, Choretime, Hog Slat and Marting.” – Aaron Juergens

“The Thorp feeders of any style have proven to pass the test of time. I have both wet/dry shelf feeders and tube feeders. Both seem like they could last forever. I have airstream TC-5 controllers in my barns. They are simple and durable. I almost never have trouble with them. Lighting is the only thing that seems to cause trouble and it’s super rare that it’s a problem. Most of the time it’s just a blown fuse.” – Jason Klein

The Digital Farmhand: How AI is Solving the Agricultural Labor Crisis

Tue, 12 May 2026 20:01:45 GMT

Agriculture is facing a historic labor shortage at the same time artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how the world operates. Some fear AI adoption will result in job loss and businesses being left behind due to rapidly evolving technology. Others say AI is the digital farmhand agriculture needs right now to handle repetitive data tasks while humans focus on high-value animal husbandry or field work.

Either way, one thing is true – AI is not going anywhere.

“Whether AI replaces jobs or not depends on how the industry chooses to use it,” says Angel Andaya, manager of digital solutions for Silver Support, a managed development center supporting operations, finance, digital solutions, information technology and automation services.

If AI is seen purely as a replacement, she says that is likely the direction it will take. But it could also become a powerful tool to help farm operations thrive despite labor challenges.

The “Why Now” of AI: Accessibility and Adoption

While AI has existed for years (think Netflix recommendations and GPS), the launch of ChatGPT marked a paradigm shift that made the technology conversational and accessible to everyone, says Tracy Soper, senior director of data excellence at Keystone Cooperative.

“At 100 million [users] in two months, ChatGPT’s growth is unheard of – nothing has grown that fast,” Soper said at the National Pedigreed Livestock Council’s annual meeting. “Why? Because it was conversational and easy to access. It was something all of us could touch and could relate to, like, ‘Oh, this is a thing. It makes my life easier.’”

In the past, technology adoption took years. Now, it happens in months, creating a sense of “AI hysteria” and a need for clear strategy, he adds.

Problem First, People Always

Rather than viewing AI as a replacement for human expertise, it should be viewed as an amplification tool, he says. The strategy is to avoid expensive shelfware by starting with specific business problems.

“It can do a lot of things, but how are we going to use it?” Soper asks. “For us at Keystone, AI is not about replacing people; it’s making people better.”

Years ago, Soper says his job was to look over all things related to information technology (IT). Today that looks like AI and automation solutions as the cooperative’s scale has grown.

“For us, it’s starting very specifically with what problem we’re trying to solve today and then asking, ‘Why can’t we solve it with what we’ve got?’” he says.

Keystone takes a four-step approach:

1. Start with the problem, not the technology.

“AI only creates value when it’s solving a real business challenge. Companies that buy a tool, hand it to IT and expect magic end up with expensive shelfware,” Soper says.

2. Data readiness before algorithms.

“Any insight is only as good as the data feeding it,” he says. “We invested significant time building a modern data foundation before ever pursuing AI.”

3. Amplify expertise – don’t replace it.

“AI is not replacing agronomists, breed managers or the people closest to the animals. It’s amplifying their experience and sharpening their decision timing,” Soper explains.

4. Your data is the competitive edge.

“The competitive gap will be built on data readiness as much as algorithms,” he says.

In the future, Keystone is working actively in predictive machine learning and generative AI, using them to improve decision timing, streamline operations and better serve the producers who depend on the cooperative.

Shorten Time-Consuming Tasks

AI helps experts ask better questions sooner, Soper says. With data flowing more freely across the value chain, he believes there is great opportunity where AI and animal data converge.

For example, computer vision for body condition scoring, lameness detection and welfare monitoring is moving from research into practice in many barns. He’s also excited about how AI-assisted genomic prediction and health monitoring are advancing across species and can help make progress more quickly.

Andaya encourages farmers to think about the daily realities on the farm. What tasks are essential, but time consuming and repetitive?

“Even small improvements in how they are managed can free up valuable time and improve decision-making on the ground,” Andaya says.

If these processes are supported through AI, she believes it will enable farmers and their employees to focus more on animal welfare, planning and improving overall farm productivity.

“In this sense, AI is less about replacement and more about giving farmers and livestock teams the space to focus on what truly matters,” she says.

4 Tips for Successful AI Implementation

Agriculture and livestock operations are full of valuable data from daily logs to finances, Andaya explains.

“What’s changing is how effectively this information can be used,” she says.

Soper says Keystone has learned four important lessons in their journey to use AI more efficiently.

1. Data quality is everything.

Start with the data you own. Then budget time for discovery and cleanup.

2. Build for the people doing the work.

The tool needs to make someone’s job easier or it won’t get used. AI should amplify good discipline.

3. Scope tight, prove value first.

Prove it works before you scale. The business has to own the problem – IT enables, but stakeholders drive adoption and define success.

4. Governance can’t wait.

Policies around approved tools, data and data protection need to exist before people experiment. Once people start using AI on their own, it’s harder to rein in.

Farmers Don’t Use AI for Answers — They Use It to Think Better

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:10:25 GMT

What you should know:

To use artificial intelligence in your business for a competitive advantage — not just a gimmick:

Ask better questions than most people
Combine AI with real-world experience
Execute on the answers

For Rachael Sharp, dry weather hasn’t made planting go any easier in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. And when a planter went down, the first thing she did was pull up Chat GPT.

“I pulled up the part number, and I saw that I’d actually entered in there last year. So it told me the date I changed it, and that was helpful, because I was trying to figure out why is this wearing out so quickly?” she says. “We’re in desperate need of rain, and we’re pulling in some pretty hard non-irrigated land right now. I logged that we changed the bearing again, and so next time, knock on wood, it hopefully doesn’t go out again, but if it does I can look and see I changed it twice in the last year.”

That’s just one of many examples of how Sharp is using ChatGPT to manage equipment, her time, and the farm business. She and her father, Don, are featured in an OpenAI commercial, which premiered during the Super Bowl.

And she’s in good company with other farmers in how to use the artificial intelligence platforms.

Marc Arnusch, the 2025 Top Producer of the Year, says ChatGPT is the most used app on his phone.

Jeremy Jack, leader of Silent Shade Planting Company the 2023 Top Producer of the Year, uses AI as his daily management teammate from agronomy and business decisions.

Here are the four ways these farmers use AI every day on the farm.

(Photo: Yvonne Min)

1. Make better decisions faster

Colorado farmer Arnusch uses ChatGPT and Grok to narrow down his consideration set when making decisions.

“It helps on the strategic side of things, and when making a decision, I’ll let it give the top four or five things to choose from, which helps when there’s a million choices,” he says. “It really is like my funnel. I’ll set up my phone on my dashboard and just dictate to it. Then when I’m back at the farm office, my wife Jill is relieved because I’ve already processed out loud with the AI tool.”

While most farms collect data, Jack uses AI to make decisions, particularly agronomic.

“I uploaded multiple years of soil data across our farms,” he says. “And we’ve found ways to manage fertilizer better, for example with sulfur.”

The data interpretation has shifted his thinking by connecting the yield zones with as-applied fertility and return on investment.

Jack is also using the technology to double check every spray application — from rates, to tank mix, to nozzle selection, to pressure optimization.

Sharp has also found AI helpful in managing chemical applications. She can remember chemical boxes marked up with her father’s calculations by hand.

“I tell the prompt what I’m spraying, where I’m spraying, how many acres, tank size, and then I let it tell me what to order,” she says. “Over time, it’s learned which products are liquid and which are dry flowables. And it’s helped me keep track of the inventory we have so we don’t end up with pallets of odds and ends.”

(Photo: OpenAI)

2. Be more efficient

When it comes to where to start with AI, Sharp has one piece of advice.

“Think of the task that you don’t like to do at the end of the day. For me, I didn’t want to do paperwork at the end of the day,” she says. “So I threw it over to ChatGPT, and I said, hey, this is what I planted today, this is the date, and I left it at that. I started really, really simple.”

Now, she’ll record things directly in the field or in the truck. She says it has helped with FSA 578 forms. And in day-to-day operations, she’s found benefits for time management and accuracy in all record keeping.

“We have seed samples that require a handwritten seed form that I turn in along with the sample, but I spoke into my phone and said, hey, Chat GPT, I need you to log that I sent this variety, this lot number, on this date, to the lab. And so, that’s probably one of 15 entries that I’ve made over the course of a month. And at the end when we finally turn in our last sample to the lab, I’ll ask it for a spreadsheet with all that listed,” she says.

(Photo: Sarah Green Photography)

3. Think more clearly about complex problems

Jeremy Jack often asks ChatGPT “What does this mean for my farm?” with current events.

“With the war in Iran, global fertilizer supply chain concerns, and even things like USDA reports, it’s given helpful perspective in how to think about what’s happening off the farm but impacts the farm.”

And he’s found success in using the platform to specifically think about the business strategy for his farm with vendors, including lenders, landowners and more.

4. Manage more professionally

Jack has been active with an advisory board for their farm, but AI has become like a boardroom in his pocket.

“I bounce ideas—pressure test if you will—before it costs me real money,” he says. “This includes input purchases, land agreements, and equipment purchases.”

He’s also come to use it in his external communications about the farm including his regular social media posts on LinkedIn.

When it comes to team management, Arnusch has input culture index results for vendors and employees, then the AI compares their individual characteristics with the job they are being asked to do.

“This has been a breakthrough,” he says. “It’s shown me that at no fault of their own, why some people fail at what they are being asked to do. It wasn’t because they weren’t working hard or doing the job. It was stretching them beyond what they can do.”

He gives the example of a farm foreman position on the farm, and how he used this process to match the candidate with the role.

(Sarah Green Photography)

Inside The Tax Return of Your Farm's Future

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:31:53 GMT

The traditional process of preparing agricultural tax returns has long been defined by manual data entry and the complex reconciliation of income. However, the integration of artificial intelligence into financial systems is ushering in a more sophisticated era of tax management. For the modern farm, the future of filing lies in a seamless pipeline where software handles the heavy lifting of data organization, leaving the high-level strategy to human experts.

Comprehensive Data Integration

The foundation of a modern tax return is the accounting system. Platforms like QuickBooks, Xero or specialized farm management software are becoming increasingly autonomous. In the near future, these AI agents will do more than simply record expenses; they will analyze them in real-time.

With direct links to bank feeds and digital invoices, AI can categorize expenditures with precision. It can distinguish between capital investments, such as machinery or land improvements, and standard operating costs like seed and fuel. This continuous synchronization means by the end of the fiscal year, the financial records are already in a format that mirrors the requirements of a tax return.

Automated Document Reconciliation

A significant portion of tax preparation involves matching — ensuring the farm’s internal records align with the documents issued by third parties. A preparer of a farm tax return may spend more time making sure all of the income is in the right box then planning to optimize the income tax level.

AI is uniquely suited to handle this high-volume verification. The system can automatically ingest Form 1099-PATR (cooperative distributions), 1099-G (government subsidies) and other Form 1099s and W-2s and verify them against recorded deposits.

If a document is missing or a figure does not match the ledger, AI identifies the specific discrepancy immediately, allowing for a targeted correction rather than a manual search through months of records.

The Role of Human Oversight

While AI provides the technical framework for the return, the final stage remains firmly in human hands. Once the software has mapped the data to the appropriate tax schedules, it produces a comprehensive draft for professional review.

This allows the farmer or a tax consultant to transition from a data entry role to a strategic advisory role. Instead of spending hours verifying line items, the human reviewer can focus on critical tax planning decisions including accelerated depreciation choices or income averaging that require professional judgment and an understanding of the farm’s long-term goals.

The result is a more accurate, defensible and efficient tax filing process. By automating the clerical aspects of the return, AI allows agricultural producers to maintain focus on their operations while ensuring full compliance with the evolving tax laws.

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.

How One Mississippi Farmer Turned Data Into $330K in Fertilizer Savings

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 20:38:40 GMT

As the planter rolls across a Mississippi Delta field, row by row, it’s making split-second decisions on how much fertilizer to apply, where to apply it and where to apply nothing at all — a task that’s doesn’t require any second-guessing.

The decisions aren’t happening by instinct nor by habit. The planting and fertilizer decisions on this farm are all driven by data.

For Adron Belk, who farms in the Delta’s rich soils of Sunflower County, that shift — from gut feel to data-driven execution — isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about survival in a tight-margin environment, and ultimately, about profitability.

