Pig Farmers Driven by the Climate Crisis Seek a Breakthrough with a ‘Smart Ventilation Standard’

[Korea Agricultural Technology Newspaper = Reporter Lee Hyun-woo] Amid a rapidly intensifying climate crisis marked by heat waves and livestock diseases, ‘precision livestock environment control technology’ for pig farms is gaining attention. To solve the burden of initial costs and maintenance issues, which have been the biggest obstacles to adopting advanced smart barns, and to prove with data the ‘return on investment (ROI)’ that farmers can actually feel, Korea’s pork research infrastructure and an advanced agtech company have joined hands.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on June 9 by the Korea Pork Producers Association and AgriRobotech Co., Ltd. centers on building a ‘field-centered win-win model’ best suited to the realities of Korean farms and presenting a practical standard plan to farms nationwide by precisely quantifying productivity improvement indicators relative to power consumption.

This agreement was 추진됐다 as climate change has made the management of temperature, humidity, and air quality inside pig houses a key variable determining farm productivity. Through the agreement, the two organizations decided to cooperate closely in △introducing advanced technologies and providing professional technical support to create an optimized breeding environment at the Handon Innovation Center △establishing research and testbed environments for the stable on-site application of the provided technologies and equipment △improving the productivity of domestic pork farms and conducting external publicity and educational activities based on the outcomes of technological cooperation.

A particularly noteworthy part is the ‘advanced ventilation system infrastructure’ to be built in the production and research buildings within the Handon Innovation Center. Pigs are highly vulnerable to heat stress because their sweat glands are not well developed, and poor ventilation inside pig houses directly leads to respiratory diseases and lower weight gain rates. AgriRobotech plans to fully support the Innovation Center with its livestock automation and ventilation control technologies to help them take root in the field.

This project will be carried out under thorough management and supervision by the Handon Innovation Committee within the association. The key is not to stop at simply introducing foreign equipment or fragmentary installation, but to derive a ‘field-centered win-win model’ best suited to the realities of Korean farms after undergoing macroscopic technical verification in cooperation with internal and external experts.

In the livestock industry, some point out that this agreement should become an opportunity to verify farmers’ ‘practical ROI (return on investment).’ This is because advanced smart barn equipment has had entry barriers due to high initial introduction and maintenance costs, making it difficult for small and medium-sized farms or elderly farmers to adopt it readily.

Accordingly, the Handon Innovation Center faces the task of precisely analyzing the data control efficiency of the ventilation system being introduced this time, while also quantifying and presenting to farmers indicators of productivity improvement relative to power consumption (such as shortened shipping age and improved feed conversion ratio). In addition, whether rapid after-sales service (A/S) systems in the event of equipment failure and intuitive integrated control software (UI/UX) that even elderly livestock farmers can easily understand are standardized is expected to become a key factor determining the success or failure of nationwide diffusion to farms in the future.

Choi Young-gil, vice chairman of the Korea Pork Producers Association (chairman of the Handon Innovation Committee), said, “As the Handon Innovation Center advances field-centered smart livestock research, advanced ventilation system infrastructure and stable technical support are essential elements. As climate change has intensified recently, precision environmental control based on data and advanced technology has become the key that determines farm competitiveness. We will spare no effort in supporting all related activities, including phased education and publicity, so that the results of this project can spread smoothly to farm sites nationwide.”

Ham Young-hwa, CEO of AgriRobotech Co., Ltd., said, “It is meaningful to establish a technology partnership with the Handon Innovation Center, a pivotal research and education base for Korea’s pork industry. We will mobilize all of the company’s livestock automation capabilities and devote ourselves to professional technical support so that the infrastructure within the Innovation Center can achieve optimal efficiency. We will actively contribute so that this cooperation becomes an opportunity to establish a smart livestock technology standard that pork farmers can trust.”