Remote monitoring of piggeries has proved to be a big advantage in these days of lockdown and social distancing. It enabled a ventilation problem on a Midlands finishing unit to be solved without a visit.

The environment in a 2,500-pig finishing house on a Midlands farm was well controlled but the temperature in a one room of 250 pigs fluctuated every two days, giving a cause for concern as the weather warmed up. This was identified by Tim Miller, environment specialist with ARM Buildings, from his home in Hereford. Through the Dicam system, linked to the Barn Report Pro data retrieval, he was able to diagnose the cause.

“To ensure all fans are used evenly, the system rotates their use every two days and I could see that one particular fan was causing the problem,” said Tim.

He rang the farm manager and was able to talk through the re-programming necessary to isolate this fan and allow normal ventilation until the issue was solved. It turned out that the motor driving the mechanical chimney baffle below the fan was not functioning causing the temperature to rise. This was later solved by an engineer.

“With the introduction of Dicam 2, more of these sorts of problems will be able to be solved remotely,” he said. “Beyond the current human risks with coronavirus, there could be considerable benefits for herd biosecurity.”

Since 2008 ARM Buildings has fitted data loggers as standard equipment to all its new pig houses.

The 2019 Nick Bird Award has been presented at Harper Adams University, to Olivia Hartshorn, from Staffordshire, for her dissertation on ventilation design in pig finisher houses and its impact on animal performance.

Health is a key factor in pig production. Buildings, and the environment they provide, have an enormous influence on the health of pigs and therefore their performance.

Harper Adams student, Bethany Walford, has been given a one-year’s placement opportunity by Staffordshire-based ARM Buildings and Reading-based technology company, Farmex, to help develop their digital sales and marketing operations.

Colder weather could be a blessing for pig farmers with naturally-ventilated straw-based finishing houses. On some farms there has been an endless round of mucking out dirty bedding because the pigs’ dunging habits have been reversed.

ROGER SMITH RETIRES

Andrew Brittain, ARM’s operations director writes the following tribute:

"Christmas 2019 saw the retirement of Roger Smith, ARM Buildings’ sales and contracts director.

Well-known in the industry for his no-nonsense, open and honest approach, his retirement will leave a huge gap. Just as Roger will be missed by our customers in the pig industry, here at ARM we will undoubtedly miss his presence, wealth of experience, knowledge and sense of humour!

Unlike other countries which experience hot weather regularly, pig housing in the UK does not usually have any cooling elements such as misters, so our pigs are likely to feel the brunt of the temperature.

Larger livestock units with many bulk bins, often on different sites, makes it increasingly difficult for farmers, managers and stock-people to remember to check the amount of feed remaining in them. This problem has been overcome with a new electronic sensor device called the SiloMetric, supplied by ARM Buildings.

Mick McNulty has been appointed contracts manager for Staffordshire-based ARM Buildings. Previously senior site foreman, and with 30 years’ experience, he is amply qualified for this position and is already well-known among many pig farmers.

IT systems for pig production management from farmex – turning data into information into knowledge into profit!