“This whole field, see how it’s calling for 8 gallons right there? It tells it the target. We’re looking for 8 gallons of fertilizer, and it’s putting out real close to 8 gallons,” Belk says as he’s making a planting pass through the field. “There’s areas in the field where it calls for none. So where it calls for none, it actually cuts it off on its own.”

On this farm, data doesn’t sit in a spreadsheet. It moves. It acts. It makes decisions in real time as equipment moves across the field.
That level of precision means decisions aren’t just guided by data, but automated with every pass.

“Where our phosphorus and zinc levels are low, the starter system turns on and it applies it. And where the phosphorus and zinc levels are adequate, it cuts it all and don’t put anything,” he says.

A Farm That Functions Like a Test Plot

Every acre Belk farms doubles as a testing ground. Every pass is an experiment. Every season is another opportunity to learn something new.

That mindset even extends to what he plants.

“I have never planted cotton on my own. My dad was a cotton farmer until 2007, when he quit growing cotton. We’re going to plant just a little bit this year though, about 130 acres. We’re going to get it custom picked. We’re just really planting the cotton to get a little bit of experience with it on a very, very small amount of acres. I believe it’s the tool I need to have in my toolbox for the future. And right now, I don’t have that tool,” he says.

At a time when many farmers are moving away from cotton, Belk is moving toward it.

“Some would say I’m just a glutton for punishment, I guess,” Belk says as he laughs.

A First Generation Farmer

Belk’s approach to farming didn’t come from following a playbook. In fact, it started with the opposite.

“I’m a first generation/second generation farmer,” he says. “My dad does farm, but we do not farm together.”

That decision for Belk to farm on his own was intentional from the start.

“My dad came through the 1980s. He just had a passion for it — worked really hard, started off with with almost nothing,” Belk explains. “And he did really well, and he knew all the lessons that he had to learn from being on his own, and mainly from messing stuff up on his own and learning. He knew how valuable that was. And he just really wanted us to always enjoy each other’s company and never have work come in between us or our family.”

So when Belk wanted to farm, his father gave him guidance — but not a safety net.

“He said, ‘I’ll give you all the advice you want,’ but he said it’s going to be beneficial if you do it on your own,” Belk remembers.

Belk took that to heart, starting his own farming operation by renting a few hundred acres while still in college. And like many young farmers, he learned by trial and error.

“I have made a lot of mistakes, and if I would have been farming with my dad, I probably wouldn’t have learned from those mistakes. I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to make them to learn on my own,” Belk says. “The mistakes I’ve made have taught me more than the things that I’ve done right, for sure.”

No Silver Bullet — Just Small Gains

While Belk admits he’s learned the hard way and made plenty of mistakes, in an industry often searching for big breakthroughs, Belk focuses on incremental wins.

“I think in farming, we’re all looking for that silver bullet that is going to get you 15, 20 bushels more per acre. But most of those big yield gains like that have already been discovered or have already been done, and so it’s very hard to find those silver bullets,” Belk says. “So, we are really tailoring our farm to finding the 2-, the 3-, the 5-bushel [per acre] differences,” he says.

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That mindset is what led him deeper into data.

“We started really trying to look at data. And when we first started, I thought we were doing it right. I thought were interpreting things the right way. And then realized that we really needed to be going a little deeper,” he says.

Data Into Decisions

That realization led Belk to work with Chad Swindoll, founder of J19 Agriculture, to bring a more advanced level of analysis to the farm.

“He is very honed in on how to analyze data. And working with him has really brought a whole new perspective to ‘Not only now that we have this data, how do we analyze it? And then once we analyze, what do we do with it?’” he says.

For Swindoll, that last question — What do you do with it? — is where many farms fall short.

“There’s lack of implementation on the farm,” Swindoll explains. “There’s a lot of technology that’s available. I mean, we’re with the United States. We’re a very sophisticated production agriculture, but the execution and implementation piece on taking the information that the technology will provide — and then using it to really make a decision beyond just something that looks cool or sounds cool — but really driving change on the farm, that’s very lacking,” he says.

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When Swindoll started working with Belk, he quickly realized Belk is different in not only the way he farms, but how he thinks about farming. What sets Belk apart, Swindoll says, is his willingness to act.

“He does a very good job of collecting the things that we need to make those decisions, and then if if the information is telling us we need this or that, he does,” Swindoll says.

Swindoll says Belk is a good executive, and that ability to not only know what needs to be done, but then implement it, is something that’s fueling Belk’s success.

“That’s something that I try to emphasize and talk about a lot in our industry and with my customers and non-customers. The farmer is the CEO, and an executive’s job is to make decisions,” Swindoll says. “And so we can get hung on a fence and make no progress. At some point, you have to move. And to be a good executive, it goes back to having the right pieces of information and the willingness to act.”

Swindoll says it also takes courage to do something different than what everybody else is doing.

“It’s not easy, because some of the things that we’ve found over the years are contrary to what we have been taught or told,” he says.

A $330,000 Turning Point

That willingness to trust the data — and act on it — led to one of the biggest financial shifts on the farm.

“About three or four years ago, we started really letting the data, we started analyzing the data and looking at it. And what we started seeing is, we were spending a lot of this money on fertilizer, and we didn’t really know if we’re getting a return out of it,” Belk says.

The result was a major change in how fertilizer was applied and how much was used.

“Three years ago, we cut about $330,000 out of our fertilizer budget that I would not have done without good sound data that we trusted,” Belk says. “Now, it took me a little while to get to that, to understand it. Then having J19 really run statistical data and showing us what was real and what was not. When you realize you cut $330,000 out of a fertilizer budget, and you still made the equivalent yields, that’s pretty eye-opening,” he says.

Finding Yield in the Details

While something like fertilizer savings have added major cost-savings to their farm, sometimes, the biggest gains come from the smallest adjustments. That includes what the data told them about tire pressure.

“Because we grow everything in the Delta on a raised bed, in between the tires it really pinches that row. We started noticing where we would run 20 lb. of air where the tire would kind of squat, it was pinching the row more, and we were getting more compaction under the tractor,” Belk says. “In some cases, it was costing anywhere from 10 to 17 bushels of yield on the rows just up under the tractor,” he says.

That prompted Belk to boost tire pressure to 30 lb. or air.

Rethinking the Playbook

On Belk’s farm, the field itself has become the ultimate teacher.

“That field is our textbook,” Swindoll says. “That’s kind of how we do this. If you read something in a book and it doesn’t line up, I think it was William Albrecht who said, ‘If you observe nature, and the textbook doesn’t agree, then you throw the textbook away.’ And we’ve had to do that in some cases.”

That philosophy carries through every decision Belk makes.

“Actually, my dad always told me, ‘Never tell somebody who asks you why you’re doing something, to tell them because your daddy did it.’ You know times change. I mean, we’re in a whole different world right now than we were even 5 years ago, especially 10 years ago. And so I feel like agriculture is changing very fast. I feel like we’ve got to learn to adapt and adopt really fast. Doing all this stuff has allowed us to stay kind of current with the changes in agriculture. It’s allowed us stay current with new products, with new things,” he says.

The New Equation for Farming

Farming has always involved risk. Whether it’s weather, markets or input costs, none of it is guaranteed.

But on this Mississippi Delta farm, the approach to risk is changing. It’s no longer just about taking chances. It’s about measuring them. Testing them. Understanding them. And ultimately, deciding which ones are worth it.

Because in today’s agriculture, that difference between guessing and knowing, may be what separates farmers who keep up from those who get ahead.

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.”

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.

Leading Through Disruption: What New Food Tech Means for Pork

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 20:00:49 GMT

Emerging food technologies, from gene editing to cultured meat, may not be a new topic, but it’s one that producers must stay on top of as they look toward tomorrow. Competitiveness, exports and innovation’s role in reshaping global protein markets could prove incredibly challenging without keen awareness and a plan for the future.

Cultured Meat: Niche or Competitor?

During a forward-looking discussion at the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) meeting in Las Vegas, Eric Schulze, chief technology officer of Omeat, described cellular agriculture as animal cells grown outside the body for human food. While there are many food products approved for sale outside of the U.S., the FDA has cleared six in this country, already having cleared six in this country, including a cultivated bacon product last year.

“We are much further ahead than people realize in gene editing in this area,” Schulze says. He noted that cattle convert roughly 24 to 30 calories of feed into one calorie of beef, while “the current efficiency in our (lab-based) system is three to one” because cultured cells don’t require bones, immune systems, or reproduction. However, high electricity, and pharmaceutical-grade input costs remain barriers to scale.

In pork, Schulze acknowledged limited development so far: “I really want to see more in the pork space, but for now it’s been limited to bacon.”

The implication being that cultured pork is not yet a volume competitor, but blended products or niche offerings could emerge, especially in markets receptive to biotechnology.

Global Implications

Dave Shoup, an Ohio veterinarian and pork producer, brought the conversation home with a pointed question to the panel of experts about international acceptance of these tech-centric products. With U.S. pork still facing hurdles in certain export markets over gene editing, he asked whether cultured meat might receive broader global acceptance — particularly in Asia-Pacific nations — compared to gene-edited livestock.

Schulze says, “Asia-Pacific nations have largely accepted them. That’s where you can purchase them right now,” noting stronger consumer tolerance for genetic engineering and cultured meat in import-dependent regions. In contrast, he said Europe remains more restrictive.

This verbal exchange underscored a critical point for producers: regulatory and consumer attitudes abroad directly affect competitiveness at home.

Gene Editing: A Regulatory Disadvantage?

University of California-Davis animal genomics professor Alison Van Eenennaam warns that the biggest disruption may not be the technology itself, but rather, regulatory disparity.

“The biggest disruptor is going to be the superiority of the other countries regulatory approaches,” she says. “Developing nations are going to leapfrog us.”

According to Van Eenennaam, if U.S. gene editing remains mired in regulatory uncertainty, U.S. producers could end up losing out. She adds, “While other pork-producing nations move forward, producers abroad could gain health, efficiency, or sustainability advantages over our domestic producers.”

Consumer Perception & Policy Risk

Ashley Johnson, director of food policy for NPPC, noted that many policymakers and consumers “have put everything in this black box of scary things” when it comes to biotechnology. She notes that distinctions between gene editing, GMOs and cultured meat are often lost.

For his part, Patrick Webb, assistant chief veterinarian with the National Pork Board, emphasized the industry’s role in clarity and preparedness for not only things like foreign animal disease, but technology that is not well understood.

He says, “Our role is to make sure that we help producers understand what the technology is, and then what the effect of that technology may be in the marketplace.”

Of course, that marketplace includes exports, which are nearly 30% of U.S. pork production. Webb adds a sobering reminder by adding, “that goes away overnight if our markets close.”

Leading Through Disruption

What are the biggest disruptions ahead?

• Van Eenennaam points to regulatory stagnation.
• Johnson cites growing distrust in food science.
• Schulze notes gene-edited animals themselves could outcompete cultured systems.
• Webb focuses on foreign animal disease and trade interruptions.

For pork producers, the message was clear: innovation is accelerating globally. The real disruption may hinge less on laboratory breakthroughs and more on regulation, trade policy and consumer trust.

A Stockman’s Mind in an AI World: Dan Hamilton on the Future of Swine Genetics

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 20:28:47 GMT

Even as technology and artificial intelligence (AI) transform the pork industry, Dan Hamilton, senior director for product performance in the Americas for PIC, argues that a curious human mind is more important than ever.

“As an industry, we must be open-minded, especially toward new technologies and new ways of doing things,” Hamilton says. “To remain competitive, we must have the curiosity and willingness to try things so we can stay on the cutting edge and be right where we want to be.”

At the forefront of significant advancements in swine genetics, Hamilton has witnessed how cameras, sensors, and AI are revolutionizing the barn. While these tools collect and process massive amounts of data at lightning speed, Hamilton warns against blind reliance on the “black box” of technology.

“I always tell people when you create an algorithm, it always gives you an answer,” Hamilton says. “But stay curious. Ask yourself if it’s the right answer and if we should be making a decision based on it.”

Validating the Algorithm

Nothing replaces an inquisitive mind that constantly asks how to make things better. For Hamilton, the power of a company like PIC lies in its access to large, commercially relevant data sets. While PIC has always relied on nucleus farms for precise data, Hamilton notes they have expanded their reach into the commercial sector.

“As we use these new technologies, we’ve got more data points in differing environments,” Hamilton explains. “We must continually validate these technologies to ensure they are bringing value, and we must continue to retool the algorithms to make them more accurate and refined for their specific locations.”

