Our team is working with the New York Pork Producers on a project to help share education on transiting dairy barns into facilities for hogs. This includes farrowing, grow-out, and finishing facilities. Our team is working with Tim Terry from Pro-Dairy to visit farms for design consultations and to record video footage of him explaining key areas of renovation in NYS barns. The areas of focus for this project are:

• Ventilation
• Lighting
• Moisture control
• Flooring
• Space considerations

Each barn will have about 30 minutes of video recording taken. The majority of this will be focused on the parts of the barn that we're discussing. You would not be part of the recording, unless you'd like to be. These snippets will be turned into 5-minute videos that will include footage from other regional facilities to help reinforce the talking points under the topics listed above. As the farmer, you are welcome to tell us what we are allowed to and not allowed to record. Your farm's identifying information will not be shared. If you'd like to review the videos before their release, we can discuss this too.

Ultimately, the completed videos will be shared by the New York Pork Producers and Cornell Cooperative Extension with other farmers across the state to share an idea of potential upgrades that can be made to these barns so that pigs will thrive.

During the visit, in addition to the video recording, Tim and I are available to consult with you regarding any improvements that you'd be looking to make to your barns. If you'd like the consult in addition to the recording, we'll plan to be at your farm for about 2-3 hours.

We're planning these visits for early October. If this is something that you're interested in, please let me know. I'm also happy to talk more over the phone (716-640-0844) or email at amb544@cornell.edu. 

Thank you for your consideration! 

Amy Barkley, Livestock Specialist, SWNYDLFC