Hot Water Alternative
Hot water pads are joining the short list of products designed to keep pigs snug and warm. The challenge of keeping pigs warm and cozy during the two...
Stalls Versus Pens
The University of Minnesota's swine research facility at Waseca, MN, compares sows housed in individual stalls vs. pens, but the jury is still out. The...
Hog Barns Don't Come with Owner's Manuals
An effective operations manual can help barn staffs keep production facilities running smoothly. Pork producers commonly invest hundreds of thousands...
Free Stall Eases Feeding, AI Chores
New hoop barn helps achieve consistent sow body condition and fits with organic production standards. Three years ago, Organic Prairie pork producer Tom...
Electronic Sow Feeding Lessons Learned
In 2005, Jimmy Tosh felt the time was right to step away from gestation stalls in favor of pen gestation with an electronic sow feeding system. When James...
To Stall or Not to Stall?
What is the single, most important issue facing the pork industry in 2008? In the near term, feed costs would surely top most lists. In the long term,...
Solar Walls Save Money
Canadian producer Daniel Messier describes the better air quality and lower heating costs as impressive. Using a solar wall to capture the sun's energy...
Recycling Plastic Slats
One of the first questions that crops up in any remodeling project is: What do we do with the old stuff? It was a question on Ben Poletti's mind as The...
Designs to Reduce Seasonal Effects On Reproduction
When you see the term seasonal infertility, do you ever wonder which season of the year is causing the problem? In my opinion, the term should be replaced...
It's the Pits!
Taking manure pit samples in deep-pitted barns on several hundred company-owned and contracted farms is a huge task, but the payoff is huge, too...