Taking the Subjectivity Out of Selection

Digital phenotyping—the use of automated technologies like cameras and sensors—allows producers to measure behavioral, structural, and production traits objectively and non-invasively. Hamilton has focused specifically on how this technology evaluates the feet and legs of swine.

“Feet and leg quality are vital to a sound breeding program,” he notes. “For generations, good stockmen have selected for better feet and legs, but there has always been a level of subjectivity. What I think is ideal, you might see as slightly different.”

By training AI algorithms using images from expert selectors, researchers can now evaluate structural soundness in real-time.

“This is a huge step forward,” Hamilton says. “We’ve found that algorithms are often more accurate and consistent than humans. Even the best selector doesn’t always score the same animal the same way every time. It could be because it’s Monday morning versus Wednesday afternoon, or they caught the pig at the wrong moment. The cameras, however, are three times more accurate, allowing us to make faster genetic progress.”

The ultimate goal? Predicting longevity.

“We are now using that data to predict which gilts or boars will have the greatest longevity in the sow herd,” he says. “Moving from what we thought were the best feet and legs to actual data based on herd retention is a major shift toward better outcomes.”

Decoding the “Social Network” of Pigs

The modern pig is not the animal your grandparents raised. Today’s pigs are raised in large, indoor pens, meaning selection traits must evolve alongside the environment. While profitability remains a driver, Hamilton says welfare and behavior are becoming equally critical.

“When I was in graduate school, we used to sit pen-side and manually record pig behavior on a tablet,” he recalls. “We could never get large enough data sets to really move the needle. Today, with AI, we can obtain behavior recordings on thousands of pigs simultaneously.”

By measuring “normal” behaviors—time spent eating, lying, sitting, or drinking—PIC is identifying highly heritable traits that can be improved through selection. This has led to the study of “social networking” within the pen.

“Pigs develop behaviors for a reason,” Hamilton says. “Understanding how they live together—which ones are dominant, which are subordinate, and what ‘cliques’ they form—creates opportunities. We want higher-performing, more profitable pigs, but we also want pigs with behaviors that are better for their pen-mates and their caregivers.”

Precision at the Feeder

Beyond health alerts and activity monitoring, Hamilton sees a future where cameras count pigs and predict weights with near-perfect accuracy, ensuring pigs go to market at the optimal size according to their growth curve.

He is particularly excited about the potential for AI to improve sow livability through automated body condition scoring.

“If you can take caliper or body condition readings and have them ‘talk’ to an automatic feeding system, you manage daily intake based on the sow’s specific condition and weight,” Hamilton says. “That brings us to a level of precision we’ve never seen on the farm.”

The Challenge of the System

Despite the high-tech tools, Hamilton reminds producers that they are still managing biological beings within a complex production system. Challenges like health breaks and “flow constraints” remain the industry’s biggest hurdles.

“Producers often have to put X number of pigs into X number of spaces. If they have a few extra pigs, they still go into that same space,” he says. “What is profitable in the short term may not allow for maximum genetic performance.”

Hamilton also applies his “curious mind” philosophy to the ongoing debate over pork quality. He suggests the industry needs to stop looking only at the loin and start looking at the consumer.

“We have great tools to improve pH, color, and marbling in the loin, but the loin is only one part of the carcass,” he says. “If we improve loin quality at the expense of ham quality, are we really winning? We need to understand why the U.S. consumer isn’t paying for higher quality before we can truly decide how fast to move. The technology is here, but the questions, and the curiosity, must come first.”

You can listen to more of Hamilton’s personal story of resilience on “The PORK Podcast” on YouTube or follow The PORK Podcast anywhere podcasts are found.

Exclusive: In the Eye of the Cycle, John Deere Charts a Path Through Ag’s Slump

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 21:25:37 GMT

After months of workforce reductions and sliding equipment sales, John Deere is reversing course, announcing it will bring 140 employees back to its Waterloo, Iowa, operations as demand ticks higher for its 8R and 9R tractors.

The recall comes even as Deere forecasts the North American ag equipment market will decline another 15% to 20% in 2026, underscoring the push-and-pull shaping today’s farm economy. Large equipment sales remain under pressure from lower commodity prices and tighter margins, yet pockets of global demand are forcing Deere to recalibrate production in real time.

In an exclusive interview with Farm Journal this week, Deere & Company President Deanna Kovar laid out how the company is navigating that tension: tightening its long-standing build-for-retail manufacturing model, adjusting output month to month and working to protect farmers’ equipment equity during a downturn.

At the same time, Deere is attacking costs where it can, reducing prices on 187,000 parts over the past two years and preparing to roll out a new lower-priced tier of replacement parts later this summer. The company is also testing a tractor powered by E-98 ethanol, technology that could eventually eliminate the need for Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) altogether while driving even more demand for the crops farmers already grow.

For Kovar, who grew up on a Wisconsin dairy farm before spending 26 years rising through Deere’s ranks, the stakes are personal. Now, just months into her role leading Deere’s Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division, she is steering the company through one of the sharpest equipment pullbacks in recent memory, while positioning it for what comes next.

A Cyclical Business in a Prolonged Downturn

The ag equipment cycle has clearly turned. Industry data show steep drops in large equipment sales, and Deere’s internal outlook aligns with the broader trend.

“Deere is 188 years old, so we know we’re part of a cyclical business of ag equipment, but definitely we’re seeing similar numbers. Our expectations that we shared in our last quarterly earnings was that the North American equipment market would be down 15% to 20% again in 2026. We recognize the ag economy is in a tough spot at the moment, and we’re working hard to make sure we can help farmers become more productive and more profitable through using our equipment and technology solutions, but it’s tough out there.”

She says the Association of Equipment Manufacturers figures for 2025, which show sales of 4WD tractors fell nearly 42% and combine sales are down 36%, align with what Deere is seeing.

The significant slump in sales doesn’t come as a surprise to row crop farmers who’ve seen several consecutive years of declining net farm income following a record high in 2022. USDA’s first official forecast for 2026 suggests continued pressure and another year of declining net farm income, with not much relief on input prices and stagnant commodity prices. Kovar says Deere understands the financial strains producers are seeing.

“Overall, the outlook for 2026 is that farmers are going to continue to be under pressure from a commodity price standpoint,” she says. “We’re certainly seeing input costs somewhat flatten for producers, and, of course, many producers are grateful for the government payments that will help them start 2026 maybe in a better place than they would have without it. Certainly great yields last fall were a good positive thing for producers, but it’s still putting a lot of pressure on commodity prices today.”

For Deere, that pressure translates directly into lower equipment demand and tough decisions inside its factories.

Manufacturing Adjustments: Building for Retail in Real Time

Over the past year, Deere announced workforce reductions across multiple Midwestern facilities. Since 2024, it’s reported John Deere laid off over 2,000 employees in the U.S., with those jobs primarily located in Iowa and Illinois. Recently, it reversed course in a couple locations, announcing it would bring some of those employees back.

Back in January, Deere also announced it was returning 99 workers to the job in Iowa, impacting both its Davenport Works and Dubuque facilities. But Deere said this week it’s also bringing back jobs at its Waterloo facility.

“We’re constantly evaluating what we think the market will be. And it’s not an annual thing. It’s a month to month, a quarter-to-quarter opportunity. And yes, we just announced 140 workers to come back to our Waterloo operations. This is the operations where we make the drive trains for 8R tractors, where we pour the castings for the new high horsepower 9R tractors, where engines are made, and where we put tractors final assembly together. So we’re always happy when we can bring workers back into our factory. And it’s because we’re starting to see a little tick up in demand for those tractors,” she says.

Kovar says it’s not necessarily just a North American phenomenon. The uptick in demand is coming globally.

“We are seeing some signs that there could be some opportunities, but much of this is going to be iterative over time. It won’t be from a very low point to a very high point. We expect over time that we can start to see things normal,” she adds.

Kovar emphasizes Deere’s long-standing “build-for-retail” philosophy, avoiding overproduction that would flood dealer lots and depress used values.

“We’ve been in business for 188 years, so we’re always making sure that we’re being as efficient and effective as we can at building the quality products that farmers come to rely on. So we’re all always adjusting how we manufacture, how we make sure we have the quality checks and the automation to make sure we’re making every tractor as good as we can,” says Kovar.

She says the company is also working to forecast demand expectations and where that additional demand could surface. But she says for the past 25 years, the company has been focused on a build-to-order mentality, especially in the larger ag equipment space.

“We are a build for retail mentality,” says Kovar. “We don’t want to build it unless somebody wants it. So this has been something we’ve been working on for 20 years, and we will continue to be focused on really understanding the demand in the market and making sure we’re setting up schedules and plans to build for that amount.”

Equipment Prices: It’s About the Trade Differential

Few issues generate more coffee-shop debate than equipment prices. Farmers have seen machinery values dramatically climb over the past five years. Kovar points out that looking at sticker price alone misses the bigger financial picture.

“We’re always looking at making sure we’re delivering value for farmers when they buy our equipment, when they buy our technology,” Kovar says. “When we think about the price of equipment it’s really important we understand that farmers, when they buy a new piece of equipment, it’s really about the trade differential from the product they’re trading in to the one they’re buying, and if we were to lower the price of equipment, it would lower the trade-in value of their used equipment as well. We’re always very mindful of the equity farmers have in their equipment fleet and the fact it’s a huge part of their balance sheet.”

Not only does Deere need to be careful that changes don’t impact the trade differential, but she says the company is also focused on making sure there’s a balance between products being affordable and creating the value farmers expect.

That balance, of affordability versus protecting used values, according to Kovar, shapes Deere’s pricing philosophy in a down cycle.

Lowering the Cost of Technology and Parts

While base machine pricing remains complex, Deere is targeting affordability in other ways. The first, she says, is on the technology side, and lowering the upfront cost.

“We’re lowering the barrier to entry to amazing technologies like ExactShot fertilizer systems, See & Spray sprayer systems and a combine automation system so that more farmers can afford to get into the technology. These technologies are saving inputs, ensuring we’re getting all of the grain out of the field and increasing yields. That strategy to lower the upfront cost of those technologies, and help the customer pay for it as they get the value from it, is a huge step forward in allowing affordability of the technology.”

On repairs and parts, she points to self-service tools and direct price reductions. She says the company is constantly looking at the cost of parts for their equipment.

“Over the last two years, we’ve reduced the price on over 187,000 part numbers in the John Deere system. Later this summer, we’re going to be announcing a new tier of parts from John Deare that will allow us to give customers choice when they buy parts from us as to whether they want the traditional OEM, that likely has a longer life, or if they want to look at a lower cost option,” Kovar says.

Deciding between the two parts tiers depends on:

How much a farmer uses the machine
Equipment age
How long a farmer intends to keep that piece of equipment

Retrofit Kits: Precision Without the New Iron Price Tag

As new equipment sales slow and more farmers turn to the used market, Deere sees retrofit technology as a critical bridge, allowing producers to upgrade performance without taking on the cost of a brand-new machine.

Kovar says retrofit kits are designed to separate technology adoption from iron replacement.

“I think the beauty of retrofit kits is you don’t have to buy a brand new piece of equipment to get brand new technologies. Just last year we launched what we call our precision ag essentials kit, which is the foundation of our technology stack. It’s where farmers start to go from no precision to a more precision mentality, and this ability allows them to put a John Deere GPS receiver, a display and a modem on any piece of equipment, Deere or non Deere,” Kovar says.

The strategy fits squarely into Deere’s broader push to lower the barrier to entry for precision ag. By allowing a GPS receiver, display and modem to be installed on any brand of older equipment, the company is effectively expanding the addressable market for advanced automation and data tools.

“We’re seeing people put these kits on 20-year-old tractors and then being able to do things like AutoTrac, AutoPath and turn automation, section control, the things that can save 10% of inputs and make sure your stand is better in the spring and your weeds are deader during the season,” Kovar says. “This is a huge opportunity for every farmer to get more into precision. Once you get into that base of the technology stack, the sky’s the limit to be able to go to other products like ExactEmerge or See and Spray — these technologies that really drive savings to the bottom line for farmers.”

In a downturn defined by lower commodity prices and cautious equipment purchases, Deere is betting the future of precision ag won’t be limited to the newest machines on the lot, but will increasingly ride on tractors that have already been in the field for decades.

Right to Repair, EPA and DEF: Seeking Clarity

Right-to-repair and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) rules have been flash points between manufacturers and producers with two major announcements from EPA.

