As a PIC gilt multiplier, Belstra Milling sells approximately 50,000 replacement gilts annually to commercial sow farms throughout the country. Recently when Belstra added automatic sorting facilities to their housing mix, customers began to comment on how certain gilts behaved. The gilts from sorting facilities were remarkably calm when they arrived at customer farms and seemed unbothered by having to adapt to new facilities or handlers.

			Rob Buiter, Malcolm DeKryger and John Hoek say automatic sorting helps Belstra Milling produce less stressed, calmer pigs.

“These pigs are very comfortable because they have had a non-threatening, nofright, no-flight grow-out experience,” says Malcolm DeKryger, Belstra's vice president.

In fact, DeKryger and others on his team at Belstra were drawn to automatic sorting technology because of the associated animal welfare benefits. “We liked the idea of having pigs in a freerange environment,” says DeKryger, noting that researchers have documented that pigs fight less and exhibit fewer signs of stress in large pens versus traditional small pens.

Sorting equipment also removes the need for hand-sorting, which can be a pressurized situation for pigs and people. “Rather than being aggressively sorted by people, the pigs are sorted by an inanimate object, right or left,” says DeKryger. Pigs are accustomed to being sorted by the scale so this eliminates a stressful situation occurring right before the pigs get loaded and shipped to customer farms. “Getting animals out the door calmly, collectedly, and without injury is a high priority for us,” says DeKryger.

Rob Buiter is in charge of field services for Belstra's finishing sites. He also sees the positive impact on animal behavior in barns equipped with automatic sorting. “When you walk into a barn, the pigs don't get up and run. They don't even notice that you are there,” he observes. Buiter believes that is because the animals are used to people walking directly through their large pens versus outside the pen in an alleyway.

Belstra first observed how its pigs responded to automatic sorting when a contract finisher converted a barn in 2002. With plans in place to build a new gilt multiplier, Belstra's managers soon made the decision that all related finishing barns — both company and contract sites — would be specified for automatic sorting. Today, nearly 40 percent of Belstra's gilt and barrow finishing space is in automatic sorting facilities. Four different brands of sorting systems are used, including Farmweld's FAST II.

Buiter works closely with the employees and barn owners using the various models of sorting equipment. He urges producers to scrutinize scales for durability and user-friendliness when selecting equipment. “There's quite a bit of difference,” says Buiter. Some scales, he explains, require the operator to scroll through several screens to get basic information. In contrast, Buiter says the menus on the FAST II scale are easy to navigate and understand without a great deal of study or training.

Durability is also important because sorting scales operate in the harsh environment of a pig barn. Both temperature and humidity can vary widely. A scale must also withstand nearly constant use – undergoing an estimated 500,000 cycles per year in a food court barn – sometimes by pigs weighing upwards of 300 pounds. Among the various scale models used in Belstra's system, Buiter says there have been some problems with bad cylinders and flimsy doors. “In one case, we've seen scale doors break before the first load of pigs was out,” he says.

Buiter says the operators using FAST II express they are pleased with how the system works. “Durability looks real good,” says Buiter. “We've had no electronic or mechanical problems.”

Jon Hoek, Belstra's production manager, is also impressed with Farmweld's product. “Farmweld is a leader, not only in design and implementation of the technology, but also on the information side,” he says. Hoek anticipates using more and more performance information, possibly including data tied with electronic identification, to evaluate and market replacement animals.

While Belstra doesn't have any immediate plans to build additional sorting facilities, DeKryger, Hoek and Buiter indicate they believe automatic sorting technology will be an important part of the industry's future. They say many producers will be drawn to innovations such as the FAST II Alley Design for converting existing facilities.