This document discusses Tosh Pork's sow production system and compares their electronic sow feeding (ESF) system to a traditional stall system. It provides details on their facilities, management practices, production performance metrics, costs, and considerations for different housing methods. Overall, production is similar between the two systems but costs are slightly higher for ESF. The main question is whether ESF improves animal welfare compared to stalls.

1. Outline
• Productions System Explanation
• Tosh Martin Facility
• System Management
• Challenges with Group housing
• Production Records and Cost Comparison
• Things to Think About
• Other Options

2. Tosh Pork Sow Production
• 18,500 Owned Sows
– 3 Owned Facilities
– 4 Lease Facilities
– 2 Contact Facilities
• 2,500 Sows Total Contract
– 1 Sow farm
• 150 Head Boar Stud

3. Tosh Pork – Sow Production

4. Tosh Martin Facility
• 3,400 Sow Multiplier on Electronic Sow
Feeding
• 2- 121’ X 301’ Gestation Barns
• Each Pen is 41’ X 28’
• 216 Breeding Stalls
• 8 – 6’x 21’ Recovery Pens
• Totally Slatted/Deep Pit

5. Tosh Martin Facility

7. Feeding Station

8. Feeding Station

9. Feeding Station

10. Feeding Station

11. B/G Barn Management
• Wean Sows into Breeding Stalls
• Breed All Females in Breeding Stalls
• Move Sows to Pens within 48 to 72 Hours
• Pens Start with 60 Sows @ 19.13 ft²

12. B/G Barn Management

13. B/G Barn Management

14. B/G Barn Management

15. Why 60?
• Feed Station Feeds Every 30 Seconds
• Each Feed Dump Is 2.5 oz
• Therefore,
6lbs/2.5oz = 38 Dumps per sow
38 dumps X 30 seconds = 19 min/sow
19 min X 60 = 19 hours

16. • All Pens Are Static
– Animals can be removed, but not added
• We expect 10-15% fallout
– Returns, culls, lames, death loss
• Pens end up with ~52 Sows @22.08 ft²
B/G Barn Management

17. Gilt Management
• Training Gilts
– Isolation is big pens on full feed
– Gilts are moved to training pens @ ~27 weeks old
– Trained for a minimum of 2 weeks
• Breeding Gilts
– Heat Checked and Bred in Pens
– Moved to Pens with Gilts ONLY
– 2 Weeks worth of Gilts per pen

18. B/G Barn Management

19. B/G Barn Management

20. Challenges with Group Housing

21. Challenges
• Fallouts/Lames
– Where do you put them
• Fighting
– There will be fighting how do you manage it
– When to make groups

24. Lameness/Injury

25. Lameness

26. Lameness

27. Lameness

28. Lameness

29. • Training Gilts
– 3-4% will not train
– It takes time
– Extra equipment needed
Challenges

30. Challenges
• Management
– Must have a dedicated manager and crew
– Must be willing to adapt
– Must be committed to making the system work
– Must be able to multi-task
– Must be detail oriented
– Must use system tools

31. • Feeding all animals in a day
8lbs/2.5oz = 51 Dumps per sow
51 dumps X 30 seconds = 25.5 min/sow
25.5 min X 52 = 22.1 hours
• Data Entry
– Must Enter Sow Information into System
Challenges

32. Challenges
• Maintenance
– System Has to work
• Facilities
– Knowing what is needed before construction

33. Performance/Cost Comparisons

34. Total Born
12.6
12.78
12.53
12.68 12.7
13.1
11.77
12.04
11.98
12.23
12.43
13.05
11
11.5
12
12.5
13
13.5
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
ESF
Stalls

35. Born Alive
11.6
11.74
11.38
11.91 11.88
12.2
10.98
11.20
11.13
11.36
11.57
12.12
10.2
10.4
10.6
10.8
11
11.2
11.4
11.6
11.8
12
12.2
12.4
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
ESF
Stalls

36. Pre-Weaning Mortality
10
8.8
9.62 9.54
9.11
8.8
11.27 11.19
11.48
10.93
12.96
11.10
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
ESF
Stalls

37. Pigs Weaned Per Litter
10.4
10.6
10.17
10.64
10.53
10.8
9.63
9.76 9.76
9.96
10.04
10.66
9
9.2
9.4
9.6
9.8
10
10.2
10.4
10.6
10.8
11
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
ESF
Stalls

38. Pigs Weaned/Sow/Year
23.8
25.25
24.4
25.47
25.32
26.26
23.30
23.90
24.08
24.75
24.42
26.05
21.5
22
22.5
23
23.5
24
24.5
25
25.5
26
26.5
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
ESF
Stalls

39. Sow Mortality
18.70%
15.40%
10.20%
10.69%
13.20%
9.19%
7.70%
6.68%
4.89%
3.67%
4.60%
5.38%
0.00%
2.00%
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
14.00%
16.00%
18.00%
20.00%
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
ESF
Stalls

40. Farrowing Rate
76.9
80.7
81.56
82.97 83.19
84.282.37
84.62
86.10
89.55
88.17
88.90
70
72
74
76
78
80
82
84
86
88
90
92
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
ESF
Stalls

41. Antibiotic Use
• 2011 Cost Per Piglet
• Stall Facilities $0.22
• Pen Facility $0.42

42. Labor and Benefits
$9.24
$7.66 $7.71 $7.65
$7.94
$7.48
$5.46 $5.37
$5.08 $4.94
$5.21 $5.19
$0.00
$1.00
$2.00
$3.00
$4.00
$5.00
$6.00
$7.00
$8.00
$9.00
$10.00
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
ESF
Stalls

43. Repairs and Maintenance
$0.49
$0.65
$0.43
$0.69
$0.59
$0.62
$0.24
$0.47
$0.37
$0.17
$0.24
$0.23
$0.00
$0.10
$0.20
$0.30
$0.40
$0.50
$0.60
$0.70
$0.80
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
ESF
Stalls

44. Potential Change in Pigs Produced
50,000
55,000
60,000
65,000
70,000
75,000
80,000
85,000
90,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Actual
Adjusted

45. Potential Change in COP
$34.86
$29.80
$32.30
$28.98
$29.93
$29.10
$32.89
$28.62
$30.86
$27.04
$28.42
$27.55
$20.00
$25.00
$30.00
$35.00
$40.00
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
COP
ADJ COP

46. Things To Consider
• Must Have Better Basic Husbandry Skills
• ESF vs. Stalls are full of Trade Offs
– Movements
– Feeding
– Management
• Maintenance
– Must have spare parts

47. B/G Barn Management

48. Things to Consider
• Employees
– Cleaner Work Environment
– Less Noise
– Open Facilities
– Transition from Stalls to Big Pen

49. Other Options

50. Issues with Other Housing Methods
• Larger Footprint
– Loafing area takes extra space
• Individual animal care
– Feed/Treatments

51. Issues with Other Housing Methods
• Environmental Impact
– Waste containment
– Waste Disposal
– Weather Impact
• Conversion
– Difficult to convert current facilities
– $500 to $700 per sow space

62. Summary
Either way can work! For the most part,
production is the same and costs are a little
higher. The big question is, is it more welfare
friendly.