 Well, he's bringing that up. I'll just start to introduce myself I'm a livestock and crop producer from Wabassle, Minnesota. I've been raising pigs Since 1966 and I'm currently raising pigs for nine-man ranch and besides Raising livestock having diversified crop and livestock farm I also work for an organization called the land stewardship project work on federal and state policy And I was stirred to rent nine-man ranch when hog prices fell down to $9 a hundred back in 1998 and then I started to make a change my operation because mainly I had a confinement operation and What I'm going to be talking about here is the last project I did on my farm in terms of converting Building I built in 1977 called a I called it a nursery growing unit for pigs and So what I was looking at was looking How could I take this asset that sat there for about 10 years was my most expensive investment that I made back in 1976 and make use of it and Turn it from being something that I really didn't like working with or something that could could work for my operation and Work within the nine-man ranch protocol of raising pigs without antibiotics and a deep straw system And that's kind of what this is about. So On here so sideways we'll kick it forward So that's just a little bit about my background diversified operation do rotational grazing with with cows to and That background I'm just in the fifth year of a CSP contract and did fencing just some more background about myself and And This is okay, too. If it's all right with you. I don't mind kneeling better for my back So This so this basically was converting this 24 by 64 building to meet nine-man ranch standards for improved animal welfare while using existing resources and the idea was to demonstrate that this building could be animal welfare friendly and Pigs could be raised in a healthy environment So I renovated this building that had a partial bit about half at two rooms that were one was 24 by 34 and one that was 24 by 36 and I renovated it and And we looked at in terms of valuation of how this building would work. We looked at pig performance pig flow We looked at design the buildings to be easy for clean out Looked at it for we wanted to get better air quality Before when I use this building just as a strictly confinement building every time you walked in the house My wife didn't like it very much Because you care that order with you And we also wanted to have a more pleasant atmosphere to work in building didn't have any windows and And also have a space designed to address, you know sick or injured pigs And I said the order piece So this is kind of the outside just showing as we started working on it One of the pieces to take away the dungeon effect Which is present in one of the buildings. They don't a lot of hog buildings don't have windows So we installed windows to bring in some natural light And this is the front side of that hog building you can see off to your right The old pit fan you can see we installed a doorway there that that a skid loader could get through and Then we put a pad in front so that when we back out of the skid loader with a with manure We can just turn dump into a spreader and This is just showing us building the bulk bins and installing them and then we're going to go to the inside So now you we're gonna have some pictures contrasting what we were dealing with and of course this is after this is The last one the pigs were in there So as you can see it looks a little bit dirty a little cobwebs and you can see the The slats in this particular building were down in this room. We're down the middle of the building This is the construction of a dividing wall between the east and west rooms with a door So before on the left hand side where that big door is now. I just had a small walk door This is kind of showing in process as we were doing things We in this particular room we capped two-thirds of the slats and So before was half slats by capping two-thirds of the slats We improve the air quality significantly And you'll see in here we capped with two inches of cement We didn't come up exactly to do this all by ourselves. We consulted We we had a had an idea about what to do, but we with worked with Wayne Martin from the University of Minnesota who works the alternative a livestock program at the University and And and then in turn worked with Larry Jacobs an engineer at the University of Minnesota so in one of the rooms this particular room we had to figure out how could we put our feeders there and Watering there and not put too much pressure on them slats, you know, so they wouldn't fall through and break through So and there was just a two-inch cap of cement we used on on that theory This shows that as we did this as we poured cement we use insulation board So that would kind of protect from the pit And also for warmth and we also at that time can take a building that's older if you're going to renovate it Insulation is a big deal. So we reinstallated the ceiling too And this side here shows What we did in terms of water drainage so we kept some partial slats as you can see to your right and This area there on the left hand slide. We're right on the front of that Is an area where we're going to have straw and you'll see it a little bit better in picture We have a little bit of a hole through there, but we also have a divider wall So a little bit of that real small