Content area
Full Text
In anage when hog buildings are Constructed to last 10 years, putting up facilities to last longer is rare. But Bob Zeysing just spent $2 million to build a state-of-theart sow facility that should last for several decades. Equipped with the latest technology and most durable materials available, the 2,400-sow farm located near Marshall, MO, exemplifies one of the most modern hog units built today. It will take this independent hog producer well into the future.
Zeysing sunk his money into the buildings to make hog production easier for his employees. "We live and die by human resources," he says. "We can buy all the concrete, steel and equipment we want, but without human resources, this place will not run. It will quickly be substandard if the people here aren't on task and doing a good job. So we must make it easier for them so they can spend their time on management rather than in manual labor."
This new facility drastically cuts employee workloads. As a result, only six employees are needed to do everything from breeding and farrowing to weaning and cleaning. And only two employees oversee the 57,000-sq.-ft. facility on weekends.
The change in work is most evident in breeding. Only one person handles the 45 matings/day to...