Moving Pigs in Hot Weather Requires Added Attention

Jun 19, 2023

An animal welfare and handling specialist with Olymel suggests moving pigs in small groups and focussing on body position, point of balance and flight zones, especially when the weather gets hot, will making moving pigs less stressful on the pigs and the handlers.
"What You Need to Know About Warm Weather Transport" was the focus of the third installment of Sask Pork’s spring seminar series last week.
Kevin Brooks, a production manager specializing in animal welfare and handling with Olymel in Humboldt, says the Trucker Quality Assurance program calls for warm weather procedures to be implemented at 27 degrees Celsius but, to provide an added safety margin, Olymel implements those protocols at 25 degrees.

Quote-Kevin Brooks-Olymel:
As we all know hogs don't have functional sweat glands and have a hard time cooling down so they need wind and air.
Breeze is their main cooling mechanism so, as the weather gets warmer, we have to make sure we treat these animals in a way that will get them there with low stress so they'll be comfortable for their trip and journey.
Much like the pig, when it's really hot, I so don't like too work too hard so it becomes easier.
It's easier on the staff, it's easy on the hog and even the transporter so we're not sweating and working overly hard which reduces the stress on us and the animal.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

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That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.