We are proud of our customers.
From family farms to commercial farms, we supply them all - anywhere in the world. For ten thousands of users Big Dutchman is THE supplier of housing equipment of any kind. And it makes no difference whether the farm is raising ten thousand, twenty thousand, two hundred thousand or two million animals. To us it is quality that matters, not only quantity. We always have a workable solution for any possible problem. And many of these have been successfully installed already. Here you will find some concrete examples:
Another 2500 sows will move into group gestation pens
Montana, USA: Preparing for the arrival of 36 ESF stations
More and more large US hog farms are planning to switch from conventional (single animal) gestation crates to group housing. The evidence of good productivity and better management opportunities has not only been provided by scientific research but also by satisfied producers who have learned to manage Electronic Sow Feeding (ESF) very successfully.
The new farm near Great Falls, Montana, USA, will belong to a young Hutterite colony which will separate from the mother colony as soon as all farm buildings and homes at the new location are ready for them. It is typical for Hutterite colonies to branch off and relocate a portion of their families when populations get too big. The hog operation at Hillcrest will be the first part of the new farm to go into operation in October.
Hillcrest farms have the rare opportunity to make plans from scratch for their new farm operation. The Hutterite 'hog bosses' are able to base their decisions for future production methods and for the type of housing and feeding equipment to be installed entirely on what they believe is the best technology available to be most profitable.
In respect to the gestation barn, the Hutterites – who are known to prefer most up-to-date and top-of-the line technology in their barns – chose to go for group housing and implement the electronic sow feeding system CallMatic 2 from Big Dutchman.
The Hillcrest sow operation will manage 2,500 sows and produce about 65,000 piglets per year. To accommodate these by the fall, the construction of 3 large hog buildings is well on its way. The farrowing building will include 8 farrowing rooms with 60 crates per room and a gilt training area for the ESF system. The gestation barn is a 780 feet long building and will include 17 group gestation pens as well as the breeding pens with stalls for sows and boars. As Hillcrest Colony prefers natural breeding, there will be approximately 144 boars 'on duty'. A third small building will function as a gilt isolation barn with 180 gilt and 22 boar spaces for incoming new animals.
The 17 gestation pens will house 120 sows each. Every pen will be equipped with two CallMatic 2 feeding stations, 3 partly secluded resting areas and an automatic heat detection unit situated by an integrated boar pen.
The Big Dutchman ESF system will be run by the new "BigFarmNet Technology" software with one central computer and the separate "505" controllers at each feeding station. This set-up has significant advantages, because it allows direct access to the controls and to all data at each station. This unquestionably adds to the safety of such a large feeding system. Should the PC or network ever break down for any reason, the feeding stations will still remain fully operational as the controllers have their own data memory and are connected with one another.
Big Dutchman is one of the pioneer developers of electronic sow feeding systems. The first systems were installed in Europe in the early 80′s. Since then, group housing of pregnant sows has become more and more popular and the Big Dutchman CallMatic 2 system can be found in many small or large sow farms all over the world. But Hillcrest Colony - with 36 feeding stations in a single barn, will be one of the biggest ESF projects Big Dutchman has done so far. Daniel Holling, product manager for ESF systems at Big Dutchman in Germany, feels "proud and very happy to be able to introduce group housing to the large hog producers in the US and we are absolutely confident that Hillcrest will be very satisfied with the results."
When the containers arrive in Montana, Big Dutchman will have an expert team of technicians both from Germany and from Big Dutchman Inc. of Michigan that will supervise the installation and the start up of the automatic feeding system. While it doesn't take long to get a system ready and running, Big Dutchman does take time and great care in teaching management skills for loose sow housing as well as training to utilize the software and all automated procedures so as to ensure best possible operation and satisfaction for both stockmen and sows.