hole like a little tile is just designed to pull the water off the straw area So if there is some manure or leak each, you know Urine that that would slip through through the slotted area and that part there is the first of the divider wall It's a short divider wall designed by going along with the skid loader that I don't break break the wall above it And this just shows some of the smet work we were doing in the in the in this particular room on the east side So this shows in in January 2 14 when we put pigs Into this particular room you can see where the feeders are and a partial slat You'll particularly note to the right. You see the watering system just a small slotted area So when they drink water The manure will will fall through and the water seepage will fall through into the pit and This shows the opposite side of that particular room the strowed area. We'll see you see we brought I bought used gates from a neighbor and installed them and So that's the strowed area and you'll see right in front Let's see got to get my directions, but on the on the far back wall. You'll see a raised cement area and The purpose of that raised cement area keep the straw out of the pit So they come in there they sleep they play around with the straw we generally stick a bale in at night and and a bale in the morning and They'll they'll manure a little in there for the system work It's not bad if they do a little bit and we and we cover that area up and they spread it around they want something to do Just shows that area again just another picture and This here we had a we had a feeding system with an auger system before and so we just modified that system Before where you see that sliding door there we used to have our bulk bins out there But that's now our loading area from getting in so we had to move our bulk beds and modify our feeding system and we pretty much used existing materials some of the line from a neighbor and some of my old feeding line and Here I'm just making a notation about where I place the heater And maybe most people know this better than I did or at least didn't think of it at the time But here the heater is placed in the right direction far away Pointed towards the strawed area that means that's where the most warmth is going to be So now we're going to the west side of that particular building memory said there was two rooms one was 24 by 34 and one's 24 by 36, so now we're going the west side and You're seeing different things for different rooms because the pit the pit in the in this room We're going to look at next Had this the pit down the middle the slats were down the middle and the one we just got done with They were on the north side of the building on one end So we had to have a different plan for each room and still get in there with a skid loader and carry it out so Now we're looking at this room when when the project began you can see the pit down the middle and Here's where it shows construction on this west side and it You'll you'll see the pitted area that we left just a very small area that's left there Probably about eight feet by well, maybe 12 feet or so I would say and then we have those riser steps and The front part of the riser steps again It's ideas to keep the straw back and in this case we had quite a quite a drop down. So that's why you're seeing two steps This just shows some of the construction work. We went through to build that area And I think I'll just jump on here this here Shows on the west side of that area. It would be About half the room is what we call the sleeping area for the pigs. This is where we were We had to get get through the idea to Simpler thing would have been take a pitchfork and just pitch some in there and put a little Just a shallow part of slat, but I didn't want to do a pitchfork because my back isn't that great I want to use a skid loader so This here we covered that that pit that it's going down the middle With recommendation from Larry Jacobs at the University of Minnesota I think we had re rods going every six every six inches going across that slatted area and crossed and So it's really reinforced so I could carry a skid loader so you don't have to worry about that Again another picture and you're you're seeing this as it's going It'll look a little bit better later and then here I'm just going to say in this particular room when we place the heater you see I put it right in that straw area wrong area should be another end and Just another picture of this this hall piece here this this gives you another picture of of the Going out of the slatted area where the feeders are Going up to the area where straw would be put down and you'll see that Plastic pipe in there the reason that plastic pipe is in there so the so the pigs don't braze their feet going up back and forth You know you those of you who work with pigs you go back and forth in the building and pigs move just like that an idea So they don't injure their feet And this shows Construction that we put into what I call raising on this left-hand side this this picture right here under January 2014 shows the slatted small slatted area and this is one side of Making what I call a sick pin area. We have three pins there And so that just is just one picture of how we sort of built that you will see I had wood forms up but built by walls and Use existing slats out of a different building that I saved to