Podcast: Contract growing to the meat shop
In this 71st episode of the Real P3 podcast, Dr Casey Bradley speaks to Ben Greenfield, who has gained much experience and insight into custom meat processing, as well as a wean-to-finish barn manager.
Greenfield grew up on a farm in Iowa and studied swine management after which he gained 15 years of experience managing hog confinements.
A contract grower/caregiver
A part of his role is as a “contract caregiver”, where he worked for many different farmers, Greenfield was responsible for taking care of wean-to-finisher or finisher pigs, giving vaccinations, daily checks, loading and unloading, and getting pigs off to a good start.
Driving the health and well-being of pigs from the start
Greenfield talks about what he found works best to get the pigs off to a good start. “I am a big believer in ‘mat feeding’,” he said, explaining that he would hand-scoop feed onto the mats twice a day to get the pigs started. He said he would run a lot of electrolytes through the water, and to ensure a dry environment he ventilated the barns well.
Greenfields shares some advice for managers to confront the labour challenges that the industry continues to face and shares his thoughts on where the pork industry stands in terms of meeting consumer demands.