Finland: Feed mixtures produced on site at Hulden Farm
Large mill project launched with Big Dutchman equipment
Jonas Hulden of Nedervetil in Finland has decided to produce his own feed mixes at his farm. He farms an area of approximately 300 hectares, located 500 km north-west of Helsinki, and fattens 700 bulls as well as 4,000 finishing pigs. There are further plans to expand facilities to provide for 6,000 finishing pig places. Thus two important conditions for preparing high-quality feed mixes at a favourable price are already fulfilled at his farm: He has sufficient home-grown cereals as well as a high requirement for feedstuffs. His latest acquisition is therefore a computer-controlled milling and mixing system from Big Dutchman. Inauguration of the project was celebrated recently in grand style on the occasion of an open day at the farm.
Impressive milling and mixing technology
“The technology is impressive“ was the unanimous response of the guests invited to the event after viewing the large plant which has the capacity to produce up to 4.5 tons ready-mixed feed per hour. The Big Dutchman sales partner for this area in Finland, Markus Björklund, was responsible for delivery and assembly of the system. The extensive delivery programme includes eight silos for the feed ingredients, the entire conveyor technology, two hammer mills, each with a performance of 22 kW, as well as the sifting units for grain cleaning.
Mineral containers for premixes and other feed supplements, a 2000-liter mixer and three silos for mixed feed are also included in the equipment. The guests were particularly interested in the innovative mixer pre-bin: This pre-bin, which was recently awarded two novelty stars at the leading agricultural fair in Denmark, Agromek, enables a significantly higher mixing capacity. The complete feed silos have a capacity of 8.70 m3. Two silos are used for keeping supplies of pig feed and a third is used for storing bull feed.
HYDROMIX liquid feeding: Sometimes it pays to be different
In addition to the milling and mixing technology, Jonas Hulden has also decided in favour of installing the computer-controlled HYDROMIX from Big Dutchman as a brand new liquid feeding system. In normal cases this name stands for reliable feeding technology, which is applied exclusively in the context of pig-management. There are, however, other possibilities, as we can see in the Hulden example: According to the motto “What is good for pigs cannot be bad for cattle either”, the farmer decided also to feed his 700 bulls with HYDROMIX. Accordingly he had one tank installed for pig feed and one for bull feed.
Here are some pictures of a highly successful open day in Nedervetil:
Hungary: Big Dutchman provides equipment for 13 pig houses
Successful transition from plan to market
András Tóth from Dunasczekcsŏ in southern Hungary, owner and director of the agricultural company Duna Gyöngye as well as owner of 850 sows kept in a closed system, has had the bravery to convert pig houses. Though it is 20 years ago since the Iron Curtain fell, Hungarian pig producers are still suffering from the aftermath. The transition from the planned to the market economy turned out to be a painful issue and involved severe declines in production. Expressed in figures, this means a drop from eight million pigs produced in 1990 to 3.4 million animals at the end of 2008.
The enterprising Hungarian, however, has pursued with modernization of his out-dated production systems against great odds, and he has done so at an impressive rate. Even the serious price turbulence on the global pig market and the worldwide economic crisis do not stop András Tóth. Since 2007 Big Dutchman has been involved in installing completely new equipment in all his pig houses. And further buildings are to be renovated in 2010. Recently an open day was held, attended by the Hungrian Minster of Agriculture József Gráf as guest of honour, to officially celebrate the opening of the 13th modernized pig house.
The Big Dutchman Hungarian sales office Aliter-P Kft. was responsible for implementation of the ambitious project. This was a good move because Big Dutchman has been actively involved on the post-socialist markets for more than 20 years. Nowadays the company is widely known as an expert for the reconstruction of out-dated production systems. In Dunasczekcsŏ the world-market leader from Vechta has supplied an impressively broad spectrum of equipment: Aliter-P Kft. provided state-of-the art equipment for 13 pig houses to accommodate 4,750 finishing and 4,200 flat-deck places. In addition, equipment has been supplied for 210 places in the farrowing area as well as a section with crate stands.