In early February 2026, EPA made a right-to-repair guidance announcement guidance and actions supporting the right to repair for farmers and equipment owners, specifically addressing issues with Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) systems and emission controls. The guidance clarifies the Clean Air Act allows for temporary overrides of emission systems during repairs, prohibits manufacturers from restricting access to tools or software, and enables repairs in the field.

The following day, EPA announced the agency is demanding detailed failure data from major diesel engine manufacturers as it considers additional rules aimed at reducing DEF-related shutdowns and derates that have plagued farmers, truckers and equipment operators for years.

“I think if you step back and think about what EPA’s done over about the last nine months, there’s been two important messages. One was last summer when they gave voluntary guidance that said we should extend the time from when a customer might have an issue with their DEF systems and not cause them to go into an inducement or a derate within two hours, which was the original rule. We’re very glad EPA has come out and said we can extend that time to give farmers more time to maybe finish the field, finish the day before they have to execute a derate or go through a regen on their DEF,” Kovar says.

She calls it a huge opportunity for Deere and one to which the company is already responding.

“We’re in the process of making sure we can extent that time on all the equipment we’re producing. We’ll do that over the coming months and years to help make sure we’re extending that time and not putting people in jeopardy of having a shutdown opportunity,” Kovar says.

On off-road right-to-repair clarity, Kovar says EPA’s right-to-repair guidance announced in February directly responds to a formal request the company made to the agency in June 2025 .

“[EPS] had already shared that on-road equipment didn’t have to go to the original equipment manufacturer or an authorized repair shop to turn your tractor or your truck back on after you had a deratement issue. We said, ‘Hey, we have tools that a farmer can do this on their own, but the way we read your rules, we believe we need you to tell us it’s OK.’ We’re grateful that last week EPA came out and said, yes, it is OK for off-road equipment for farmers to fix their own issues. We’re in the process of making sure John Deere Operations Center ProService, which is our self-repair tool any farmer can access, by early March, mid-March, we want to have the ability for a farmer to, if they run into a deratement issue on their tractor or combine or whatever, use Operation Center Pro Service to get their tractors back up.”

If DEF Goes Away, It’s Not a Quick Switch

With political discussions swirling around eliminating certain environmental regulations, and President Trump specifically stating he wants to see those regulations removed on equipment , some farmers wonder whether equipment could quickly be built without DEF systems.

When Trump was in a roundtable with farmers in December, he claimed removing those requirements on equipment would prevent breakdowns and make equipment cheaper. During the one-on-one interview with Kovar, Farm Journal asked if removing DEF on equipment would bring down prices.

“We have to really understand what they mean and how they want to go about it before we can really answer, does it make equipment cheaper? I think we’ve spent 15 years perfecting the system we have today, so we’ll have to continue to understand how far back do we think we’re going to go, how long would it take us, because we don’t have all of the technologies that don’t have DEF today,” Kovar explains. “If it were called tomorrow, we couldn’t start building tractors without it the next day.”

Removing DEF is not as simple as flipping a switch on the assembly line. Instead, she says Deere is focused on making sure farmers have the ability to repair their own equipment if it would go into derate. She thinks that’s a huge step forward in solving some of the issues that farmers have had with DEF.

Deere Tests an E-98 Ethanol Tractor

Even as debate continues in Washington over DEF requirements, Deere is exploring a future that could bypass the issue entirely.

While the company says it remains engaged with EPA on next steps surrounding DEF and emissions policy, Deere is also investing in an alternative fuel platform, an ethanol-powered tractor designed to run on E-98. The tractor will debut at Commodity Classic in two weeks.

“We’re not just thinking also about diesel, right, we also considering how might we fix this problem another way. And that’s an ethanol tractor we’ve been using across Iowa and other places. It’s early for us, but the idea that we could use E-98 to run a tractor, it’s so clean you don’t need diesel exhaust fluid to run it. We’re early in trying to pioneer what is an alternative to diesel that would allow a farmer to grow the fuel they put in their tractor to grow next year’s crop. It’s something we think we need to continue to talk about. There is a ton of infrastructure that would need to follow to allow an E-98-type fuel to flow and be on farm, but we think it’s an opportunity in the long run to help agriculture grow the fuel they use to grow the food we all eat.”

Deere confirms the early results are promising.

According to Deere, the limiting factor isn’t the engine technology itself, it’s the infrastructure needed to support it.

“Do we have the fuels available? Do we have the on-farm ability? Are the fuel companies ready to deliver it to the farm? At this point, there is a much bigger system challenge that will have to work,” Kovar says.

Advocating for Demand: Ethanol, Exports and E-15

Turning the ag economy around, in Kovar’s view, is about demand, both domestic and global. Not only is Deere working on equipment that could run with higher blends of ethanol, but Deere is also advocating for more demand.

“Certainly, we’re focused on helping farmers grow more with less. At the same time, we’re focused on helping to make sure there are markets for the crops our producers sell. We certainly spend a lot of time advocating for agriculture and for producers to have access to markets. We’re grateful for all of the trade deals that have happened here recently. We’re hopeful they start to materialize, and we see more and more grains flowing outside of the U.S. in exports. We also know we’ve got a huge opportunity here in the U.S. to drive ethanol and renewable fuels,” Kovar says. “We’re focused on making sure we’re using our voice at Deere to advocate for agriculture to not only feed the world, but fuel it. It starts with E-15, which we are hopeful we can get across the finish line at some point very soon. But it can’t end there. We have to continue to advocate for renewable diesels and an ethanol future, so we have to make sure farmers can sell their grains at a price that’s profitable, and it’s all about creating demand.”

The Next Five Years: From Data Collection to Real-Time Decisions

For Deere, which sees itself as a technology company, Kovar says she also sees Deere as a smart industrial company. With a focus on technology, she thinks the future isn’t about a single breakthrough machine, but rather about what happens behind the scenes in the data.

When asked what the biggest shift will be over the next five years, Kovar points to the evolution of information rooted in data.

“I think if you look back over those 25 years of technology, data has been such an important part of it. It started with yield maps, yield monitoring and binders on a shelf and has evolved over time to a cloud-based system. Everything’s connected. With Deere, it’s about John Deere Operation Center and how farmers can leverage that data, share it with partners, with their seed dealer, with their ag retailer, with the banker and with their landlords and have this really cohesive opportunity to bring all of the data they have in agriculture into one place,” Kovar says.

Personally, she sees the next step involving Deere helping farmers move beyond timely insights to timely decision-making.

“How do we help [farmers] get insights, timely information, that helps them make the best decision they can make in that moment on their unique piece of land in the middle of wherever they are farming and really give them confidence the data can help them drive to even better decisions,” she adds. “If we’re going to help them be more productive and be more profitable, it really starts with all the decisions they make. I think this next three to five years is a huge opportunity for us to make sure we are connecting all of their data in one place and helping them make really important decisions in real time that help them become more.”

Instead of one sweeping, industry-altering change, Kovar sees steady gains driven by machine learning, automation and in-the-moment decision-making, sometimes by the operator and sometimes by the equipment itself.

“I think that’s a huge part of the next three to five years, and those decisions happen because they’ve consciously made them or the machines are making them. If you think about See and Spray, it is deciding whether that’s a weed or a plant and only spraying the weed to save 50% to 60% of the herbicides,” Kovar says. “Those kind of in-the-moment decisions are a huge opportunity over the next 3 to 5 years as computer vision and machine learning compute and all of these things continue to accelerate at a pace that is very hard to keep up with.”

For Deere, the future isn’t just bigger iron or even more automation, it’s about connecting every data point on the farm and turning it into actionable insight, fast enough to matter in the field.

Watch the full interview here:

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

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.

3 Ways To Protect Your Ag Business from Cybersecurity Threats

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 14:58:00 GMT

Agriculture is in the bull’s-eye for threat actors trying to access business information. But as Chris Sherman says: “Our keys in the visor mentality” has many farmers trusting too much and putting too much at risk.

Sherman is the founder of Tech Support Farm, an IT and cybersecurity consulting business who works with farmers, co-ops, custom harvesters and more ag businesses to shore up their systems, lock down their sensitive information and stay attuned to emerging risks.

The FBI has listed agriculture as a critical infrastructure for cybersecurity.

So where do most farmers leave themselves vulnerable to hackers? Sherman shares these:

1. Email

Sherman points to email as the No. 1 priority for farmers on where to start in taking cybersecurity seriously.

“The amount of information and data we are sending via email leaves every farmer at risk — from our FSA staff, agronomists, banks and more,” he says. “Emails can be intercepted, all contents can be exposed, and no one is the wiser. It would be like a rural mail carrier, and when he drops the mail someone stands there opening it, reading it and closing the envelope and putting it back in the mailbox. Foolhardy to be using the free email services such as Gmail, Yahoo and others.”

Here are four steps to shore up your email:

Get a domain
Get a commercial email provider
Get a filtration software (which monitors what comes in)
Get a DMARC compliance service (which manages outbound emails, so no one spoofs you and encryption is done properly)

As an example of why this should be prioritized, Sherman tells the story of a farm business working on a land deal.

“A dad and son were just about ready to sign, and the dad got an email from the bank, at least it appeared to be from the bank, but it was a spoof encouraging them to e-sign,” he says. “And everyone signed, and it drained the bank accounts and blew up the deal.”

2. Be aware of your personal information shared, and embrace “herd immunity”

All to often, farmers don’t have passcodes on their phones.

“That’s like leaving your credit card at the bar,” Sherman says. “For some reason in agriculture we are running multimillion dollar businesses on residential-grade infrastructure.”

He says by the nature of the business, enrolling in government programs, immigration workforce programs (such as H-2A) and more, make your address, phone number and email readily accessible.

“It’s a wealth of opportunity for threat actors. We can’t leave our doors and windows open,” Sherman says. “So you have to protect yourself, and encourage your friends, neighbors and business partners to do the same. If we are all reducing our individual risk, we are reducing the overall risk.”

3. Use high-quality passwords

Sherman says good passwords are must-have on all your accounts, including your Wi-Fi.

“Too often, farmers have their password just be a duplicate of the network name. Or if a farmer’s favorite tractor is a John Deere 4450, 4450 is his pin for everything,” he says. “When we are on the internet, it’s like being in the big city, and you have to act accordingly.”

Sensors on the Farm: Reliable Data Helps Producers Make Better Decisions

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 17:11:24 GMT

While the world was in lockdown in 2020, Jim Ryken started developing BarnTalk with BarnTools co-founder Michael Hansen. Growing up in the swine industry, they understood the shortcomings of traditional alarm systems that were created to protect barns and the livestock and poultry in them. Not only were these systems built in the 1990s outdated, but they were lacking reliability and remote visibility.

Ryken went to work during the COVID pandemic while he was home with his 13-year-old son and 70-year-old dad at the time to build a modern alarm system for livestock barns.

“My dad didn’t have a smartphone then,” Ryken says. “I knew if I could explain BarnTalk in a way that both my dad and son could understand, then I should be able to go talk to anybody in the industry and not make them be afraid of this technology.”

BarnTalk is a wireless alarm system that runs off an app on a cell phone, Ryken explains. He spent a lot of time thinking about how to make a system that is easy for farmers who don’t have a lot of time to use.

“I kept looking at consumer-grade User Interface (UI),” he says. “I kept thinking there had to be a way to feed those systems into animal agriculture to help with technology adoption. It is complicated, but it doesn’t have to look that way.”

(BarnTools)

Ryken says BarnTalk was developed to help improve operational efficiency and give growers a practical tool for monitoring what’s going on in their barns, especially when they’re not there.

“We didn’t have wireless communication when the first alarm systems were built,” he says. “We wanted to create a wireless system to do everything producers need from an alarming perspective, but also provide real-time insight like is it too hot in my barn? Are my pigs getting enough water?”

Reliable Return on Investment

In short, this technology can provide peace of mind to growers who no longer live right next to the barn, Ryken explains. But first, they had to solve the problem of connectivity on the farm.

“A lot of our early work was finding the right gateway that connects to all the cell towers and provides a connection to the internet from these rural areas that was never there before,” he says. “Once we solved that problem, we focused on building an app and getting wireless sensors in the barn that were easy to install.”

BarnTalk uses a DIY approach, Ryken explains. By creating something that is easy to install and has a ‘pretty low cost of entry,’ they wanted to provide tools that are not intimidating from a technical perspective or that will break their pocketbook.

That’s one of the reasons why Greg Wulf, director of production at Murphy Family Ventures LLC in southeast North Carolina, invested in this technology.

“We appreciate the simplicity, reliability and excellent customer service,” Wulf says.

