Pig farming equipment innovation | PigEasy striving to find the better way

“There’s a way to do it better – find it.”
– Thomas Edison

While innovation never quits at PigEasy, it can certainly ebb and flow. Sometimes great ideas get stuck in Dad’s noggin for quite a while before he begins messing around in the shop creating the first proto-type. Even then, parts and pieces to the “next big thing” have been known to collect dust waiting to prove their worth.

Who can blame the guy? We’ve been busy.

Traveling all around the Midwest has us thinking we wished we would have tracked all the back roads we’ve ~~zoomed through~~ driven the appropriate speed on back when we started promoting the MealMeter almost four years ago. We aren’t sure if they really look familiar or the landscape is just beautiful everywhere we travel.

For instance, we were up in Winnipeg, Manitoba a few weeks ago for the Prairie Livestock Expo. We thought we knew cold weather here in Iowa…that is until we visited our Canadian neighbors. WOW! That’s a whole new level of freezing cold. Not counting a little run-in with black ice and a median on the way home, the trip was all positive. Everyone at the Expo was exceptionally friendly and we look forward to heading back there again (preferably when it’s warmer).

Our time back in Iowa has been spent developing new products as well as creating different options of our tried and true ones.

Chuck-It Bucket XL

We’ve had some customers request larger Chuck-It Buckets. Our regular Chuck-It Bucket size is great for a typical 3000 head sow farm with a regular loader bucket size, but could be small for larger operations. The Chuck-It Bucket XL is the answer for your larger farm with a 3,000lb and 48 cu. ft. holding capacity.

New MealMeter Applications

We often hear positive feedback on the MealMeter feed dispenser and have found other areas in a farm that benefit from maximizing feed intake while eliminating feed waste, such as a sick pen or boar pen. Customers have been happy with the amount of feed saved, in addition to eliminating the need for another watering pan.

More applications for the MealMeter are in store for 2017 – unfortunately, we’re not at a point where we can disclose all of them, so we’re going to have to leave you hanging in suspense!

Feedback Cart

Another item that has been working on our farm for years is a feedback or back-feeding cart. Ours is an easy tool (go figure!). To use, simply open the valve and walk down the aisle at a pace that gives you the recommended dosage. This is a superior solution in many ways. 1) There’s no heavy lifting or bending involved, and 2) feedback dosage is uniform. You know that the first sow in the row is getting the same amount as the last sow in the row. A 5 gallon bucket just can’t compete.

The PigEasy feedback cart is so new, it’s not even on our website or brochures yet. Call (888) 354-0112 for more details.

ISU Ventilation Project

The most exciting news I have is one I can tell you the least about. What I can disclose, though, is that PigEasy is working with Iowa State University on a preliminary trial to improve pit ventilation with one of Dad’s patented inventions. This idea pre-dates even the MealMeter. Dad was beginning to see all the benefits of this ventilation proto-type right around the time the MealMeter was taking off and requiring more attention.

With the original proto-type in for over 5 years and what we’ve seen with improvements to air quality and pit foaming issues, we have high hopes for the trial’s results and simply cannot wait to get this solution out to producers!

Upcoming Trade Shows

We will be showcasing a lot of the stuff discussed up above at the winter pork shows in January/February. Make sure to check out our booth location at the Expo you’re attending and stop by. We’d love to catch up with you!