When Larry Hummer and Dale Garvick spotted FAST™ (Farmweld Automatic Sorting Technology) last summer at World Pork Expo, they quickly adapted plans for two new 2,000-head buildings to include the technology.

			Pigs at the feeder in one of Hummer Family Partnerships’ two new, 2,000-head FAST barns.

“It looked like we would be able to cut our labor to sort hogs,” says Hummer. The system also offered better sorting accuracy. “We think we’ll be able to narrow our sorting down to a ten-pound weight range,” says Hummer.

FAST’s hands-free sorting is appealing. “Sorting out those big pigs and having them waiting and ready to load is going to be really nice,” says Garvick.

			Managers Larry Hummer (left) and Dale Garvick, Hummer Family Partnership, Keister, MN, anticipate FAST™ will cut sorting and washing labor, improve sorting accuracy and allow its operation to better manage the feeding program.

Hummer and Garvick, who are brothers-in-law and managers of the Hummer Family Partnership, Keister, MN, also like the management tool FAST provides for better feeding accuracy. “It will allow us to sort pigs and feed them separate rations depending on weight,” Hummer says.

Garvick says pigs move really well in the new facility and believes sick pigs are easier to manage in the big pens than in conventional buildings. “If you have a sick pig, you can almost walk it right to the sick pen, that’s how well they move,” says Garvick.