Finding efficiency with automated sorting scale technology

When a pig reaches market weight, the system automatically sorts it from the group by directing it to a delivery section.
Automated sorting eliminates estimating weights and manual sorting. Instead, continuous collection of growth data allows accurate forecasting of daily gains, allowing you to plan deliveries and transport up to four weeks in advance.

“Our sort loss has dropped from $3.20 to $0.14 (€ 2.71 to € 0.12) per head,” says Roger Cech, a Nebraska pig producer who upgraded to automated sorting scale technology in 2019. “You can project consistent loads and set up marketing much better with the data.”

Research conducted at Purdue University shows that when sorting accuracy errors occur, the sort loss per pig was $2.50 to $4.55 (€2.12 to €3.86) per pig greater than with accurate sorting.[2]

2. Save months of time, make better use of labor force

Automation also drastically reduced the time Cech’s team spends sorting, marking and loading market hogs.
“Without the automatic sorters, it took us an hour to mark, then another hour-and-a-half to sort each load of 175 pigs,” says Cech. “That ends up being about 15 hours per room, and we have six rooms to empty.”

Now, since animals are automatically sorted, Cech’s team can loadout in about 15 minutes, using only one to two employees to get the job done. For an operation with two employees and three phases of pigs, that equals 1.5 hours of labor per room.  Plus, he says, “the pigs load more calmly than without using the sorters.”
The time savings equates to months of time across his labor force. Automated systems also allow Cech to put his team’s skills to better use by eliminating repetitious tasks and enabling people to focus on animals that need their attention.