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.

Tim Miller, environmental specialist with Staffordshire-based ARM Buildings, says load-cells have been installed under feed bins on a number of units.

Following the increased interest by pig farmers in information communication technology and real-time monitoring on pig farms, Farmex is rebranding all its data services under the Barn Report Pro banner. It will be dropping the Guardian Action name currently used for some of its services.

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! 

Producers are being advised to raise the set temperature on pig building control systems on hot days to reduce temperature fluctuations, especially in finishing sheds.

Mark Hodgkinson will be the new contracts manager for Staffordshire-based ARM Buildings. Mark has been with the company in the position of senior site foreman for over 30 years. He is perfect for this position and is he is a recoginesed face amongst pig farmers.