For Wulf, the return on investment is what he appreciates most about making this purchase.

“In our situation, we did not have alarms to notify us of problems with power, environment or water,” Wulf says. “Barn Tools helps us avoid losses caused by equipment malfunction or operator error by notifying us of problems. Our ROI comes due to loss avoidance.”

As BarnTalk caught on with growers, BarnTools made a strategic pivot away from the challenges of steel manufacturing for hog gates in 2020 and focused their attention on providing technology for the grower.

(Barn Tools)

Strategic Sensors

BarnTools recently launched a second-generation feed bin sensor, BinTalk Pro that gives farmers insight into how much feed is in the bin. The sensor takes a reading every 15 minutes to help producers quickly detect any potential concerns.

“With this tool, farmers can start problem solving sooner,” Ryken says. “Is the bin out of feed? Did the feed stop flowing? Am I seeing a rapid depletion of feed? Is the feed just disappearing and it shouldn’t be? The sooner farmers can know about these problems, the better they can react.”

Several bin sensors are in each bin and every sensor in the bin is connected through a cellular connection, Ryken explains.

“Instead of putting a SIM card in every bin, we use one SIM in the gateway,” he says. “It connects to the cloud and creates a wireless network on the farm, so all bin sensors report through it.”

He says this is how BinTalk Pro can take a reading every 15 minutes because it doesn’t need to ‘ring up the cell connection’ and send data all the time.

“We recognize the real-time advantage of knowing what’s going on,” Ryken says. “Most feed bin sensors take a reading once a day, or once every four hours. By taking a reading every 15 minutes, we can limit the time an ‘event’ affects your animals. We take what the sensor sees and turn that into smart alarms that we can send to the growers.”

But pork producers aren’t the only ones who can benefit. The integrator and feed mill benefit, too. Sensors can optimize feed deliveries, which cuts down on waste and fuel emissions.

“As a turn comes to an end, we can make sure we don’t overdeliver feed before animals are sent off to market and create a reclaim event,” Ryken says. “Bin Talk Pro is a tool that can be used by growers, but it can be used up the supply chain to improve all the things affecting the most expensive part of raising animals -- the feed.”

(National Pork Board and the Pork Checkoff)

Water Watch

In the summer of 2022, Mike DeCap, vice president of crop and swine production at Grandview Farms Inc. in east central Iowa, says their farm became one of the first full-service adapters of BarnTalk.

“Getting updates every 15 minutes versus every four hours is the difference between seeing problems and solving them,” he says.

Grandview Farms strives to be on the forefront of technology to pick up efficiencies to raise a pound of pork and to protect their investments, DeCap explains.

“Once we met with BarnTools and learned that all employees could see into the finishers to visualize feed, temp, water and power, the decision was simple,” DeCap says.

Water meter sensors provide data to farmers every 15 minutes, too, Ryken says.

“It’s critical that your animals have the right amount of water and don’t run out,” he says. “If you have a water leak, you need to know about that fast or it could fill up your pit. Smart sensors notify you when leaks happen, so you don’t have to wait to find out when you get back to the farm the next morning.”

From a water perspective, Ryken is excited how sensors can help provide insights into pig health. BarnTools recently did some work with Brett Ramirez at Iowa State University. They watched a group of pigs get sick and how water consumption dropped off by about 25%. Within 48 hours, the caretaker had coughing pigs with scours, and the next day, some mortality.

“If you go back and look at the water data, two days before these clinical signs, we could have predicted this would happen,” Ryken says. “Water is such a powerful thing to monitor. I think it has the opportunity to change the way we medicate our animals whether that’s helping us medicate them earlier or treat them with something other than antibiotics to keep them from getting sick.”

He’s excited to see how data insight can continue to help the industry improve.

“We’re always listening to our customers about what data and sensors they need next,” Ryken says. “Sensors help us unlock potential in the industry that hasn’t been available before. There’s so much we can do with the data if we can get it off the farm. That’s really what we’re doing – helping get that data off the farm to ultimately help producers make better decisions.”

Revolutionizing Sow Nutrition: Precision Feeding During Lactation

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:30:28 GMT

Does precision feeding sows during lactation pencil out? Mike Tokach, University Distinguished Professor and Extension specialist at Kansas State University, says that’s an important question for producers to consider when it comes to feeding sows.

“Getting nutrients into the sow to support milk production and reduce body weight loss during lactation is critical,” Tokach says. “However we can get nutrients in front of that sow and into the sow is critically important.”

Although some sows will eat more than they need during lactation, Tokach says that’s the minority today. For most producers, their focus is making sure they have fresh feed in front of the sows so they can eat whenever they want to maximize consumption.

“We don’t want to forget about the basics and making sure that we have the nutrients in front of the sow so that she can meet her requirements,” he says.

When it comes to precision feeding a sow, Tokach says it’s important to know how much the sow is eating, her level of milk production, how many pigs she is nursing, and approximately what the litter gained compared to previous groups on the farm.

Sow nursing

(National Pork Board and the Pork Checkoff)

“This allows the producer to know how much milk she’s producing per day based on her litter size, and that tells us the amino acids she needs,” he says. “And then, based on her level of feed intake, we can adjust what diet we need to get the right percentage lysine or the right percentage of each of the amino acids in the diet to be able to blend those together to meet her requirements.”

Precision Feeding Results
K-State has been studying the use of precision feeding during lactation for years. Mikayla Spinler, a graduate research assistant at K-State, has recently led two studies at the K-State Research Farm and a large field study at Brenneman Pork. Both the sites had Gestal feeding systems that allowed Spinler to conduct studies comparing various diets.

(Gestal Jyga Technologies)

In the first trial, Spinler used three different models. The first model included a single diet fed all the way through, like most farms feed today. The second model was based on exactly what the NRC says sows need. The third model fed the sows exactly like the European model, INRA, says sows need fed.

“Long story short, both the NRC model and INRA model underfed lysine to the sows by about 20%,” Tokach explains.

In the second study, Spinler used the NRC model and increased its target by 20%. With that approach, the sows had the same performance whether they had one single diet or the NRC model + 20% tailored to their individual needs.

In the third trial at Brenneman Pork, Spinler wanted to find out if she could achieve the same results with a large number of sows on a commercial swine farm. Tokach says she found the same thing as her second study.

“If you knew the number of piglets the sow was nursing and could target your amino acids to the litter size according to their previous feed intakes, we could achieve the same level of performance as sows that were fed one single diet,” he says. “However, this approach reduced the feed cost of the sow and reduced nutrient excretion.”

In short, they realized they could achieve the same performance with fewer nutrients because they were targeting exactly what the sow needs on a daily basis.

“Precision feeding allows you to reduce the feed cost and reduce nitrogen and phosphorus excretion because we’re not overfeeding the diet to the sows that don’t need it,” he says.

(Gestal Jyga Technologies)

Targeted Nutrition
In the trial that Spinler completed, the sows fed the individual diet that met the needs of all the sows, consumed about 80 grams of lysine per day. The precision fed sows consumed just over 60 grams of lysine per day.

“When you think about that difference and the fact that they had the same performance, the difference is basically wastage of nutrients,” he says. “That reduction in cost is one of the big advantages. For many producers, nitrogen excretion and phosphorus excretion are not as critical as it is for some of the European producers where nitrogen and phosphorus excretion limits the number of sows they can have on the land.”

He also notes that precision feeding allows producers to factor in the effect of parity. First parity sows eat about 20% less feed than an older parity sow. Although first parity sows produce a little less milk, he points out that it’s not that much less. Because of this, they need a higher nutrient-dense diet in most situations than an older parity sow for milk production.

“A first parity sow is still depositing a lot of protein,” Tokach says. “She’s still growing towards her mature body size and needs more amino acids for that protein deposition that she’s doing while she’s producing milk.”

Is It Worth the Cost?
The industry has experienced quite an evolution in how sows are fed, Tokach points out.

“Most of us grew up feeding sows by hand and we still have some farms that do that today,” he says. “Then we evolved into more simplified ways of automating sow feeding. A lot of farms still have those very simple methods today. Then it moved to systems where the sow could call for her own feed. Precision feeding now uses a computerized system that will provide a targeted amount of total feed that sows can be fed at any one time.”

Gilts in group housing by Gestal Jyga Technologies

(Gestal/Jyga Technologies)

Some of these electronic feeding systems can blend two diets together. As the sow progresses through lactation, these systems allow producers to use more of one diet and less of the other to match the curve to meet those amino acid requirements as they change each day during lactation. Tokach says these systems can be very complex and sophisticated, or very simple in terms of the curve set up for the sows.

Ultimately, producers evaluating new construction or planning renovations to lactation rooms should determine the new technology cost and the return-on-investment timeframe, he advises.

“Your savings on the feed cost has to pay for the equipment to be able to do this,” Tokach adds.

On-farm employees must be trained and develop needed skills of utilizing the lactation feeding technology equipment to fully capture the benefits of more accurate feeding of all females in the herd.

“We’re on the front side of the technology, even the companies that have equipment to allow you to blend diets today will tell you that they are working on simplifying the process,” he says. “Work with the equipment manufacturer to make sure they have a process that’s going to work for you on your operation in terms of being simple enough to operate it and adjust the diets. Right now, it takes nutritionist involvement to make those adjustments.”

In the future, he envisions a built-in system, where somebody will provide a curve that goes into that piece of equipment, and then producers will adjust it based on the litter size and the parity of the sow.

“We do have people using computerized equipment to limit the amount of feed that a sow can eat in any period in the day to try to reduce wastage,” Tokach says. “But when we talk about blending different diets through precision feeding, we need to continue to have advancements to make that work work on a daily basis at the farm level.”

What to Do With All That Data? We’re Finding the Answers

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 17:25:38 GMT

Early adopters of precision farming in the internet age have been amassing and recording data for a quarter-century or so. For a good while, these datasets seemed like the Beanie Babies of agriculture: Collectors weren’t exactly sure what so many numbers would be worth in the end, but they bet on value increasing over time.

While the market value of those little plush toys didn’t hold up, the mountains of data are poised to pay off, thanks to machine learning and artificial intelligence (the “other A.I.” in swine spaces) — and trained data scientists. One such professional, Caleb Grohmann, works with me in Carthage Veterinary Service’s (CVS) Data Analytics Division.

Having grown up on a swine farm, Grohmann has said he wants to help producers of all sizes maximize profitability by digging into the information they’re recording. We can do this by looking at a producer’s supply chain and figuring out ways to try to take advantage of opportunities to optimize the relevant parts of it for them using the data they routinely collect. This is where data analytics differs from data collection. Our overarching goal is to turn data into information, and information into knowledge.

Data capabilities are always followed by questions of security, and rightfully so. Our team and tools follow strict standards to keep client data safe when shared between companies. When sharing data, it’s vital to know: is there access to your internal systems, who can view it, how much visibility they have, who controls permissions, what layers of protection are in place, and whether access and actions are tracked.

A Model Case Study
To give one example, using advanced machine learning methods, Grohmann has designed a model that projects the optimum date to ship finished hogs to packers for the best possible profit. This approach considers several data streams, including historical feed delivery and mortality patterns and site-specific weather conditions and their complex relationships with pig growth. Taken concurrently with real-time grain and lean hog pricing data, producers can use fully automated insights to make informed decisions regarding when and where to schedule loads to the packer.

Not only has this model been incredibly accurate to within an average of 2 to 3 days based on target load weight for our clients, it has shown that in the real world, had the client been able to sell loads on the predicted dates, doing so would have added anywhere from 30 cents to $3 more in net income per pig. It is, of course, not always possible for a real producer to ship or deliver on a specific date, but if they can, maximum added value could be realized.

“What makes these machine-learning models progressive compared to traditional approaches is that they are entirely data-driven, reducing the need to rely solely on assumptions or past practices,” Grohmann noted. “Producers have historically made sound decisions based on their experience, such as pulling the first load of pigs at 140 days on feed. However, data now allows us to see that individual herd cycles can differ, and adjusting to those differences can create additional value.”

Why the model works is because the A.I. program we are training can efficiently sort, learn and derive relationships from hundreds of different data sources that all work together to influence an outcome. It’s not enough, for example, to look at broad effects of season on growth rates or when you sold first cuts in the past — other factors and their interactions, such as actual temperature and humidity or long and short term feed delivery patterns, have proven to be stronger predictors of pig growth as well.

