Seaboard Foods, a leading pork producer, has been building its connected food system since the early 1990s.
The company recently hosted a tour for industry media of one of its 98 sow farms. A farm located outside of Sioux City, Iowa, provided participants a glimpse into the company’s operations, highlighting its commitment to animal welfare and sustainability.
Seaboard Foods manages every aspect of its farm operations.
Its farms in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas supply animals to the Sioux City and Guymon, Oklahoma, processing plants. Its connected food system partners supply animals to processing plants in St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sioux City.
Before entering the farm, everyone on the tour had to shower. They left their clothes behind, stepped into the shower, then on the other side donned clothing and boots provided by the farm. No cell phones or other equipment was allowed to enter the facility. A camera belonging to a Seaboard Triumph Foods employee was sanitized by farm staff.
Dr. Ian Levis, veterinarian and senior operations manager, and Andy Allum, operations manager for Seaboard Foods of Iowa, led the tour. They explained that the company uses artificial insemination for breeding, ensuring genetic consistency and improving herd health. The farm houses about 2,600 animals and aims to breed 143 sows per week.
Erick Cortes Rodriguez, farm supervisor, emphasized the importance of his eight-person team in maintaining the smooth operations. The farm also provides on-site housing for Rodriguez and his family.
Seaboard Foods’ Iowa operations differ slightly from its other facilities due to its partnership with local family farms.
Seaboard Foods of Iowa raises all the sows the company owns. Most nursery pigs and market hogs owned by Seaboard Foods of Iowa are raised by contract farmers who are required to follow the company’s animal care and handling requirements, Levis said.
Built in 1998, the farm was acquired by Seaboard Foods in 2016. The company prioritizes animal welfare and maintains a strict breeding and gestation schedule, using a 1,000-day calendar.
“The 1,000-day gestation calendar simplifies calculations related to breeding and farrowing,” Allum said. “Rather than using calendar dates, such as Sept. 25, it makes it much easier to calculate and keep records of breeding dates and farrowing dates. For instance, a sow bred on day 388 (Sept. 26, 2024) is anticipated to farrow on day 502, or 114 days later, on Feb. 17, 2025.”
The tour also provided insight into the terminology used in swine production. A “gilt” is a young female pig that has not been bred, while “parity” refers to the number of litters a sow has produced.
Mature sows weigh about 450sb pounds, while gilts weigh around 300 pounds. The harvesting weight of hogs averages 280 pounds. After a sow reaches maximum parity and is finished breeding, it is sent to the cull market.
On the breeding side, 1,000 sows are housed in each of two barns on the farm. They remain there for artificial insemination and during gestation. The typical gestation period is 114 days.
A sow is rotated to the farrowing rooms to give birth and nurse her young. She will return to the breeding barn after her piglets are weaned. Sows in the gestation/breeding barns are fed once a day. Those in the farrowing rooms are fed four times a day as they need more nutrition to nurse their young. The sows are fed a specialized gestation or lactation diet, depending on where they are in the breeding cycle.
The farm sources its feed from local co-ops and receives deliveries every four to five days.
Effluent from the farm is returned to local farmers for use as fertilizer. Some larger Seaboard farms send the waste to lagoons, where impurities are removed and it is turned back into a renewable natural gas.
The tour included a visit to the farrowing barn, where sows give birth to their litters. Piglets are weaned at 21 days and moved to a nursery, while the sows remain on the farm to continue the breeding cycle. The average litter size at the farm is 15 pigs, with 13 typically surviving. Heated red mats are available to keep piglets warm when they are not nursing.
A complete wash out of the rooms is conducted after each farrowing. The farm features a designated load-out area for weaned pigs.
Meticulous records are kept, with hand-written cards following each sow throughout the entire process. Seaboard Foods controls the genetic lines of its animals and is committed to ensuring their well-being.
“We try to make the best decision for the animal at all times,” Levis said.
Upon leaving the farm, tour members were required to take another complete shower before retrieving their personal clothing and belongings.
The company’s focus on animal welfare, efficiency and sustainability is evident in its operations, from the use of mechanical ventilation to keep the animals comfortable to the careful monitoring of sow health and productivity.
