Thinking about Christmas dinner already? We sure are. 

If you're like many families celebrating this year, a plump Christmas ham might be at your dinner table (although, we're pretty big fans of holiday turkeys as well...). 

But have you ever thought about the history behind this traditional Christmas meal? It just might surprise you.

Curious about open sow housing? Wondering what other group housing producers think of our system? We discussed the topic at length at World Pork 2018 this summer, and we don't want you to miss out!

It's the time of year when comfort food is king. We bring out all the classics for the holidays—turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, and treats like sugar cookies and pie. 

But sometimes it's nice to spice things up with a slightly different take on comfort food. 

We reached out to Maaike Campbell of Birnam Pork for a favorite holiday pork recipe, and she delivered. Plus, she happens to be on the cover of our latest issue of the Modern Producer!

Life as a producer doesn't come without its fair share of hardships. If you've been in the industry long enough, it's almost guaranteed that you've experienced difficult times in one form or another. 

Group housing is group housing, right?

Loose sow housing is loose sow housing, right?

Wrong.

We've seen it so many times. Other companies are promoting their equipment that only work with their own version of "loose" sow housing. The only problem is that a majority of current design offerings keep sows in stalls for just under half of their gestation.

But it’s not just our opinions on which options are best for sows, the facts speak for themselves.

One area of production that is all too often overlooked is creep penning. We would argue that some of the most important work of the farm happens in the farrowing room, and the materials used in creep penning can make or break your farrowing unit. 

Animals are only in the farrowing unit for a few short weeks and then the unit is washed and turned over to a new batch of sows and piglets. Because of this constant turnover and the biological vulnerability of piglets, having strong biosecurity matters. Your number one resource in maintaining good biosecurity in the farrowing unit is by using creep penning that is easy to sanitize. 

Successful breeding is key to a strong bottom line; it's a simple fact.

But what isn't so simple is efficiently executing that successful breeding.

We're here to tell you why the utilization of boar pens can affect your success rates and therefore
directly impact your bottom line.

If you've interacted with the younger generations, you've likely observed that they communicate a bit differently. 

For many of us in the industry, that can be frustrating, or even intimidating.

We look at the younger generation and see people absorbed in technology and social media. It can seem like they have no interest in the way the industry operates.

But the truth is, we can learn a lot from young people in this industry. In order to do so, however, we need to show them what we have to offer. 

It should go without saying, but the idea and ethos behind group housing is to get sows out of stalls.

The industry's move toward greater transparency in our animal husbandry practices has coincided with increasing public concern over meat sources. This pressure, combined with an industry adopted Code of Practice (since 2014) in Canada, and various legislative initiatives in some states is leading more and more producers to move to group housing over stalls.