As far as pregnant sows are concerned, András Tóth has decided in favour of appropriate group-housing. Therefore, he has had the Callmatic 2 computer-controlled feeding-on-demand system installed in 3 houses. The system distinguishes itself through a refined interplay of hardware and software, thus guaranteeing feed distribution which is adapted and controlled in a way as to precisely suit the specific state of the sow. In practical terms, this ensures optimum daily running – without constant disturbances and with a very peaceful atmosphere in the pig house. The result: the advantages of appropriate husbandry and feeding designed exactly to suit the individual animal are combined in the best possible way. This means healthy animals and more piglets per sow.
In addition to pig production, András Tóth farms more than 2,100 hectares of arable land, is involved in silviculture and keeps 250 dairy cows in a closed system. Some of the meat produced is served in very tasteful form to guests in the adjacent restaurant: www.dgy2000.hu
Big Dutchman customer makes a big impression
Croatia: Minister inaugurates new building for 4,000 pigs
Spaces for 4,000 animals are distributed over three very respectable looking new pig housing facilities, in which approximately 12,000 finishing pigs are expected to pass through per year: Željko Kurkutović, from Slavonski Brod in Croatia, has every reason to be proud of his recently completed piggery project. The modern facilities, which have been equipped by Big Dutchman and are located approximately 200 km south-east of Zagreb directly on the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina, is much more than an eye-catcher in an optical sense. It is, above all impressive in a country where agriculture, generally speaking, is organised on a very small scale. For this reason the Croatian Minister of Agriculture, Božidar Pankretić, was pleased to inaugurate the pig finishing facilities personally, on the occasion of an official open day.
Željko Kurkutović is a convinced Big Dutchman customer. Five years ago, he had a finishing house equipped by Imex-Bjelovar d.o.o, the Big Dutchman Sales Representation in Croatia. The innovative equipment and the reliable service convinced him so firmly that Kurkutović involved Imex-Bjelovar once again in this large-scale project: from the liquid manure system via the ventilation and the housing system to the dry feeding and water supply; all the equipment comes from the world’s leading company in the field of pig management systems.
Pictures of a festive time at the open day:
Pig producer Egbert Selten chooses proven quality
A big Dutchman opts for Big Dutchman
Since 2001 the Dutchman Egbert Selten has been the proud owner of a pig farm in the Australian region of Narrandera. The adventurous grower and his wife Alexandra left their home country for a new start in New South Wales. His story of success is featured in the Jan/Feb 2009 edition of the Australian expert magazine “Pork Journal” in a commendatory article written by editor in chief Peter Bedwell: in spite of limited resources, the Selten family has succeeded in doubling the capacity of their farm in just eight years. In the near future, once the construction works on the last building have been completed, Egbert Selten will altogether operate eight houses with 500 sows. And, as Bedwell emphasizes, all this during a period in which many Australian pig farmers have given up the fight against drought, low returns and a market flooded by subsidized imports.
Stable, durable equipment
According to the magazine, the Selten family is not new to the business which is why they opted for familiar products when they selected the equipment for their operation. “We used Big Dutchman on our farms in Holland so I was familiar with these products and knew that they were reliable and durable” says Egbert Selten in the report. Also, he succeeded in building and furnishing the pig barns in line with his ideas and requirements: meaning he was able to reconstruct the barns with reasonable investment costs and refurbish them with easy-to-operate, long-living equipment.
The computer-controlled Big Dutchman liquid feeding system Hydromix which Selten uses for his finishing barns perfectly fits his operation: “The Big Dutchman Hydromix system has one tank where the before installed system used multiple tanks which added to the complexity and maintenance issues”, he said. “Hydromix delivers feed up to ten times a day, while sensors in the feed troughs prevent overfilling. Furthermore the system adjusts automatically to a predetermined feed curve that maintains optimum growth levels and feed efficiency.” And there is more Big Dutchman equipment: the finishing pigs are housed in “tough and long-lasting” Big Dutchman pens. For sow feeding, Selten opted for the Big Dutchman tube feeding system Dry Rapid including volume dispenser. The housing and feeding equipment is supplied by B&M Slots, a long-standing distributor for the Big Dutchman Group.
Further details about this story of success can be downloaded here, with courtesy of Pork Journal.
Download: PorkJournal_EdgarSelten
