Taking Care of the Details

Jarod Leman demonstrates the ease of keeping Farmweld Jumbo Feeders adjusted.

Making sure every corner of every feeder gets cleaned thoroughly might seem like a small detail not worth worrying about. But like any good pig manager, Randy Leman knows better. “If you have a slight disease problem and you don’t get the feeders clean, it can pass right on through to the next group of pigs,” he says.

Randy and his brother, Chris, and Chris’ son, Jarod, operate Triple L Pork, a wean-to-finish management company based in Roanoke, IL, in addition to owning several of their own barns. The Lemans’ business depends on their ability to manage the details of production, from starting pigs to adjusting feeders to sorting and cleaning the barns between turns.

Last year, New Horizon Pork, managed by the Lemans, built two, 2,400-head barns with Farmweld gating and Farmweld Jumbo Feeders with Flip-to-Clean. The Flip-to-Clean system allows even the biggest, heaviest 5-hole Jumbo Feeders to be rotated in place without the need for removing feeders from the fence line for power-washing. That means every angle can be cleaned thoroughly.

“It is such a simple, easy concept, yet the efficiency it enables is monumental,” remarks Randy. “Without Flip-to-Clean, you have to tip the feeder up on one end, and it is not easy to access all parts of the feeder. This allows you to clean faster and better.”

But Flip-to-Clean is just one example of Farmweld’s commitment to detail in the products they sell. Randy says design features, like solid feed space dividers that prevent pigs from fighting at the feeder, directly impact pig performance.

And with today’s high feed prices, keeping feeders adjusted is also important. “You don’t want them shut down too tightly, and you don’t want them too open, either, because that can lead to feed waste,” says Randy. The Lemans aim at adjusting each feeder daily. Randy likes the Farmweld crank adjustment system because it allows for precise adjustment, and it is easy to use. “With the adjustment cranks at the top of the feeder, it is very easy to access,” he says.

The New Horizon Pork facilities, which were built by JDL Longhorn of Pittsfield, IL, have large pens that contain 150 pigs each. They are designed with the option of creating smaller sorting pens, with or without feeders, and an extra wide alley for easy loading of pigs into and out of the barn.