Michigan Pork Industry Gains Competitive Edge Through MSU Research, Outreach

Jun 11, 2026

By Jack Falinski

Research from Michigan State University is helping shape the future and success of Michigan’s pork industry, starting with how pigs are housed.

Recent adaptations made to Michigan law require farms to house pregnant sows (female pigs) in ways that allow free movement and avoid confinement, favoring group housing systems.

However, because pigs can be territorial, leaders in the industry have raised questions on how this can be enacted effectively.

MSU AgBioResearch scientists, including Dr. Catherine Ernst in the Department of Animal Science, are using funding from the Michigan Alliance for Animal Agriculture (M-AAA) to study this impact.

M-AAA, a partnership among MSU, Michigan’s animal ag and allied industries, and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) focused on the advancement of Michigan’s animal ag economy, has helped Michigan pork adapt, evolve and stay dynamic during this time, said Mary Kelpinski, CEO of the Michigan Pork Producers Association (MPPA).

“We had a law that passed and became active in 2020 that required us to house our sows differently — we had to house them in more group settings,” Kelpinski said. “That raises a lot of concerns. You hear the phrase ‘boss hog,’ and pigs really are territorial. When you put them in a group together, they’ll fight. So, some of the research MSU has done at the swine farm and through M-AAA dollars has helped us look at how we can house our sows to follow the law we have in Michigan.

“All the states have different laws, so we needed something that was specific to Michigan. This research has really helped us remain competitive in the pork industry nationally.”

The need for information on how pigs are housed exemplifies why M-AAA is not only unique in how it functions as a program, Kelpinski said, but is also integral for the success of animal ag industries like Michigan pork, which produces roughly 2.5 million hogs per year and contributes approximately $500 million annually to the state’s economy, according to MPPA.

M-AAA gives representatives from Michigan’s animal ag and allied industries opportunities to connect with MSU researchers, share what the needs or concerns are for their industries, and review and fund research proposals that address the relevant topics that will help advance key sectors of Michigan’s $125.8 billion agriculture industry.

Source : msu.edu

Video: We Let Dad Drive a 50,000 Pound Dump Truck

There's old hog barns under that field now. The old hog barn site on the farm has been sitting there for decades, and this is the week it finally came out: concrete pad, burn pile, charred lumber, all of it loaded into a CAT 725C rock truck and buried in a pit we dug back in the timber.

Tork's been waiting his whole life to drive one of these, so he gets the keys to a 50,000 pound rock truck and I ride shotgun. The excavator loads, the dozer clears the timber, the drone shows the whole site from above, and by sundown there's nothing left of the old place but a smooth patch of dirt. It's a weird feeling erasing something that was here before either of us, but the farm has to keep moving.