put over that The idea kept catching water seepage again just doing some of the work cleaning up and painting and Just kind of a piece going along as we worked on it and So the picture that right you see part of the again gating that we got from a neighbor and you see the door going into the other room and This is a strawed area with with pigs in there Now you can kind of see the total pretty much the total piece as it relates to this west room Where pigs are going in both areas? Again another another picture of that And this is the slatted area where they're eating feed out of those feeders and See we got the waters place between Between both sides there Water with pigs water is the trick Most of time where you want to manure So So anyway, I'm just going to list off a few of the points here So I wanted to use the pit in both rooms, but didn't want to the straw to end up in the pits Accomplish that with fencing and raise access pads to keep straw out of the pit Wanted the major dunging to occur in the slatted areas accomplished that by water placement in the slatted areas kept Wanted good air quality accomplished that by capping two-thirds of the slats and good variable speed pit fans Wanted a pleasant atmosphere to work in accomplished that by putting windows in and painting Wanted easy clean out accomplished that by making skid-loader access for dry manure Wanted a treatment area for sicker injured injured pigs copied that by special small pin pin designed for that Results now now as a straw-based animal welfare unit two feed trials showed improved pig performance in the building using 40% less feed per pound of gain compared to pigs in this weight category fed outside Easy to clean because the pigs can be gated into feeded areas during the clean out So the area where they were eating and drinking easy to just move them quick just like that I mean you can move them in three minutes into the pen area open the door up clean with the skid-loader Air quality the building is superior to what is previously used as a pig confinement unit The audit team for both Diamond Ranch and Chipotle thought it was exceptional in terms of air Capping two-thirds of the pit was the main factor improvement and the atmosphere is a lot more pleasant now any questions The I know this may sound different, but the same concept That I when I built this building it was designed as a nursery and growing unit So you took the pigs to a stage so that when you took them and put them outside pens They take off and go and that's kind of what I wanted to complete within my name and range system So I wasn't putting a 35 40 pound pig outside, you know to get you outside and then could sleep inside with straw But get them to a little bit bigger weight So they just take off and that's kind of what they did have done at least for me at this point Not okay. The question is is there any reason I did not cement the whole area the reason I didn't cement the Hall area was is sort in my head I want to make use of the pit catch some of the water from where the pigs When they slop so I catch that And also have some of the benefit of the of the manure going into the pit so I didn't have quite so much manure to move So that was that was the reason for doing that So my straw bedding will and that will vary with the pigs, but I I usually clean one Between one in three weeks depending upon their size Whenever I feel it needs so that it gets in the stirred up No, I'm getting a little bit smelly a little bit messy built a little bit too high Then I clean It'll vary sometimes like that But I don't go much more I can't go too much more what you saw the depth of that of those riser steps Because I don't want it to go into the to the pit They'll drag a little straw into there, but not yeah I changed my pit fence so I could slow their speed down more and then when it gets warmer it speeds up a little bit more and Then I'll go in there and flick it once in a while depending what the weather is like outside you know as The manure builds up, but if you if you always keep covering the manure with straw that's part of the trick too you know a lot of people Units think Let the pigs the manure here and leave it alone I Same I follow that same principle in my faring unit cover the manure Cover with straw stops the ammonia from building up. Yes, it is a confinement barn. That's correct. Let me close Well, I started out at 6065 but I dropped her I'm dropping it down. I got it down about 50. I think I can drop her down further To save on heat bill. That's what it looks to me They'll come in there about 35 40 pounds and leave there about 75 pounds and they The one piece that I have to do Is if they do say a little bit longer? I have to you know Sometimes what I'll do is take out half the pigs and leave the other half there depending on my pens situation is outside my flow Because with nine-man range standards, you have to have so many you can't exceed so many pigs per square feet depending on size But it's also a little bit of common sense standards, too Because if you if you have too many pigs in too small of an area tail bad incomes So and we we've had no problem with that in this building What we have for outside is I have Buildings that are not insulated while they're in I should say I should correct that they're insulated But not heated and when you straw in them And then the pigs go outside to eat