An assistant professor in Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering with Iowa State University says modern communication technology has vastly improved the ability of pork producers to manage the environment within the swine barn.

"Why the In-Barn Environment Matters" will be discussed as part of Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2018 14 and 15 November in Saskatoon.

Dr Brett Ramirez, an assistant professor in Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering with Iowa State University, says modern technologies and techniques has given pork producers greater control of the environment within the barn.

Dr Ramirez explains:

“We've really gotten some much improved technology in terms of environmental control.

“Today's controllers are all being hooked up to the cloud to really improve monitoring of not only the environment but that equipment providing the environment and what is going on inside the control itself.

“This is opening up a whole new opportunity for looking at how these three parts interact and how do we best manage them to create that best environment.

“What is driving those changes is technology itself as it moves quicker in society in general. It's opened up touch screens, higher accessibility to the internet via cellular service and the advent of integrating controllers. Technology is a platform for all these different data streams, that can all come back to one system, the computer, which can just be hooked up to the internet.

“I think there's a lot of potential in the coming years as technology continues to grow to really improve comfort, welfare and productivity in pig production.”

Dr. Ramirez suggests monitoring the pig and its comfort is the best tool for determining the best environment.

As reported by Bruce Cochrane, Farmscape.Ca