Farmweld's Patti Uhrich demonstrating FAST to Jim and Jo Ann Veldkamp

About 500 people from five states converged on Jim and Jo Ann Veldkamp’s farm August 12, 2002, to walk through their new FAST facility and visit with industry experts. The Veldkamps’ new barn is a 1,200-head finishing facility built by Skattum’s Confinement Services, Inc. The barn is divided into two pens of 600 head each. Each pen contains one FAST sorting scale located on the fence line between a loafing area and two food courts. The system is designed to automatically weigh and sort heavy pigs into a holding area for more accurate marketing.

The Veldkamps, who are shareholders in the 200-producer network called the Pipestone System, expect the new system to help cut sort loss, especially during cooler seasons when pigs tend to grow faster. “If pigs get too heavy, we get docked. This will give us better control over that,” says Jim Veldkamp. “Likewise in summer months when pigs tend to grow slower, the scale system should help us avoid selling pigs that are too light.”

Dr. Gordon Spronk, a Pipestone System veterinary consultant, says he is impressed with the potential the FAST system offers for improving nutrition. “With this system, nutritionists could more specifically change diets by knowing actual weights and average daily gains,” says Spronk. This gives producers a better understanding of “what is happening on the feeding floor as it is happening,” he says.