“It’s a difference like night and day,” says Dr. Tim Trayer of how pigs move during load-out from automatic sorting facilities. The Lancaster, PA, veterinary consultant is an advisor for automatic sorting barns throughout the state. He says growers and employees at those facilities love the technology because it makes moving pigs so simple.

“It changes the job from an unpleasant one to one that people enjoy doing,” says Dr. Trayer. The pig owners are also quite gung ho. “I can tell you the two clients that use automatic sorting are telling people ‘automatic sorting large pens are the preference,’” says Dr. Trayer.