Generational Ontario Hog Farm Embracing Technology

As one of the early adaptors of using technology in his hog operation, John Van Engelen has seen firsthand how innovation has played an important role in the modernization of the pork industry.

“Technology is big,” said John. “When my dad first came into the industry, he said farming was a lot easier because when something broke all he had to do was replace a handle, now it’s a bit different as we have to call a technician.”

John operates his farrow to finish operation in Lambton County with his daughter Cassie, his son Mitchell, and daughter-in-law Candace. The Van Engelens say the use of technology has been paramount in the success of their farm.

“We are basically a family affair, and we can’t be here 24-7 so we use technology to manage the health of the animals and basically feed them when we are not here.”

Each day before stepping into the barn, the Van Engelens will look over the data from the previous day, to see how much and how frequent the pigs have been eating.

“Every morning there is a feed balance report, and we can look at that report. It tells us alot, for instances if a sow has 50- percent feed remaining than that’s an issue.”

Cassie Van Engelen says the use of Radio Frequency Identification ear tags in their sow barn, has been an investment that has paid huge dividends in the overall health of the herd.    

“Technology in that aspect helps determine if a sow hasn’t eaten,” says Cassie. We can’t always visually see something but if they are not eating that gets flagged and we know to check on that sow and check her temperature.”

“The sow gets up and triggers that feed coming down,” says John. “The data comes up on the computer system and tells us if they are not getting up and eating, its more or less like an alarm system.”

From RFID ear tags and automated feeding systems, the Van Engelens also fully embraced pig sorting technology in their finishing barn leading to many positive outcomes.  

“As they go through the sorter it guesses their weight and it will then sort them based on how heavy they are,” said Mitchell Van Engelen. “The lighter pigs get a higher protein diet to help them gain weight at the same pace as the heavier ones. That way we have pigs on different rations in the same room.”

According to Mitchell, embracing technology has saved time and money, by increasing efficiency, reducing labour costs, while leading to better barn space utilization. This tech has helped reduce stress on the pigs, and will identify under preforming pigs that might be injured or not eating.

John says using this technology is helping produce healthy animals.

“We can see it on our phones, we can see it on the computer where-ever I want. Even if I am on vacation, I can see the programs and I can tell my kids something is wrong. There’s a lot that you can do with this technology”.