New Product Tour was held as part of the 2020 Global Hog Industry Virtual Conference earlier this week.

Kevin.Schulz, senior content specialist

May 29, 2020

2 Min Read
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SwineTech SmartGuard was named the Producer's Choice Award winner after online voting during the 2020 New Product Tour.SwineTech Inc.

Animal welfare and saving piglets is important for any hog operation and apparently it's also important to those who followed along to this year's New Product Tour, as SwineTech's SmartGuard technology garnered the Producer's Choice award.

SmartGuard provides the technologies necessary to automate and augment farrowing management, allowing for reduced labor and energy costs as well as sow and piglet mortalities. This is accomplished by leveraging voice recognition and smart cameras, as well as environmental and behavioral sensors that constantly monitor a designated farrowing environment.

SmartGuard has been proven to reduce piglet crushing by 30% and overall piglet mortalities by 25.3% on a large commercial sow farm in Iowa.

After learning that his company was chosen as the 2020 Producer's Choice winner, Matthew Rooda, SwineTech CEO and president, says "I am very proud of the SwineTech team and thankful for the support that we have received from our customers in the U.S. and Canada. It means a lot to receive this award, however our work doesn't stop here. We are continuing to build innovative tools to improve the way we approach sow farm management. "

SmartGuard was one of nine products featured during the New Product Tour portion of the 2020 Global Hog Industry Virtual Conference earlier this week.

Related:2021 New Product Tour voting is underway

"It means a lot (earning Producer's Choice) because it is difficult bringing something new to market. It's not just about saving the piglets, it's about the sow welfare and the people taking care of them," Rooda says. "It's about making the lives of people working in the farms better and more efficient. We're just trying to figure out how we can use technology to improve the overall experience of working in a sow farm, allowing caregivers to offer the very best care to the pigs."

Rooda says market development continues for his company's product, "we are currently interested in working with all pork producers in the U.S. and Canada. Furthermore, we are currently evaluating what other countries we will expand to over the next couple of years."

As with most of the world, COVID-19 has not left SwineTech untouched, but in a good way for producers as Rooda says potential customers should inquire about a deal for producers. Check out the SwineTech website for more information.

About the Author(s)

Kevin.Schulz

senior content specialist, National Hog Farmer

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