Producers have always had to rely on their experience and knowledge to find these complex information relationships, while additionally trying to synthesize their on-farm data with market prices, the political landscape and much more to make decisions. The fact is that no matter how proficient one person is with numbers, machine learning can parse all this information faster than any human with a spreadsheet will ever be able to.

“There’s no way we were able to do any of this stuff that we’re talking about when I was a kid,” Grohmann pointed out. “Being able to do this for producers is kind of my dream.”

Use What You’ve Got
It is possible for models to analyze years of information — such as herd-specific diets and rations, medications, protocols and more — to create useful predictive outcomes for an operation. We are also learning that we can pull historical data from a certain defined time period and, using advanced statistical techniques, begin deriving root causes of some on-farm issues to better propose future solutions. The more we do this, the more our producers can take prescriptive action, and we can directly quantify the outcomes of this action. In this way, the results of our analysis become even more refined, which translates into better solutions for producers in the long run.

Going back to Grohmann’s model’s impressive results with respect to projected income gains based on optimum marketing dates, it’s worth noting that it was able to achieve such accuracy using on-farm data already at our fingertips. So far, there has been no additional requirement for feed bin or other sensors to yield a workable solution.

This is not to say sensors don’t have their uses, nor that our models won’t be improved by incorporating such data in the future. But if you’re a producer who doesn’t use or isn’t ready to invest in additional sensors in barns, you will surely appreciate that you can still benefit from data analytics without that added expense.

And, it’s exciting for us to prove every day that there’s still plenty of untapped potential in the years of data already collected!

Why Livestock Operations Are Ditching Spreadsheets for BinSentry’s Smart Bin Technology

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 18:32:10 GMT

Animal feed travels a very long and winding supply chain, and up to 70% of the total cost of raising commercial animals is directly tied to the simple task of feeding the herd.

In a world where there are literally cameras and sensors everywhere that are able to measure everything, and artificial intelligence running in the background to make those cameras and sensors “smart,” it just doesn’t make sense to keep animal feed inventories on paper or Excel spreadsheets anymore.

Ben Allen, CEO, BinSentry

(BinSentry)

That’s what BinSentry CEO Ben Allen, who grew up in farming on his families’ Iowa farm outside Ames says, adding: “Too many people are still taking feed inventories the way my grandfather used too.”

His company has been on the animal ag scene for seven years and has grown over 100% annually for each of the past three years, he claims, as large commercial feedlots and multinational processors like Cargill add the companies’ bin monitoring technology to automate the logistics of refilling feed bins. Allen says BinSentry’s tech is capturing imagery 24/7/365 on more than 40,000 feed lots across the U.S. and Canada.

BinSentry recently secured a $50 million Series C investment round, led by the No. 1 growth equity fund in the U.S., Lead Edge Capital. Allen says his company will use the funds to, among other projects, expand its technology and operational reach further into South America and Brazil, where BinSentry has an exclusive distribution agreement with Cargill.

“We install a camera sensor at the top of the bin, it’s solar powered and has cellular connectivity and only takes 15 minutes to install, and we can start getting high accuracy inventory reports throughout the day,” Allen says. “That data goes directly into our software where we do a lot more than just inventory.”

Allen says the company uses the real-time bin monitoring data to run analytics mainly to inform the logistics side of the feed operation, and it can also send preventative maintenance alerts if it sees something happening inside the bin that could potentially be a problem. While not as inherently dangerous as climbing into large grain storage bins in the row crop world, manual monitoring is a laborious and risky task that would be better left to technology components if possible.

A BinSentry sensor on a poultry feed storage structure.

(BinSentry)

“We have been working with AI since the founding of the company, and we use it in a very tactical and operational way,” he explains. “Our consumption forecasts are always updating with our AI algorithms; it’s constantly adjusting to conditions like the biological variables of animals and the weather. We can really dial things in and get precise, so you can take better care of your animals, burn less diesel fuel, and then you need less workers.”

Besides Cargill, BinSentry is also working with Wayne Sanderson Farms, The Hanor Company, and Maple Leaf Foods. The company is moving at a breakneck pace, installing between 2,500 and 3,000 new sensors per 30 days, and it has its own service and maintenance teams to keep systems running and the customers happy.

“Our focus is to scale up now — because we’re growing like crazy,” Allen says. “That’s because we solve real, operational problems and we cut costs immediately. Our customer ROI is high and fast; the only way you grow this quickly (in agriculture) is by solving real problems for real people.

“We’re excited about our progress and excited about what we can do in the future, and that excitement centers around being more efficient within the animal feed supply chain, we feel like that’s a good story, because we’re helping create economic and environmental sustainability.”

You can read more about BinSentry’s funding raise here and learn more about the company at BinSentry.com.

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5 Questions to Consider Before You Invest in New Technology

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 13:46:13 GMT

Investing in new technology can be one of the biggest decisions you make on the farm. With so many new tools, systems and innovations hitting the market, it can be tempting to purchase the latest and greatest gadget with the hope that it will be a smart investment. But as enticing as new technology can be, the decision to make a big purchase should never be made on impulse.

Before you go signing on the dotted line, Stephanie Plaster, Extension farm management outreach specialist, and John Shutske, UW-Madison professor and Extension specialist in biological systems engineering, recommend asking yourself five key questions that can help determine whether a new purchase is truly the right fit for your farm.

1. What Issue Are You Hoping To Solve?
“The first question you should ask yourself is, what issue or challenge are you hoping to solve?” Plaster explains. “Understanding what is driving your decision to invest can help you evaluate whether this will be worth both the financial cost and the inevitable discomfort of the adoption transition period.”

While new equipment can make productivity and efficiency easier, technology is rarely plug-and-play. It requires time to learn, integrate and adapt. If you don’t clearly understand the benefits it provides and how those benefits justify the cost, you may end up investing in a solution that doesn’t truly address your needs.

2. What Are Your Skills And Interests?
Your strengths and preferences can make or break a technology investment. Knowing what you and your team are comfortable with can determine how smoothly a system is adopted and used. Technology that aligns with your skills and interests reduces frustration, speeds up integration and increases the likelihood the investment will deliver the results you are expecting.

“This might seem like a silly question when considering autonomous equipment, but it could make or break the success of the technology adoption or change management process,” Plaster says.

If you’re comfortable with software, data analysis and troubleshooting, certain systems might be a perfect fit. If not, you may want to choose technology with strong dealer support.

“Playing to your strengths and minimizing your weaknesses is a solid strategy,” Plaster adds.

3. Do You Have Reliable Internet Access?
Many of today’s technologies require consistent connectivity for updates, monitoring and troubleshooting. Without reliable internet, systems may not run as expected. That’s why verifying your internet connection beforehand is essential so the technology can perform as intended from the start.

“Do you have broadband internet access you consider both accessible and affordable?” Shutske asks. “By formal definition, we’re talking about a speed of at least 25 megabits per second for downloading and three megabits per second for uploading data.”

For farms in rural areas, this may require exploring alternative solutions like fixed wireless, satellite or cellular-based services before implementing connected technologies.

4. Is There Adequate Service Infrastructure?
Even the most advanced equipment will eventually need service, whether it’s routine maintenance, troubleshooting or unexpected repairs. According to Shutske, having access to knowledgeable technicians and reliable support can make all the difference between a smooth operation and days of downtime.

“It’s really important to ask questions of your technology supplier or vendor,” Shutske says. “Our research shows that it’s proving to be a real challenge for local technology companies who want to hire excellent people with technology skills to work in and service agricultural areas.”

He encourages farmers to ask vendors about their staffing, average response times, remote troubleshooting capabilities and how they support customers during the startup phase.

“Will they be able to support you remotely if a service technician cannot come out and travel to your farm?” Shutske asks. “Reliable service infrastructure is essential for smooth operation and maintenance.”

5. How Comfortable Are You With Your Finances?
Ultimately, the decision to invest comes down to the numbers. Not just whether you can afford the purchase today, but whether it will pay for itself and support the long-term health of your operation. A piece of technology that looks appealing on paper can quickly become a financial burden if it doesn’t deliver measurable returns.

“It’s critical to identify if the farm will have the capacity to achieve financial and production performance goals and objectives,” Plaster explains. “That means knowing your current financial position, understanding key measures like ROI (return on investment) and IRR (internal rate of return), and calculating how this purchase will affect cash flow and debt load.”

She notes that salespeople, lenders and accountants will all use different financial language. Therefore, the more familiar you are with the terms and metrics, the more confidently you can make an informed choice.

Build a Decision-Making Framework
While these five questions are a strong starting point, Plaster emphasizes the value of a structured decision-making process.

“To make informed decisions, it is essential to have a clear strategy,” she says.

Tools like a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and gap analysis can help you evaluate current performance, identify areas for improvement and determine whether new technology is the best path forward.

By weighing the problem you’re trying to solve, the skills you bring to the table, your infrastructure and your financial readiness, you can approach a technology investment with clarity and confidence.

Farming Doesn’t Follow All the Business Models, Unique Opportunity for Startups

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 17:26:51 GMT

It could be said success in business is driven by timing and people. And AgLaunch provides agricultural startups with the nexus of both.

With its AgLaunch365 accelerator, early-stage startups have programming paired with the coast to coast network of AgLaunch farmers.

It’s a story Michael Rhys and the team at Barnwell Bio experienced firsthand. Their company spun out of the same technology platform used for municipal waste monitoring during COVID-19, except they are applying it to biosecurity and animal welfare.

Rhys says there is no other program like AgLaunch in existence.

“The farmer buy-in was really important to us along with the product feedback and guidance farmers can give us on the feature roadmap we want to add to Barnwell,” he says. “What’s great about the AgLaunch network is the level of inclusion along the way and the how the farmer network shares their feedback in real time and we’re able to iterate with them quickly because of their candid insights.”

Barnwell Bio collects aggregate samples from animal byproducts, analyzes them for a broad array of pathogens and then shares the assessment of potential health risks with farmers and their veterinarians.

“We see an opportunity to change the sentiment in animal health from being reactive to proactive,” Rhys says.

Michael Rhys, CEO, Barnwell Bio

(Ashley Benham)

Two-Way Street

Just as the startups receive benefits from the AgLaunch programming, as do the farmers. Fundamental to its approach it getting startups on farms in field trials, the farmers who take part in those field trials can earn an equity stake in the companies.

One of the original farmer members to the AgLaunch network is Grant Norwood, a Tennessee row crop farmer. He was part of the farmer network who proved the concept of Aglaunch earlier this year and cashed out an early investment in an irrigation technology startup.

“Farming is a business that doesn’t follow all the business models,” Norwood says. “And if you are coming from non-ag background, the farmer is your insight early on to how to best finish development and finish designing the product. We share knowledge to how ag markets work and to purchasing models. For a startup company it can be a big jump ahead to have that insight that would otherwise take them several years on their own.

Norwood has done field trials with sensors, hardware, and biological startups. And he’s proud to be part of the network he says is “where inventors meet farmers to solve agriculture’s problems.”

While the group started in Tennessee, it has since expanded into the midwest and pacific northwest.

“We’re a diverse group growing a lot of different crops and raising a lot of different livestock. But we are like-minded in helping startup companies bring their ideas to agriculture,” Norwood says.

AgLaunch has officially opened applications for the 2026 AgLaunch365 Accelerator. Applications are due by September 15, 2025.

AgLaunch365 aims to provide the proving ground startups need to help reshape how food is grown, animal are raises and land is stewarded.

For founders who would like to learn more, AgLaunch is hosting short Q&A webinars:

• August 4, 1-2pm CT: Registration link.

• August 14, 12-1pm CT: Registration link.

• August 25, 12-1pm CT: Registration link.

When Pigs Click: Social Network Analysis Reveals New Findings About Animal Behavior

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 18:30:43 GMT

Social networking isn’t just for people trying to connect on TikTok or Facebook. Researchers are analyzing the social networks of pigs to better understand how pig-to-pig interactions ultimately impact performance and well-being.

“Just like humans, anytime you put a group of animals in a confined space, even though they have plenty of resources, they’ll establish their own behaviors and hierarchy,” says Dan Hamilton, director of product performance at PIC. “Some of those interactions are positive, some are negative. It’s like putting your kids in the backseat of the car for too long. They may get a little bit antsy at each other after a while. Animals do the same.”

Scientists at the Roslin Institute and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), in collaboration with PIC and an international research team, have been examining how pigs associate with one another over time by using technology to analyze their proximity during social interactions.

Andrea Doeschl-Wilson, group leader in infection disease genetics and modeling at the Roslin Institute , says this highlights the power of AI in agriculture and emphasizes the importance of considering social behavior in animal management.

