Pork chops for dinner? Bacon and eggs for breakfast? Yum!
The next time you chow down on your favorite pork meal, think about the
people who raised the pig that you are now eating. Pigs (or swine as they
are called in the industry) are raised at large and small swine farms. People
called swine technicians tend to their day-to-day existence.
Before Deanne Miller accepted the job of swine extension specialist, she
worked for three years as a swine technician on a farm. Miller was attracted
to agriculture because she loved animals and the wages were appealing. She
began her career with a degree in agriculture.
"Then I couldn't find a job because I had no farming background. I
saw an ad for a swine technician course, so I applied." The course was a two-year
program condensed into 41 weeks. A six-month paid internship at a swine farm
provided work experience.
After completing her internship, Miller remained at the farm for a few
months. "I spent a lot of time in three areas: the nursery where you look
after the baby piglets, in farrowing where the sows give birth and in breeding."
After a time, Miller transferred to a different farm within the same company
where they did semen collection for artificial insemination. Since the average
farm has from 600 to 1,000 sows, and each sow gives birth to about 22 piglets
a year, the work can be demanding. A typical workweek is 45 hours. Technicians
are required to work every second weekend.
"I liked it best when I was working in farrowing," says Miller. "That's
where women excel. We have the nurturing touch that the sows need when they
are giving birth. We also have smaller hands, which is an advantage."
A typical day began at 7 a.m. After arriving at work, the first step was
to "shower in," meaning to shower, soap down and change clothes. "This is
called biosecurity. You don't want to bring any diseases into the barn."
When Miller was working in farrowing, she would make her first rounds after
showering in. "I checked which sows gave birth overnight and recorded all
of the births. If any sows were having difficulty, I would have to check every
10 minutes to be sure that the piglets are being born properly. If they need
help, you go in and assist. Sometimes you have to perform caesarean operations."
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| Deanne Miller wanted to be a swine technician because she loved animals
and the wages were appealing. |
| Courtesy of: Deanne Miller |
Miller was also responsible for feeding the sows three times daily, and
for attending to piglet health. "At the end of each day, you do fostering.
That means you sort the piglets by size so you have all the runts together
feeding on one sow and the big piglets feeding on another sow. That ensures
that they all get fed properly."
Miller especially enjoyed playing with the piglets and being able to save
piglets that were endangered during birth. Moving the pregnant sows to the
farrowing stalls, however, was stressful. "The sows that are about to give
birth cannot be stressed, so we have to be very careful about moving them."
If you want to be a swine technician, you must love animals. "This job
gives you all the hands-on experience with animals that you could ever want.
The pigs are so neat. After we do a collection on the boar studs, the pen
is opened and they know where to go. They expect a cookie at the end and they
throw a fit if they don't get it," Miller says.
"And they love getting a bath. They get really excited when you bring out
the hose. Of course, it's important to remember that these animals are
being raised for meat production. You cannot think of them as pets."
Brad Drechsler is president of an organization that provides training and
employment services for the agri-food industry. Like Miller, Drechsler has
a BS in agriculture.
"I've been in hog production all my life," explains Drechsler. "I
started out on our family farm where we raised cattle, hogs and grain. It
was a teaching farm, so I became interested in industry training quite early.
Then after getting my BS degree, I returned to the farm and operated it until
1994."
After that, he taught a swine technician program. Now, Drechsler is involved
in a large-scale hog production operation that employs 10 or 11 swine technicians.
"Every day is a different activity. It depends on what area the technicians
are working in. There are four distinct areas on a hog farm. They could be
in farrowing, finishing [raising market hogs to 441 pounds], weaning, or working
in the breeding areas."
Technicians working in moving and finishing are required to perform physical
labor. They must move hogs weighing around 441 pounds. "But in farrowing,
you are working with baby piglets, so it is not heavy. A lot of women work
in this area."
When Drechsler hires a swine technician, he looks for someone that is good
at working with other people. "They must be able to work as part of a team,
and they must also be able to work alone," he says. A strong science background,
analytical skills, observation skills and computer literacy are also important.
"And of course they must like animals," he adds.
Working as an apprentice or summer intern is another good way to decide
whether or not this is the occupation for you, according to John Penner. Penner
and his wife own a hog production farm. It is a small operation. "We raise
about 1,000 hogs," says Penner. "The big companies might easily raise 100,000
at a time."
He employs two swine technicians. But like many small operators, Penner
performs some of the swine technician tasks himself.
"I started working in the industry as a swine technician," he says. "Then
an opportunity came along to buy this operation, so I became a producer."
At his farm, swine technicians perform the usual tasks of farrowing, breeding,
power washing, moving pigs and record keeping. They work regular hours of
8 to 5, or sometimes from 7 to 4. "Almost all of the work is done inside,
in lighted, well-ventilated conditions," Penner says.
The rewarding aspect for Penner lies in maintaining excellent records on
the farrowing and breeding. He raises breeding stock, which means
they must conduct research and testing on the animals.
"We do research, take ultrasounds, and so on," says Penner. "We are always
trying to develop breeding stock that will produce less fat and more lean
loins. This means we must keep very extensive records. Computer use is important."