Managing onion fields in Texas, cattle ranches in Oklahoma, pork operations in South Dakota and Minnesota, plus grain farms throughout the Midwest, provides John Cottingham a unique and broad view of what it takes to profit in production agriculture. His firm, Chicagoland-based Agricultural Investment Associates, oversees operations for private clients investing in farming.

			John Cottingham

So what’s the most important common denominator for profit? “You’ve got to maximize your potential,” says Cottingham. In pork production, maximizing potential means “getting pigs to the optimum market weight and reducing sort loss,” he says.

“We want to increase our pounds of pork sold – getting pigs up to 275 to 280lbs. instead of 260 – without added sort loss,” he says. In other words, running up to the edge of the marketing cliff without going over it. “That’s exactly what it is like,” Cottingham relates.

Cottingham says FAST II consistently and precisely pinpoints the animals that packers desire. He currently works with producers– two in South Dakota and one in Minnesota – that are using Farmweld automatic sorting systems. With the FAST system, sorting accuracy has been dramatically improved and marketing weights are increasing, he says. Prior to taking advantage of automatic sorting, Cottingham says he saw, “too much variability” in marketing results.

			Julie and Keith Needham, partners and managers of Buffalo Ridge Ranch, Elkton, SD, says FAST II adds flexibility for their finishing operations because it allows them to feed pigs in two weight groups within a single barn.

Keith and Julie Needham are Cottingham’s managers and partners at Buffalo Ridge Ranch, a 1,300-sow unit operating near Elkton, SD. Keith says that sort loss has been practically eliminated at Buffalo Ridge’s finishing sites using FAST. “Now we are seeing no deducts for sort loss,” says Keith, adding that all new agreements he writes are with growers willing to invest in sorting facilities.

Buffalo Ridge’s Adrian, MN, producer Rick Bullerman converted a 1,000-head finisher last May with two older type FAST scales. Then he built a new 2,000-head facility in July with four new FAST II scales. Gating leftover from the converted barn covered half the gating for the new facility. Bullerman says he really likes the FAST II scales because the Daily Histogram allows him to better plan marketing schedules for Needham. “You can see right away where most of the pigs are,” says Bullerman.

			Rick Bullerman, Adrian, MN, likes the FAST II Daily Histogram because it allows him to better plan marketing schedules.

In addition to accurate sorting, FAST II assures the heaviest pigs get pulled out of the barn, first. As Purdue’s Dr. Allan Schinckel and Dr. Paul Preckel point out in the "Avoid Marketing Mediocrity" Progressive Pork article, selling the heaviest pigs possible, within premium weight ranges, contributes to better profitability. FAST II provides an estimated sort weight (the cutoff weight between lights and heavies) based on the last 24-hour history of actual weights. Many systems require the operator to guess a sort weight. If the guess is too low, lighter pigs may fill up the load before the heaviest pigs have crossed the scale. If the guess is too high, the load may not get filled by the time the truck arrives.

FAST II takes the guesswork out of selecting a sort weight. FAST II also allows Buffalo Ridge and its producers more control over feeding performance and costs. “It should give us the chance to feed the heaviest pigs in the barn their optimum diet and the lightest pigs in the barn their optimum diet,” says Cottingham.

			Rick and Deb Ford, Bruce, SD, say FAST II allows them to help control feed costs.

Producers Rick and Deb Ford first loaded pigs into their new FAST II facility late last September. They operate the new 2,000-head facility in Bruce, SD, along with a smaller traditional style finisher. They say that FAST II allows them to better target specific diets balanced for specific size pigs. Their feed budgets – as prescribed by Cottingham and Needham – are based on switching rations every 50 to 75 lbs, says Rick. Knowing when to move on to a new ration based on the actual weights helps control costs. “By not feeding a more expensive ration too long to heavy pigs, we are better able to help control costs,” says Rick.

Needham asserts that being able to specifically feed light and heavy groups within a barn gives the entire system more flexibility. He says he often has to fill a barn with more than one age group. When the barn is set up with FAST and two feed systems, Needham can feed specialized rations or an additive, such as Paylean®, to a specific group for a specific period of time. FAST, “stabilizes everything,” he says.

With farms throughout rural America, Cottingham says his management approach is to seek outstanding local producers who are responsible for day-to-day operations. “Our firm empowers the local producer,” says Cottingham. “We try to listen to and support them to maximize their results.” FAST II is a technology that facilitates that process because it allows excellent managers to do even a better job, he says.