PIC Digital Phenotyping Behavior Monitoring

(PIC)

Which Behavior is Best?
“We want to find out what we can learn from the behavior of the pig,” Hamilton says. “This will help us determine if we should change the way we manage them, the way we feed them, or even change the genetics we use so we have a pig that performs and is welfare friendly at the end of the day.”

In the first trial before the social network analysis trial, Hamilton says they determined if behavior traits were heritable. He says they were encouraged to see them come up as 20% to 40% heritable. To put it into perspective, traits the industry typically selects for like litter size are below 10% heritable, he says. Some growth traits the industry selects for are now 20% to 30% heritable, so being in the 20% to 40% heritability on behavior is exciting.

“We know we can change the direction on behavior if we objectively measure the right things,” Hamilton says. “But the question is, which traits would you want to select for? Do you want a pig that spends more time sleeping or a pig that spends more time at the feeder?”

Pigs eating at feeder

(National Pork Board and the Pork Checkoff)

He’s quick to add he doesn’t want to dictate that with his opinion. That’s another reason why researchers are working to gain a deeper understanding of pig behavior through social network analysis.

Pigs Have Cliques, Too
The study, conducted on a commercial pig breeding farm in the U.S., demonstrates how emerging technologies can be applied to modernize animal husbandry. An automated monitoring system tracked pigs housed in indoor pens, collecting data on individual animals using cameras and movement sensors to record the pigs’ posture and location in real time.

Through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and techniques to map animals’ interactions, researchers gained interesting insights into pigs’ social relationships.

“When you start to evaluate a pen of pigs, there’s always one pig that moves around more. He’s the agitator,” Hamilton says. “There’s another pig that always spends all his time in the feeder and pushes everybody else out. Those are just one-off observations, but social network analysis allows you to also know which pig is which, then tie that into their genetics.”

Findings revealed that as pigs spend more time together, their social interactions become more structured. Some pigs emerge as central figures within their groups, indicating the development of a social hierarchy.

Key indications of social connection, such as how central a pig was in the network or how connected it was to others, increased over time, suggesting that pigs gradually form more stable and structured social relationships as they grow. This highlights the dynamic nature of pig social structures, which were previously difficult to monitor at such detail and scale, researchers explained in a study published in Animals .

“As the farming industry continues to adopt smart technologies, the ability to analyze animal behavior at both the individual and group level represents a significant step forward.”

Andrea Doeschl-Wilson

Reducing Stress Levels
Hamilton says these insights can help breeders and farmers better understand animal behavior and improve breeding and management practices. A deeper understanding of pigs’ social interactions can also aid in reducing stress-related behaviors, such as tail biting, a common health and welfare issue that can lead to major industry losses.

“We now have a tool to measure animal behavior, quantify it and put that data to use,” he says. “If you’ve got all these measurements being made by the second as the animal moves and interacts, it’s a huge data set. This is not something we’re going to sit down and work in an Excel spreadsheet to come up with an answer. You need a program to decipher that data using machine learning to come up with the next steps.”

The research demonstrates how data-driven approaches can support more informed decisions on breeding, housing and welfare strategies, the study explains.

“If you think about pork production over the past 20-30 years, it continues to evolve, but a lot of the traits that we measure are really the same,” Hamilton says. “The basic things like litter size, number weaned, pounds of pigs weaned, growth rate, efficiency and survivability are all important traits, but as we continue to push the envelope to improve welfare while improving efficiency and profitability, we need more traits to help with that.”

What Will Cameras Capture Next?
Hamilton believes the next step is to put more cameras in place to collect more data at nucleus, multiplication and commercial sites, so they can continue the data gathering at all life stages of the pig.

“Then we need to look at scenarios of factors we want to understand more to see if there’s a better way to manage or feed pigs,” he says. “I think we’re still early enough in the process that we’re highly encouraged we need to invest more, but we don’t have enough learnings to confirm the final result.”

PIC has been using camera vision for feet and leg selection. That technology is getting used in more farms every day, Hamilton adds. They are also using camera vision to determine body condition on sows, farrowing duration and more.

“There are a lot of projects in the works,” he says. “Some will be fruitful. Some may not. But everyone is excited about it. We’ve got a whole team of engineers and some good partners in the industry that are helping us bring this technology to fruition. It’s amazing how technology allows us to take these concepts from an idea to a result in a really short time. The hardest part is getting it commercialized, but we are making progress.”

5 Labor Solutions from the World Pork Expo Trade Show

Fri, 06 Jun 2025 17:36:19 GMT

Labor is a limiting factor on many swine operations. Here are five solutions that stood out on the trade show floor at World Pork Expo to aid in:

sorting and loading pigs
biosecurity efforts
treating pigs using water-soluble medications
monitoring and measuring feed inventory
moving boars or dead stock safely

Sorting System Saves Time, Feed and Money
When was the last time your team looked forward to an easy loading day? It can typically take four or five people about two hours to sort and load a truckload of pigs. But with the automated sorter from Central Ag Distribution , that same truckload can be sorted in about 45 minutes by one person.

Jeffrey Morten, USA sales manager, says this automatic sorter weighs pigs every time they leave their group pen to go into the “food court.” The pig is weighed and the appropriate gate opens to let that pig into the pen with the correct diet for that group.

This keeps group weights consistent and helps notice lights more quickly. Instead of having to visually appraise pigs on sorting day, the pigs are already grouped by size. This helps with forecasting and shortens time needed in the barns to do so.

“It lessens anxiety all the way around — both for the people and the pigs. Loading just goes so much smoothly,” he says.

Downtime and Disinfection Tracking Helps Keep Logistics Moving
Biosecurity is critical to pigs’ health, but there are a lot of details to keep straight. Anthony Novero, chief technology officer at Farm Health Guardian, says if communication about disinfection isn’t clear for supplies entering the farm, then time and labor is wasted.

Farm Health Guardian is a management tool for farmers and food companies to improve biosecurity and disease prevention, saving time and reducing costs. It includes facial recognition technology that has two interlocked devices on either the incoming or outgoing door, depending on the state of the disinfection cycle. It shares the status of the cycle and lets employees know when it’s possible to move things out safely. It also helps monitor the room’s temperature.

Water-Soluble Medications Create a Ripple Effect of Efficiency
Water-delivered medications eliminate time spent preparing and giving injections and minimize stress to both the caretakers and the pigs because pigs don’t have to be handled individually, says Nic Lauterbach, Pharmgate Animal Health technical services veterinarian.

“The pigs stay calm, they keep drinking, eating and growing,” he adds.

These medications often have a small dose, so it’s possible for one caretaker to move the product, mix the medication and deliver it to the whole pen through the waterer.

Monitoring and Measuring Feed Inventory Saves on Labor
Feed is usually an operation’s biggest expense, and out-of-feed events happen far more often than you might think. Only 20% of all feed outages are caused by actually running out of feed. The remaining 80% of feed outages happen when there are issues with manual feed bin slides.

BinSentry provides a way to monitor and measure feed inventory and bin slide management using sensors and proprietary software to monitor bins in real time. It can create alerts to out-of-feed problems or issues about to occur.

“Asking farmers or techs to climb feed bins and visually estimate feed levels inside of bins is a safety risk and a poor use of time,” says Ben Allen, CEO of BinSentry. “Visual estimates of feed levels inside of dark bins are notoriously inaccurate. This type of work is perfect for sensors that can instantly and accurately report feed levels without wasting valuable human resources.”

Moving Boars or Dead Stock Can Be Made Easier and Safer
Hauling deceased pigs is no fun emotionally or physically. But the Trackporter provides physical relief.

“It can turn a two- to three-man job into a one-man job,” says Andrew Chandler, purchasing and inventory specialist for ATZ Manufacturing.

Hauling deceased pigs is no fun emotionally or physically. But the Trackporterprovides physical relief.

(Kasey Brown)

It can haul, push or carry dead stock. Chandler explains you hook up an animal and then push the button to move it. It was a low center of gravity to increase safety; can haul tools, heavy parts or supplies; and decreases the need of workman’s compensation claims.

For safety in moving boars, you can stand outside the crate and lead a boar where he needs to go.

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Will Pork Producers Continue to Print Black Ink in the Second Half of 2025?

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 22:21:55 GMT

Many pork producers are poised to have a very strong second half of the year, experts say. As a lender, Chris Ford, vice president corporate swine lender with Farm Credit, says he knows the risks are out there, but he’s cautiously optimistic that producers have the potential to drive home a win.

“One thing that we have seen for the first half of 2025 is the ability for many producers to print black ink,” Ford says. “We have shown profits so far in 2025 in many cases.”

According to Iowa State University’s 2025 estimated returns for farrow-to-finish operations through April, each of those months show a profit for 2025 in theory when it comes to the markets, the cost of corn and the cost of pigs, Ford adds.

“All those things have aligned to say, theoretically, there were profits out there to be had,” Ford says. “And a lot of producers did. I wouldn’t say that’s in every case, but the profit potential was definitely there for most producers, at least for the first half.”

What’s the Profitability Outlook?
As the industry comes together at World Pork Expo and looks ahead to the second half of the year, one of the first things on Ford’s mind is the corn market.

“Corn is a significant component of producing animals,” he says. “The corn market is very advantageous to the swine producer right now, sitting at $4 to $4.50. Producers have an opportunity again.”

The lower feed cost environment certainly is advantageous for animal feeders in general, says Brian Earnest, lead economist – animal protein with CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange Division.

“For the pork industry, it seems like that’s helping out that profitability side of it,” Earnest says. “From a feed perspective, the producer should have been able to lock in some pretty favorable feed conditions through the remainder of the year at this point. That should set them up pretty well for the back half of the year.”

But when he looks at the second half of the year, Earnest questions the demand side for pork.

“I’ve used this phrase before, but I think pork could be the darling of the meat case,” Earnest says. “When it comes to the situation we have with higher beef prices and even chicken, and we’re at over 100 lb. per capita annual consumption, consumers may be looking for pork to fill in this middle space in a bigger way.”

He’s optimistic about the new marketing campaign by National Pork Board and says domestic demand has good opportunity into the back half of 2025.

The Key to Lock in Profits
Even with lower feed costs and more domestic demand opportunity, Ford says production is king.

“If pork operations can stay healthy in the second half of 2025 and take advantage of these markets, it’s going to be good for them,” Ford says. “If you look at a 12-month crush, which is essentially taking corn, soybean meal and the price of the animal, and you project forward what you’re seeing for potential profits, It’s somewhere around $20 to $25, as we think about the next 12 months. The opportunities are out there for producers in the second half and even in the first part of 2026 to lock in profits.”

Trade Pressure Remains
External pressures worldwide continue to create obstacles for the U.S. pork producer’s outlook.

“When I think about the challenges outside of leveraging corn and producing a pig, this is a worldwide industry where we rely on exporting 30% of our product,” Ford says. “Anytime you start bringing in other countries, or the political environment, you start talking about tariffs. We saw probably the biggest one-week move in the markets when tariffs were announced. Tariffs were then put on pause, and again, markets recovered a little bit. Ever since then, there’s always been a concern around our friends to the south.”

Exports is a big factor on Ford’s mind. From Europe’s downsizing to Brazil’s uprising, there is a lot of movement when it comes to trade.

“We have to make sure that we continue to have trade partners who are willing to take our pork,” Ford says. “China continues to consume things that we don’t consume here in the United States, so making sure that we find a way to get along with them is key.”

Will Supply Match Up with Market Needs?
Earnest says he has questions around supply as he looks at the second half of the year.

“Is the industry appropriately matching up supply with what the market needs are?” he says. “We haven’t really seen any issues yet year to date, but that could all change. We’re going through somewhat of a conversion phase, with the sow herd decreasing over the last couple years and relying more on the efficiency of the sow herd that we have.”

Of course, the challenges to overcome with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) are ever present. Earnest says it’s always a lingering thought about how disease could tighten up supply and cause a disruption in the industry.

“Technology is doing their best to find ways to navigate through those challenges, through genetic technology or vaccine technology,” Ford adds. “At this point, there just hasn’t been a really good solution around the PRRS side. It continues to be a challenge that the producers are going to have to deal with for a long period of time.”

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Heads Up: Space Weather Could Disrupt GPS Signal This Week

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 15:41:46 GMT

The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration has updated its expected arrival of a G4 severe geomagnetic storm. Initially expected to be observed June 2 to June 3, it’s now potentially ending earlier by June 2.

