Farmweld Cast Platforms: Flooring To Last A Lifetime

Brothers Jim (left) and David Fisher will have almost 400 of Farmweld’s Modular Cast Center Platforms at their Middletown, MO, farrow-to- wean operation after a new building project is completed later this year. They say sow and pig comfort plus outstanding durability are two big reasons they are sold on the platforms.

Jim Fisher is quick to applaud Farmweld’s quality products and superior service. Fisher and his brother, Dave, and father, Ed, operate the 1,400-sow Fisher Hog Farm L.P., Middletown, MO, which they plan to expand to 2,500 sows later this year. In recent years, the Fishers have purchased 150 of Farmweld’s Modular Cast Center Platform sand have ordered 240 more for the new facility they are building. The Fishers say that not only are they impressed with the quality of the equipment, they are also impressed with Farmweld’s way of doing business.

“Communication has been excellent, and they send you exactly what you need and everything you need,” Jim Fisher says. “You are never short on anything such as bolts or other items you need to install the equipment. It is a quality company.”

Fisher says he and his family were fed up with putting new flooring in their farrowing barns, just to have to replace it a few years later. After using woven wire for many years, the Fishers made a switch to Farmweld’s Modular Cast Center Platforms four years ago at their farrow-to-wean operation. “The problem with woven wire is that it wears out,” says Jim. “Cast iron will last a lifetime.”

More than just visually appealing
The Fishers are also extremely satisfied with Farmweld’s colorful, orange plastic flooring panels underneath the piglets. “The orange flooring is great for pig comfort because it gives them a nice, warm climate,” Jim says. According to recent PigCHAMP data they provided, the Fishers wean an average of 9.9 pigs per sow and 23.8 pigs per sow per year.

Fisher Farms’ four employees tell Jim they like the flooring because they can observe pigs easily. “The bright orange floor makes pig visibility good. It is easy to look for pigs that need to be cared for,” Jim says. “The flooring cleans up nicely, too.”