Early results from FAST™ (Farmweld Automatic Sorting Technology) facilities look very promising. Last year when Leroy, MN-based Next Generation Pork’s owner Bob Baarsch and his grower, Terry Jones, made the decision to convert a 600-head grow-finish barn into a FAST facility, Baarsch says he had a simple goal: “I wanted to sell more pounds of pork at the same price.” In other words, sell heavier carcasses without incurring additional sort losses.

Baarsch achieved that goal with the first FAST closeout group by selling five-plus-pound heavier carcasses while maintaining his percentages in Hormel’s red box. That alone added $1.89 per pig to Baarsch’s bottom line. Add in an improved mortality rate and improved feed conversions in the converted FAST barn and Baarsch earned $4.27 more per FAST pig versus his average profit per pig in 2002.

Baarsch says he thinks the barn will do even better on its second closeout. “We waited a week too long to sell one load in the first group because it fell over a holiday,” he says. The percentage of pigs that hit the red box for that load dipped to 65 percent but “even with the bad load, we still did pretty decent,” says Baarsch.

The chart below highlights marketing results on the FAST group versus 2002 results for all the pigs from the same sow source. The figures are based on real perfor-mance but a hypothetical carcass base. Something to note: The pigs in the left column were fed with wet feeders. The pigs in the FAST barn were fed with Farmweld Jumbo (Dry) Feeders and Farmweld cups.