These space weather events can disturb the Earth’s magnetic field and at this severe level cause “more frequent and longer periods of GPS degradation.”

“If you’re finished planting, have no spraying to do, or otherwise too wet to get into the field, this solar storm may not matter for production agriculture even for the most susceptible states,” says Terry Griffin with Kansas State University. “Given the time of year, several hundred thousand acres of peanuts are left to be planted in Georgia (74% planting progress as of last week). Without RTK (not just GPS but sub-inch accuracy RTK), a 11% yield penalty is known at planting due to uncertainty of AB line when digging, the topic of my current research. In Kansas, corn was 85% planted as of last week and most crops have been planted on schedule or ahead of the 5-year average, but spraying and other midseason operations are still vulnerable.”

He adds Kansas winter wheat harvest usually begins mid-June so it won’t be affected by this storm.

Are these events normal?

Griffin says accurately predicting solar storms is more difficult than terrestrial weather.
“One analogy is to think of predicting geomagnetic disturbances on Earth as compared to the familiar tornado season. We know that in Kansas every April and May we can expect tornadoes in our area; when we may have a tornado watch, sometimes a tornado warning, and less common for an individual homeowner to be directly affected by a tornado,” he says. “Geomagnetic disturbances are similar: every 11 years we should expect a variety of “watches” and “alerts” due to increased solar activity before quieting down for about the next seven years until activity ramps up again.”

However space weather brings an even greater level of uncertainty for what the precise impacts on Earth will be. Just because there’s activity measured from the sun, it doesn’t always arrive at Earth in a predictable pattern.

“Activity on the sun does not always arrive at the Earth, observed coronal mass ejections (CME) can go in the opposite direction or even be a “near miss”, just like a tornado,” he says. “Instruments can detect CMEs several minutes after they occur, and even when material is coming toward the Earth it may take a few days before we know if we’re being affected.”

What can farmers do?

“GNSS outages caused by solar storms should be expected to be the norm, at least during solar sunspot number maximums that occur about every 11 years,” Griffin says. “At the very least, farmers should expect GNSS outages associated with solar storms during sunspot maximum; spanning maybe three years of the 11 year cycle.”

Griffin says solar storms can occur any time of year, and he points to some historical evidence suggesting increased frequency of geomagnetic disturbances near the spring and fall equinoxes.

Farm Journal reached out to Griffin first thing Monday morning for an update. He said the solar storm “arrived a day early...it was moving really fast” and would likely be over by Monday afternoon. He did not hear from any farmers about GPS outages or issues with satellite lock on their farm equipment as of Monday morning.

NOAA did record a G4 level solar event in space occurring on Sunday, June 1, however, by Monday morning at 8:45 am EST it had weakened to a G1.

Griffin says farmers should check the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center hompage (www.swpc.noaa.gov) on a regular basis this summer before heading out to spray or do other field work.

“That May 10th event (last year) was not a once in a lifetime event,” Griffin warns. “We need to keep our eyes open for the next one.”

The “next one” could happen anytime in the next 12 months, or not at all, he believes. Griffin says we’re in the middle of what some scientists call the “battle zone” of solar activity and the current conditions are expected to last for the next year. Once we get to next summer, Griffin says, scientists are projecting a “quiet period” for the next six or seven years before space weather and solar storms start to ramp back up in the early 2030s.

“The previous solar cycle we were in was really quiet, and the one we’re in right now is normal,” he says. “We need to be ready for these events.”

Artificial Intelligence to Animal Rights Extremism: 5 Key Takeaways from The Summit

Mon, 05 May 2025 21:48:57 GMT

From artificial intelligence and animal welfare to supply chain partnerships and animal rights extremism, the conversations were thought-provoking at the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2025 Stakeholders Summit. The 2025 Summit, “Food for Thought: Dishing on Sustainability,” took place April 30 through May 2 in Arlington, Va., with more than 200 registered in-person attendees.

Here are five takeaways from this year’s event.

1. Embrace artificial intelligence to make change.
Former Google executive and president of Story Arc Consulting Steve Lerch said generative artificial intelligence (AI) can help animal agriculture identify new ways to connect with consumers. As humans, change is often resisted, especially when something has worked in the past. However, consumers are always changing, and animal agriculture needs to adapt to continue meeting people where they are at. AI tools like ChatGPT are a simple way to brainstorm new ideas and craft messaging that will resonate with target audiences.

2. Animal welfare needs to be part of your organizational culture.
“We’re all here for the same shared goal at the end of the day,” said Nick Wolfenden, Cargill’s global director of sustainable animal welfare. Companies should embrace animal welfare as part of their organizational culture. In addition, “healthy tension” is important between stakeholders to continue driving change on this issue.

3. Animal health is driving sustainability solutions.
Speakers agreed that healthy animals are a cornerstone of sustainable food systems, claiming that better animal health equates to higher productivity, lower emissions, and more people being fed. “Keeping animals healthy can contribute to a more sustainable food system,” said Ron Phillips, senior vice president of policy at the Animal Health Institute.

4. Create partnerships across the supply chain.
The need for continued partnerships across the supply chain and across species was a recurring theme of the 2025 Summit. Brandi Herndon, chief agribusiness officer at the Tulsa State Fair, said, “We’re all facing the same problems…and we could all be fantastic allies together.” Similarly, Eric Mittenthal, chief strategy officer at The Meat Institute, emphasized the importance of working together to reach shared sustainability goals: “We can’t achieve these big goals in silos.”

5. Animal rights extremism is a national security concern.
The ongoing threat of animal rights extremism is a national security concern, as Karen Meidenbauer, DVM, noted, “Food security is a national security.” When asked what the top threats to animal agriculture and food security were, responses from security experts included the spread of zoonotic diseases – which can be exacerbated by on-farm activism, the rise of agro-crimes and animal rights activism, and cybersecurity concerns, such as data and intellectual property (IP) theft.

Learn more about the 2025 Summit here . Make plans to attend the 2026 Summit, set for May 5-7 in Kansas City, Mo. Follow the hashtag #AAA26 for periodic updates about the event.

FDA Grants PIC Approval for PRRS-Resistant Pig Gene-Editing Technology

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 12:25:00 GMT

The gene edit used in PIC’s PRRS-resistant pig has been determined safe and effective by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA granted approval to PIC on April 30, putting PIC among the first companies to gain approval for gene editing in commercial livestock in the U.S.

“We have spent years conducting extensive research, validating our findings and working with the FDA to gain approval,” Matt Culbertson, PIC’s chief operating officer, says in a release. “Today marks a major milestone for consumers, farmers and the entire pork industry who have desperately hoped for a solution to PRRS.”

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) costs the U.S. pork industry more than $1.2 billion per year. This FDA-approved gene edit will be used to breed PIC’s PRRS-resistant pigs, which are resistant to this devastating, global swine disease.

“PRRS causes needless suffering and premature death for pigs, negatively impacts animal welfare, exacerbates the need for antibiotics and increases the environmental impact of raising pigs,” PIC says in a release.

But Will Consumers Accept It?
Although the disease-resistant technology is new, pork from PRRS-resistant pigs is no different than the pork consumers already know and love, PIC says, except for resistance to the infection caused by the PRRS virus. This was confirmed by a recent study which reviewed 97 meat quality and composition data points.

In this study conducted by Circana , 72% of consumers like the idea of the PRRS-resistant pig and its benefits after reading a description of gene editing in food and the PRRS-resistant pig.

“When you talk about the benefits, because they align with what the consumer has been demanding of the food supply for years now, they’re really excited about what the technology can do,” says Marisa Pooley, PIC director of communications and engagement. Read more about what consumers think about gene-edited pork.

Addressing PRRS can allow the pork industry to improve animal welfare and reduce the environmental impact of raising pigs, says Banks Baker, global director of product sustainability.

“Recent research indicates that PRRS increases the need for antibiotics by more than 200%,” Baker says. “Plus, a recent ISO-conformant lifecycle assessment found that eliminating PRRS could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5% in the U.S.”

When Will Commercialization in the U.S. Occur?
FDA approval does not automatically trigger commercialization, PIC says. Approval is an important step, but Culbertson adds it’s just one part of the overall strategy.

“Because pork is a globally traded commodity, we need to receive additional approvals from other countries around the globe, such as Canada, Mexico, Japan and China, to allow producers in the pork chain to freely trade pork back and forth,” Culbertson says. “We expect to achieve those other regulatory approvals over the next, hopefully six to 18 months, and that will really be the trigger point for the commercialization and sale of the product in the various markets.”

Colombia and Brazil have already issued positive determinations for the technology used in PRRS-resistant pigs, meaning those countries will regulate them the same as any other pigs.

“We are committed to the responsible and intentional introduction of the PRRS-resistant pig around the globe,” Culbertson says.

The PRRS-resistant pig will not be commercialized in the U.S. until at least 2026.

Read more:
In the Driver’s Seat: Consumers Share What They Think About Gene-Edited Pork

What You Need to Know Now About the PRRS-Resistant Pig

What Does the Future Hold for the PRRS-Resistant Pig?

Data Makes the Difference: PIC Seeks Answers to Environmental Impact of Genetics

Colombia is First Country to Issue Positive Regulatory Determination for PRRS-Resistant Pig

The Path to a PRRS-Resistant Pig: A Look at What’s Next

Where Can Artificial Intelligence in Our Swine Operations Take Us?

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 11:30:11 GMT

Artificial intelligence opens the door for greater precision and deeper understanding. That’s why Sadie Sims, a student at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, took a look at how artificial intelligence can serve as a tool in scoring lung lesions of pig lungs. Sims worked with Heather Kittrell, DVM, with Boehringer Ingelheim through the Swine Veterinary Internship Program at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

“The current methodology to score porcine lungs is rather subjective as there are multiple methods available and different training levels/experience levels of practicing swine veterinarians,” Sims explained at the 2025 American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) annual meeting. She was one of 15 students who competed in the Veterinary Student Poster Competition at the AASV annual meeting. Read more here.

Using images from previous clinical trials examining porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, Sims outlined the images using a program called LabelMe. This program helped differentiate the background the lungs were resting on at the time of imaging and to differentiate healthy lungs from the lung lesions.

“Dr. Shuo Wang took these images and performed random color, brightness, contrast and more to help conform all images to be as similar as possible as we were using two different sets of images from different years,” Sims says.

Sadie Sims presents her poster at the AASV annual meeting.

(Sadie Sims)

The dataset was split into a training dataset that contained 662 images and a testing dataset that contained 165 images. The training dataset was then run through a pyramid scene parsing network to segment the images to train the artificial intelligence model.

“An important thing to note is that the artificial intelligence model learns best with higher amounts of data to analyze,” she says. “The testing dataset was then used to evaluate the final model once it was completely trained.”

The testing dataset images will be segmented and analyzed via the artificial intelligence model for interpretation, Sims explains. The value used for analysis is called Intersection over Union (IOU). The goal is to be as close to 1 as possible but anything over >0.5 is considered satisfactory.

“Ultimately, the background and healthy lung were analyzed very successfully, with an IOU of 0.9806 and 0.9023, respectively,” she says. “However, the lesion only received an IOU of 0.2668, showing that the model was not as good at mapping the lesions on the lung as we had hoped. There was decreased detail in lesion recognition by the AI model compared to the outlined lesions analyzed by myself.”

The AI model did well at distinguishing between background and healthy lung but needs improvement when distinguishing between healthy and diseased lung.

Artificial Intelligence in the Pork Industry
Perhaps the most important discovery in Sims’ mind was the wide variety of uses for artificial intelligence that are possible in the pork industry.

“Artificial intelligence is constantly developing and improving,” she says. “I had no background in artificial intelligence prior to this project so I found it very interesting that it is being used to improve the veterinary medical profession. I also learned a lot about porcine lung pathology scoring and how important it would be to have a consistent, objective system.”

She believes the future uses of artificial intelligence in scoring lung lesions could have applications in slaughterhouses to pull carcasses off the line and help speed up the process in slaughterhouses. It could also be used in clinical research studies to provide consistency amongst research trials, she adds.

“I also think that (very far in the future), it may have applications to allow producers to perform the beginnings of the necropsy, take pictures of the lungs once removed, and have an application that could potentially tell the type of pathogen based off of the gross pathology,” Sims says. “This would allow the producer to take the information to their veterinarian and consult about future steps to protect the health of the barn. We all know swine veterinarians have to travel to farms far and wide to help provide medical care for producers and this could potentially help alleviate some of that stress.”

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